market days can definitely be long days. getting up really early to set up. sometimes in the dark. on some days, you have rain and thunder storms, creating the market into a large river of water and dirt. other days bring the complete opposite, a hot, humid day with no breeze to save you. just the fire of a sun to beat down killing off happy faces of customers.

but on days such as these, you have time.

time to sit. a blessing in disguise. after a few hours of standing on your feet, sitting down makes you realize how sore your feet really were.

time to watch. you never really know how interesting people are until you just watch them. you can enjoy baskets of peaches breaking upon the task of picking them up sending the fruit this way and that, under tables and trailers. You enjoy watching genuinely good hearted people,willing to run after other people's peaches that are trying to escape the inevitable ending of themselves. They are holding their own overload of groceries, while jogging after the fleeing peaches, stopping them, one with this foot and then extending their other foot to stop another one. Finally they realize that they can't pick them up. :)

You can enjoy the old folks who pat the bums of the stallholders' kids who pick up their large bags of produce for them. Watching after long day can be certainly super relaxing and enjoyable.

time to listen. with the rushes of the day over comes the stragglers of the crowd. those people who are just getting off work or rushing in between crowds to get their eggs. with the comfort of the rush being over for the moment, a time has come to ask questions. Although these questions usually just start conversations of the weather or about their past and upcoming week, somehow, a connection is made, names are learned, and a market family is created. Thus, i look forward to these customers who stop buy just to chat, even when their fridge is still stocked up at home.

time to chat. along with listening, comes chatting. some customers are in a rush to get home, but i fully enjoy time spent with patient customers who listen to my own past and upcoming week. customers make the day more bearable and entertaining and just a wee bit shorter.

time to think. for me, thinking is a good thing. at market with the bustle of the day finished, a time to think comes along. thinking allows time to sort out frustrations at home and things that are coming up and my plans for the week ahead, including tasks that need to be finished before the next weekend of market.

Ecclesiastes 3 talks about having a time for everything.

A Time for Everything

¹ There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven:

² a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

³ a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

these verses are a good reminder that there is always a time for everything. there is a time for me to sit and a time to stand. a time to work and a time to rest, a time to listen and a time to speak... there is a time for everything.