It's the Little Things....

Every week in my town, on Tuesday afternoon, we have a Farmer's Market.  I've erroneously called it a "Street Fair," "Downtown Marketplace," and "That Thing Where People Sell Stuff That I Don't Really Need."  The last title seems to be the most descriptive.  Apparently, however, there is, indeed a market for alpaca sweaters, fake cashmere scarves, and cups that turn a different color when you pour something hot into them.  The most visited part of the Farmer's Market is the food "court."  Here they hawk homemade soul food, complete with sweet potato pies, gyros, churros, frozen salmon, some sort of middle eastern food that looks strangely like a burrito to me, and the ever present - smell it all the way down the block - kettle corn.  I see old people on their bright red (is that the only color they make?) electric scooters.  If their basket isn't filled with a little shivering dog of some sort, it is laden with fresh fruit, yams the size of Popeye's forearm, and gerber daisies in a rainbow array of colors.

I tend to stick to the end of the street where they sell the fruit and veggies.  Strawberries.  One will fit in the palm of your hand, and, if it is mid-season, you can buy three baskets of these monsters for five bucks.  There is one table that has mushrooms of every variety known to man.  I can only imagine what their garden smells like.  Not to be outdone, there are apples, plums, apricots, and something called pluots.  Apparently the plum tree and apricot tree got too close to one another one night.  There is even a guy with a bucket in his hand, tongs in the other, asking everyone if they feel like a nut.  I always tell him that sometimes I feel like a nut, but today I don't.  Hey, it seems like the appropriate answer.

I always stop by the incense table.  You can't beat twelve sticks for a dollar. I always peruse the homemade jewelry.  The problem with their table is that I have stood in the aisles of the local craft store and seen how much the beads are and how relatively simple it is to make those damn earrings... and I refuse to pay twenty-five bucks for a pair of earrings that I know the parts to make it only cost about two dollars.  I always check out the lady that makes and sells knitted scarves.  I knit scarves.  I have enough in a bag behind my couch to probably make a profit if I set up my own stand.  I always wonder how on earth she knitted that many scarves in a week.  I can get one or two done in a month and then my thumbs start to hurt and I drop stitches. She claims she gets one done per day. She has about two hundred or so of them in her kiosk. Either no one is buying them, or she has a machine. She sits there quietly knitting the newest edition... acting like she pumps out 200 of the suckers a week. No way. They are reasonably priced though. At the rate I take to knit a scarf and how much I charge per hour, my scarves would have to be priced somewhere in the three hundred dollar range.

The end of the street has a big truck that sells rotisserie chicken.  People are lined up for that.  I'm guessing they don't want to go home and cook dinner, and a whole chicken and a bag of fries is the next best thing.  It smells good, but I am just not convinced that it is the healthiest of environments in which to cook chicken.  Behind the chicken truck, an odd place for this next display if you ask me, the local humane society puts up little cages with sad looking little puppies just begging to be taken home.  They sit there quietly, fooling you into thinking they don't bark or yap or beg.  Their big, sorrowful eyes make me actually stop and consider scooping one up nearly every week.  I am always thwarted by the price tag though.  I've often wondered if the dog pound really wants to get rid of the little buggers.  At those prices, the earrings a block down the street seem like the better bargain. I wonder if this is where those old people scooter baskets are picking up their passengers?

Tuesdays are great.  Farmer's Market makes it that much better.  Oh, I rarely go home with anything more than enough strawberries to keep us fruited up for the week and a pack of patchouli incense sticks to make the house smell like ... well, patchouli... but the crowds with their environmentally safe reusable bags stuffed with flowers and leafy vegetables, the hawkers trying to sell me their wares, the smell of kettle corn and a quick nuzzle of the puppy at the end of the street makes Tuesdays one of my all-around favorite days of the week.

