Farmer's Market

I went to the city's year 'round, 100+ year old weekly farmer's market yesterday. It was partly because I felt the need to go look at mass quantities of produce to get inspired to cook a little more, but it was mostly in an effort to save money. Most everything they sell is about 60% less than the local grocery store. Of course, that 60% is covered in the PITA factor of shopping there. There's no parking because it's in the center of one of the oldest sections of the city, so you have to take public transit. From where I live, that's about 45 minutes by bus and train. I don't drive, so this isn't really a big deal, I just have to plan my schedule accordingly. No....the PITA factor really comes in when I have to haul all my cheaply gotten delicious fresh fruit and veggies home on the train and bus for 45 minutes. Yeah. That part's not so fun, but when I have a refrigerator full of healthy, fresh, yummy food, it's hard to really be bothered too much.

Yesterday's haul cost $22 and comprised approximately 35 lbs. of produce. In case you're wondering, that's 1 bunch cilantro, 1 bunch scallions, 5 limes, 13 navel oranges, 4 lbs. onions, 5 lbs. bananas, 2 lbs. red seedless grapes, 2 lbs. asparagus, 3 English cucumbers, 4 pints of blue berries, and 4 bird's eye chilies a nice lady gave me for free when I told her I didn't want a 6 oz. bag of them because I only needed a few.

I strategically piled all this loveliness into my re-useable shopping bags (heavy/hearty stuff on the bottom and delicate stuff on top) and proceeded the short distance to the train. It occurred to me as I was making my way there that 16 weeks ago (the week before surgery), that walk would have been far more difficult for me than it was yesterday. I would have had to stop several times. I would have been sweaty. I would have been sore by the time I got home. I would still be hurting today. I have to remind myself (sometimes several times a day) that there are many more benefits to this surgery than what can be seen on the scale.