By Meghan Miller
Saturday mornings have always been a golden time for me and my son. My husband works on Saturdays so since he was five days old we have been going to the Market at the Square together. This is his third summer going to the market and the first summer where I have let him walk on his own and choose our path. He makes straight for Pekara first where he gets a “Blueberry Cookie.” Don’t tell him it’s a scone, please, let me live this lie for a bit longer. And then we wander around touching the plants, smelling the fruit and waving at the big doggies.
photos by Meghan Miller
I wish he was old enough to understand when I thank him for his eyes. He wanders around at 3-feet tall and sees things I have never even looked at before. The produce stored under the tables, the shadows of the plants, the seconds tomatoes that have beautiful yellow spots all over them. I overlook them, looking for the season’s most popular produce to grill and impress my mother-in-law.
Photos by Meghan Miller
Each week I have tried to see a new side of the market. Listening to the banjo and the cloggers. I adore clogging and banjo music. The old version of myself would be mortified by that. People watching or people doing dog watching; I had no idea they made things like dog strollers. Sometimes it just smells like summer, especially if you pretend to scratch your eyebrows and close your eyes while taking a deep breath. The popcorn smell, smelling the moldiest goat cheese that Prairie Fruits Farm has, which they admit is not that moldy because they sell cheeses so fast.
Or, my son’s favorite, brushing his hands over the bouquets of flowers and smelling each one. I apologize for the blackberry juice dripping out of his chubby fingers and landing on the flowers. He is gentle though and promises, in the way a 2-yearold can, to not break the blossoms.
Photos by Meghan Miller
I challenge every person I talk to who does market photography to sit down, or look up, or just smell what they are capturing before they go home to make that impressive torte.
Meghan Miller moved to Champaign for school and never left. She is a special education teacher who spends most of her free time taking photos, drawing or gardening. When she’s not at the park chasing butterflies with her son, she is blogging at http://halfayard.blogspot.com/ or taking pictures of children.
No related posts.