ASSORTED PLEASURES

Tuesdays in downtown Monterey proudly presents Farmer's Market, a hodgepodge of hastily but efficiently constructed eazy-ups, rickety folding tables, buckets of brightly colored produce, and a cacophony of marginally talented musicians. Thrown in the mix for good measure are peddlers, street hustlers, and the occasional Jesus freak predicting the end of the world. You can follow your nose to the kettle corn, gyros, churros, and, of course, the instant dinner rotating on an spit that opens out of the side of a shiny aluminum paneled truck. Fresh strawberries, grown organically of course, sit alongside an assortment of seasonal berries, twisted yams, leeks the size of your wrist, fragrant garlic and onions, and the ever-present, often confusing world of mushrooms. The next block will bring hand crocheted baby gear, hand woven baskets from Africa, knitted scarves, hats, and mittens. There are tables brimming with mouthwatering desserts - and not just your basic caramel apple. Oh no, these are golden delicious apples, dipped in white chocolate, rolled in honey, smothered with nuts and all promising to be absolutely the best thing you've ever tasted. There are causes with their carefully lettered signs, political hawkers, and even a bookcase with free books for anyone with a penchant to read between the dusty covers of a long-forgotten Stephen King, Victoria Holt, or Martha Stewart tome. There may even be a Dr. Seuss tucked in between the manuals on breast-feeding and how to win people and influence friends.

The people strolling along the closed-off avenue are as varied as the stands they are visiting.  There are middle-aged first time mothers with their baby stylishly strapped and wrapped against their breasts and fathers tugging behind them a radio-flyer with the toddler happily playing with the radishes just purchased. You will see the regulars, haggling over the price of fruit, toting their own reusable bags brimming with fresh cut flowers, bundles of lettuce, and three or four perfectly round, perfectly red tomatoes resting on top.  The tourists are looking at the local crafters and their overpriced jewelry, stone cups, and jade necklaces.

Weather is not a reason to pack up and go either.  The vendors have figured out how to batten down their stands with clever ties, buckets of sand, and a whole host of solutions to the Mary Poppins effect that the wind has on their canopies.  Rain is combated with umbrellas and more tarp.  Sunshine is always welcome because everyone slows down and enjoys the warmth and the camaraderie of a beautiful afternoon.  Summer markets will find everyone out and about until the last tent is taken down.  Winter Tuesdays brings out the locals bundled up with their scarves and hats and gloves while the tourists line up to buy one get one free hundred percent cashmere wrap in some god-awful color that your aunt Matilda wouldn't wear.

Farmer's Market in Monterey is truly a sensory adventure for all who wander into downtown Monterey.

SLIGHTLY USED

The cars are in town. Slightly used. Described by the decade they were put together on the assembly line by workers who knew the value of precision. Price tags don't show, but some are not as expensive as you think they might be and others call for pocket change that only a sheik would carry around - if he had pockets. Old men remember days of their youth when they envied their daddy-rich buddies who woke up the day of graduation to find one of these shiny new sports cars sitting in their driveway, resplendent with big bow and a key fob bearing the maker's logo. They still stand around, beers in hand, talking about cars. Only now, they've saved up their retirement money and have come with bid sheet in hand. If they're lucky, they'll go home with one of these carefully preserved memories. Funny how the slightly used women come out of their distant garages for this event as well. Also described by their decades, many of them are assembled with the precision of a runway model, most are put together with the detail only a circus could appreciate. Like the cars, you can tell how expensive it is by how well kept it has been. Old men still stand around, checking out the slightly used models - wondering if they can afford it, too afraid to ask how much. No bid sheets here, just a glance, a nod, and a meet and greet behind the fountain. If they're lucky, they'll wind up with one of these slightly used, but still good for some action, memories. Monterey has a seedy side to these glamorous events. Hotel bellboys keep lists of local hookers and get a kickback when one of them is summoned by some guy with money to burn. The big hotels have the better lists. A call down to the concierge can get you

just about anything you want in a matter of minutes. Many of the girls working the hotel lobby as greeters are actually high-priced call girls. It pays that ridiculously high rent that is charged on the peninsula. The prettier girls stand inside the lobby or sit at the hotel bar. The broken ones walk the street or sit at the bus stop. These are secrets that the local visitor's center doesn't want you to know. Prostitution in Monterey is just about as old as Monterey itself. In the 1870 census, sixty percent of the women listed in Monterey were ladies of the evening. Many of them were Chinese immigrants kidnapped, sold into debt peonage, and forced to service the rail workers, boatmen, and other laborers here along this beautiful coastline. Today,seedy memories are relived in seedy motels all up and down the Pacific Coast Highway. In the twenty-first century, Mexican immigrants, with nothing to harvest in the summertime, are sold into prostitution slavery along the Peninsula. Not much has changed in nearly 150 years. The cars are in town. So are the girls. Along with these baubles for sale, come the bored with wads of cash to burn. Most won't ask the price, but many of them will go home with a slightly used memory of Monterey.

