“Betseeeeeey, you ready?” Barrett called. “Yeah,” came her quick quip. It’s Saturday morning and we were well into our routine. I got up early and ran, Barrett took a shower, and then we headed for the quaint, dirty kitchen for our breakfast date. He putzed with the ingredients for berry pancakes while I made the coffee and asked him questions about the writer of Deuteronomy and other theories that I heard that week in class. We also talked about the documentary on hurricane Katrina and the destruction of the wetlands we had watched the night before as well as the World Fest that we happened to find. We continued to chat as we worked, glad for a break in our reading and studies.
Since I like my pancakes gooey in the middle, Barrett has had to perfect his pan toss flip perfectly…oops, today it did a one and a half twist and sprayed the floor with pancake innards making it perfectly gooey for me! We baptized them in hot syrup and waited for Betsy. After she beautified, we put her in her wheelchair and headed down the street to the farmers market in a church parking lot.
“We need some of that yellow squash! Oh look Colleen, those tomatoes are so big, we should get one! What is that in the jar? Oh, I don’t think we need strawberry jam! Those flowers are so beautiful! Give those guitarists some money!” We walked up and down the stands sampling the friendship bread, banana jam breakfast bars, and buying local coffee and eggs. We stopped and talked to old friends and made new friends along the way. With my bags packed with huge freshly made snickerdoodles, squash, zucchini, spinach artichoke dip, peppers, and Angus beef, we walked back home over each crack in the sidewalk glad for the “family” time and fresh air. We brewed a fresh pot of the newly purchased coffee and ate snickerdoodles as we talked about the upcoming bridge tournament at our house, strawberry-rhubarb crisp and what Betsy had fed to the birds the night before.
There’s nothing like the smell and feel of a fresh breeze, a walk along tree lined sidewalks saying hi to the neighbors, squeezing juicy tomatoes to buy, and the sounds of endless friendly chatter after a warm breakfast of berry pancakes and coffee. Im so thankful for Saturday mornings!