PHOTO ESSAY: December 6, Bloomington, Indiana: Dreary outside, lively inside . . .

Oh my. Were I not such a perennial optimist (double Sagittarian, after all!), I’d be depressed about now, given the unremitting dreariness of cloudy, drippy, skies. Okay, time to get out that Happy Lite Veralux Sunshine Simulator!

This morning, feeling the “onset of depression,” prior to bringing up that “Happy Lamp” from the basement (I got it back in 2003, right after my husband Jeff died, and it helps immensely, just ten minutes a day), I decided to take a trip to the first Saturday of the indoor Farmer’s Market (from December through March), held in the gymnasium of Harmony School. Of course, the place was bustling. And cheered me up, immediately!

While there I stopped by Marcia Veldman’s table,

and reminisced with her about how my son Colin’s Garden Tower Project has taken off. We remember when he asked permission from her (she runs the Farmer’s Market for the city), to set up a display at the summer market for his first handmade tower four years ago. . . And here we are, with their latest kickstarter project now only hours from completion, garnering $1000s of dollars and new supporters as the minutes slip by. Here’s what they put up two days ago on their fb page:

and geez, as of a few minutes ago, they’re up to about $356,000 and 1065 backers with 36 hours to go. So, if you want one, or more, towers, order now! I have friends from afar who have ordered theirs, one of them ordering three! P.S. they make fabulous Christmas presents . . .

It made Marcia feel good to see how our local Market can be utilized as an incubator for local entrepeneurs.

And it helped me to know that it helped her! “Depression,” by this time, vanished! So much so, that I even dared to take puppy Shadow and venture out onto the cold bleak moor facing Lake Monroe. . .

I admit, it did feel kinda lonely walking out there, especially seeing the picnic table, long vacated from summer’s camaraderie.

But camaraderie continues, winter or no winter! And especially because of winter! Here’s the poster podmates Kiryssa and Katarins cooked up for our upcoming Holiday Open House, as promised in a recent post.

And that fabulous knife that I bought on Buy Local day? Well I warned Katarina that it is so sharp that it’s positively dangerous and to be extra careful. Well, she tried it and immediately cut her finger. Note the bandaid, as she cuts through onions that she said, didn’t even make her cry, the knife slices through them so cleanly.

BTW: as the Holiday Season gets rolling, this poster that came through on my fb page. From storyofstuff’s fb page, it makes a lot of sense . . .