Ellwood Passages

by Trendle Ellwood

It's not always easy, loading the cab of the pickup truck with the tables, the awning, the chairs and the harvest. Then we set it all up at market only to turn around in a few hours and take it all back down and bring it home again. The folks who come by our stand are not always kind, and it is easy to dwell on the pricks to our hearts and settle there. And so there are times when we wonder if it is all worth it. Our hearts and bodies get tired, our spirits sore. That was the way we felt Saturday morning when we set out later then usual, due to last minute distractions, towards town.

When we got there a newcomer had taken the spot beside us and we were frustrated that the managers had not seen to it that we get the extra space that we had been asking for. But instead, they had let the newcomer have two spots which made us have to squeeze up into one. Although I am a lover of the outdoors I find myself dreaming of a market spot where we can leave our tables, displays and signs up permanently. A spot that doesn't change in size, and is not susceptible to storms, cold and severe heat. And so we were grumbly at seven in the morning as we squeezed into our spot and put our harvest and wares upon our tables. The tape player wouldn't work so we didn't have the music that I thought would cheer us and some of the tools that we use to set up seemed to be hiding.

And so we stumbled our way through the morning as the sun climbed into the sky. My heart went out to Hubby who was tired, overworked and wondering if we should continue setting up at market as he peeled his garlic and placed it in the baskets. Little One found one of the needed tools for me and I exclaimed with passion, " Thank God for Small Favors!" a gentleman walking by overheard me and laughed and gave me a friendly, " Amen!" and I was blessed by his understanding heart. It was not long after that when the tape player all on it's own decided to start playing and our soothing music surrounded us, drowning out somewhat the bustle of the nearby highway. The newcomer beside us was a likeable fellow and I found out that we didn't have to be squeezed up after all and that I had fretted for nothing as we ended up having plenty of space to our other side. We couldn't have ordered better weather for market day. There was no sign of rain and it was sunny without the bothersome winds which sometimes will blow over signs and displays. The day was the perfect temperature.

It ended up being a day of many profitable exchanges, not only in sales but in heart connections. After a slow start Hubby sold a good amount of honey. The highlight of my day was reached when this delightful lady who is a regular at the farm market came by our stand. She has white hair and a beautiful face, which always bears a smile. There is such a glow about her that my heart is always happy to see her. She carries a basket on her arm to put her farm market purchases in. I have noticed that often this basket is over flowing. She is a fan of my mothers slate paintings which she occasionally buys.

At one time she asked me if I also painted and I told her I was really into writing. She seemed excited to hear this and she told me that she writes, and as she left that day her advice to me was to keep a journal and to write down each day the good things that happen. I laughed with her as I asked, " Only the good?"

"Yes" , she said ,as she went on, " It is the good that we want to remember."

And so Saturday when she came by our stand I was glad to see her again. This time she surprised me when she reached into her basket and drew a book from it saying that she had something for me. It was Advice to Writers by Jon Winokur. How blessed I felt that she was giving this to me. I kept that book next to me all day. I even took it to the cafe later when we ate lunch with some fellow marketers. And in one quiet moment as the others were at the buffet I opened up the book to steal a browse through it's pages. My eyes fell upon these words.

" Write from the soul, not from some notion about what you think the marketplace wants. The market is fickle; the soul is eternal." Jeffrey A. Carvor

What a beautiful message to me about writing. I think I have always written from my soul. What wonderful confirmation this is to keep on doing that. And said in such an uplifting way. The soul is eternal!

How fitting that in the whole big book I should open to a page and read words that I could use two ways. If I changed just one word I could make the message say, Market from the soul, not from some notion about what you think the marketplace wants. The market is fickle, the soul is eternal. Yes the farm market is fickle and yes sometimes we have tried to figure out what the market people want and have gone out of our way to supply this, only to have them want something else the next week. And so I am reminded to bring to the market what comes from my soul also.
Yes the market people and the weather can be fickle for sure. But I am glad that we have hung in there. You just never know when you will have a day of perfect weather, and you never know when angels will come by.

Copyright © 2004, by Trendle Ellwood. All Rights Reserved.

After I wrote this piece I went to have a little read with my new book presented to me by this wonderful lady when I picked up a book mark that she had placed in it. On one side was the Serenity Prayer which has always been special to me and on the other side of the bookmark were these words by St. Francis de Sales,
" Make yourself familiar with the angels, and behold them frequently in spirit; for without being seen, they are present with you."