I wonder why I signed up for these treks to Madison’s Farmers’ Market but somehow, I drive away feeling good about what I do. The drive up from PA was fairly benign and I had some good podcasts to listen too. I got into town with some time to spare and had a chance to meditate in a parking lot nearby. I got a cheap coffee at the Cumberland Farms and headed over to the Green to set up.
It was a beautiful day. I parked my chairs, bag and instruments under one of the big trees in the midst of the vendors, said hello to some the familiar ones and started to play to the big open lawn. Amazingly, I got a couple of bucks right off the bat, and caught the ear of one new vendor down the line. Gradually, several familiar kids came up and joined in, and that broke the ice for the rest of the three hour gig.
We mixed it up with kids, families, grandparents stopping by and reacting, right down to the last few minutes before 6 pm. The woman in charge gave me my check and thanked me, saying that her son loves it when I play. The Cheese lady, to whom I had my back turned on, came up with a gift of a chunka cheese. I was taken by surprise by the tip and the nice gesture. I packed up, waved to the families on the blankets enjoying the evening on the green.
One older gentleman from the Lions Club, who were setting up for an event on Saturday, came over with an errant parrot puppet and laid a wonderful observation on me. He said that in strange times like these, he was moved when he saw me playing music, kids playing and dancing freely on the green. He said that what he saw was beautiful. The complement came out of nowhere and I drank it in.
I headed out of town, into the teeth of heavy traffic around the GW Bridge, but glad I had made the trip.