Spring Market
This past season with a barely-white Christmas, January rains, and a frigid February has been a bit disorienting to say the least. Aroostook County residents of long duration have a somewhat different mental picture with regard to changes of the seasons compared to images generated by Hollywood. With a healthy dose of skepticism, we watch soap-flake snowstorms on Christmas Specials followed in the next episode by green grass and trees with leaves. Spring … in January … really?!
It turns out we can’t relate to a standard 12-month calendar all that well either. No self-respecting groundhog is ever going to bring spring to The County within six weeks of February 2nd, visible shadow or not. Even the Vernal Equinox, identified on the March calendar as The First Day of Spring, is somewhat premature here. April sometimes; May for sure.
In previous years, you may have used the Craft Show at the Mall each February as an interlude to break up the long, slow month of February (thank goodness it is the shortest month). But this year there was no “February Break.” A slow slog through March ensues. At this time of year, your emotions may overwhelm your common sense; you find yourself with a fervent wish for the long, long stretch of late winter to just “hurry up and go!”
The signs are out there. Step into a sheltered area where the cold tentacles of winter wind can’t wrap around you. Tip your face southward toward the sun. Brightly lit, closed eyelids are bathed in light and warmth. Your sap rises like the maple trees. Spring!
Celebrate the change of seasons with an extra special treat. Between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 24th at The Crow’s Nest Restaurant on Maysville Street, some members of the Presque Isle Farmers Market forge new and renewed friendships with local artists and craftspeople at a Spring Market. Many members are still rattling about with potting soil and pails of peat moss getting ready for our Mother’s Day Weekend opening in the Aroostook Centre Mall parking lot. But we have beef, lamb, chicken, eggs, and dairy available.
We join designers of jewelry and pottery, makers of jellies and jams, soaps and candles, creators of marvelous designs burned in wood, fiber artists and photographers. Folks are coming together to help you find delicious food and special gifts for loved ones (or for yourself) while you support local businesses. Best of all, you get to celebrate spring. Hope to see you there!
Editor’s note: This weekly column is written by members of the Presque Isle Farmers’ Market. For more information or to join, contact their secretary/treasurer Steve Miller of Westmanland at 896-5860 or via e-mail at beetree@xpressamerica.net. The group’s website is https://sites.google.com/site/presqueislefarmersmarket/