No Shirt. No Shoes. No Service.

I know in some California beach towns you'll see all sorts of people walkin' around half dressed. Sun-bleached blond gods with their board shorts, surf gear, sporting nothing much else except their sand blasted Hurley flip-flops. Honey tanned just turned eighteen girls with their long hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, sporting that Roxy bikini, Havaianas, ten perfectly manicured pink toes, and a butterfly tattooed across the peach fuzz of their lower back and not much else left to the imagination. But those are California beach towns where the weather's warm, the sand is hot, and the sun is baking all those coconut oiled specimens of human perfection. But this is Monterey. Where summer is defined over a drink at the bar as a couple of weekends sometime in August. It never gets really hot enough to start shedding street clothes. The tans you see on the locals are purchased along with a fruity drink and a pair of plastic eye cups to keep you from going blind in the UV coffin at the local tanning salon. Summer here boasts of the chance to shed a layer, bare the arms above your elbows, and maybe go out without a jacket... but only if you're coming home before dark. Walking around half dressed isn't usually a sight you see on the streets of this beach community. Even those who dare the frigid bay, walk out of the water in a wet suit, shaking off the cold and jamming their bare butts into a pair of sweats and a hooded jacket as fast as they can... not because someone might see them naked, but because it's freakin' cold when that breeze off the bay hits your soaked hair. So you can imagine my double-take when I saw a man walking down the street today, half dressed. Mind you, not a street that runs along the ocean. Not even a street with an ocean view from the top balcony of any of the buildings. No. This was one of those inland streets that can smell the ocean, but not quite see it. He had on a Gilligan hat, tank top with a long-sleeved denim shirt fastened all the way to the collar, a pair of old-man sandals, black socks, and.. well, nothing else. I'm guessing there might have been a speedo underneath the hem of his worn button down, or maybe some tighty-whiteys... but, well, pretty much he looked naked. And not in an Adonis god of beauty and desire sort of naked. No, this was old-man-pale naked. Flabby knees naked. Grey hairy legs naked. Not pretty. Definitely not California naked. And it got me to wondering. Where was he going? There is a beach about a mile away, but he wasn't headed in that direction, and he certainly didn't look like that was where he had been all day. No, he was casually walking down the street, as if he was out for his twilight constitutional and simply forgot his pants. I watched him as he stopped in front of a local diner and counted the change he kept in his shirt pocket. The hand-lettered warning in the window says "No Shirts. No Shoes. No Service." Well, I suppose he qualifies for a dinner at their fine establishment. Either that, or their going to have to change their sign. Because, like Mr. No Pants, the diner seems to have forgotten something.

HOMELESS DOGS

There are over five hundred homeless people barely existing in one of the oldest beach communities in California. Their numbers surge along with the tourism industry, and you can't take a stroll downtown, along the bike path, or by the shore without encountering the outstretched hand, cup full of pennies, and a weather-worn backpack with a lifetime of dirt and grime worn into the fabric and shredding seams. Here, along the California coastline, you would be hard pressed to go any distance without seeing at least a handful of these hobos. The mild weather, the laid-back attitude of the year-round residents, and the free lunches that the local charities seem so eager to prepare and handout - thus appeasing their filthy-rich guilt and fulfilling their Christian duty to feed the hungry - all of these events conspire to draw the nomads to Monterey like a thirsty camel to an oasis. They have become woven into the tapestry of our neighborhood and are no longer come as a shock to the fastidious systems of the uber rich you find on the Peninsula. What never ceases to amaze me though, are the dogs. "Homeless Dogs" I call them. A steady diet of burritos, hotdogs, marshmallows, and, I suspect, the ocassional seagull has left these dogs looking nothing like what you would expect. They are big. With big, studded collars, a rope for a leash, and that Carmel Clint Eastwood look in their eye that says, "go ahead, make my day..." It seems like there are as many homeless dogs as there are homeless people. Some of these dogs have been trained to beg. I found one dog sitting on a corner, bandanna around his neck - along with a sign - and a cup in front of him. The sign said, "I've been a good boy, don't make me beg..." The ravaged plastic Transformers cup actually had about twenty bucks tucked down in it. Across the street, his owner played a guitar and had his own cup sitting on the blanket in front of him. He had about forty five cents in his cup. The dog was clearly doing a much better job. I've spoken to a couple of the girls who sit in the doorways bumming cigarettes and money. "Why the dog?" I ask. Keeps 'em safe they tell me. Apparently, when you're sleeping out under the stars, you are game for anyone wanting to toss you for your coins, your shoes, and any thing else you might have. Having a dog helps. They all have a story about a girl or a guy who got stabbed and thrown in the ravine. "Shoulda had a dog..." they all say. A couple of times I've been compelled to take a sign-holder into the local fast food joint and buy them a meal. I am always at a loss as to whether or not I am expected to buy a burger for the dog too.

BOXES

I have several boxes in my closet, filled with a plethora of personal history. I am not really sure what actually is housed in these cardboard mysteries, but, judging by the box that I filled today, I would say it is most likely a hodgepodge of items that I find just too dear to actually put in the give away bin or to toss in the trash. Mind you, I schlepped six stretchy plastic bags of junk deemed unworthy of historical significance out to the raccoon housing unit known as our trash bin. But I am still left with the newest addition to the collection that resides on the top shelves of my newly cleaned out closet. Every so often, I'll take down one of the boxes and paw through it, wondering why on earth I kept this or that... it must have been important that I hang on to it, so it dutifully goes back into the box until my curiosity gets the better of me next time around. I've discovered faded pictures of people I don't remember, vacations someone else took and thought I'd love to see pictures of, and old kodachrome photos of what can only be family members I've never met. There are papers written in a college course that got a passing grade, a letter with a lock of what I am guessing is my grandmother's hair (still red after one hundred years), a notebook filled with my life experiences like a script for a bad made for TV movie. I found four, count them, four empty binders and a handful of wirebound, college-ruled notebooks. Back-to-schoolers could have a field day in my closet.

It makes me wonder where all this very important stuff comes from. Dog-eared books collected over the years that I simply will not part with. Framed pictures of family members that can't be hung up on the wall, yet I can't seem to find the time to put them in a proper frame so they can be displayed. Leather-bound journals filled with random notes and shopping lists. Crayons. Office supplies. All items I, at some point in a cleaning frenzy, decided were meaningful enough to keep in my life for whatever future reason I could possibly think of. I suppose I am lucky. I've made it to this second half of my life with only three boxes of stuff to show for it. I am sure, at some point in the future, I will determine that the things in those boxes might not be worth keeping afterall. But, until then, they will remain safely ensconced on the top shelf of my closet. Waiting to be discovered, like an ancient end to a magnificent treasure hunt in some future adventure.

PRAYERS & LAWNMOWERS

My father was a strong, proud man. He fought to stay independent and demonstrated to his world around him how to stay strong, how to get things done, and how to help your neighbor when he was down. As my father aged, he lost much of his independence to a wheelchair. But that didn't stop him from going about his regular routines. One hot, Indian Summer day, he was in our massive front yard, scooting along in his wheelchair, pushing his lawnmower. He was determined to make his home as beautiful as it had once been when his back was straight, his stance solid, and his health in better shape. He worked on the stubborn grass, going around and around, up and down the lawn, making his rows as perfect as possible with one hand on the mower and one hand on the wheel of his prison. A pastor saw him struggling and came across the street where he had been laughing and talking to some friends. He greeted him and asked him how he was doing. My father, never one to mince words, told him that life was tough, but by God, he was going to stay in the game as long as possible. As my father sat there, his kerchief soaked with the sweat pouring down his brow, the pastor looked at his watch and told this wheelchair-bound man that he only had a couple of minutes, for he was in a hurry to a very important meeting and he asked him if there was anything he could do for my father. Without waiting for a reply, he went on to offer to pray for my father and his health. My father looked up at him from his wheelchair, pointed at his lawnmower and said, "I don't need you to pray for me pastor, I need you to mow my damn lawn." I've never forgotten that lesson. Prayer IS important - and please, don't ever stop praying for each other. But sometimes we need to see that our prayers are more than words. Our prayers are a helping hand, a word of encouragement, an advocate for our well-being, a hug, a smile, or sometimes, simply a listening ear. How are you praying for others?