Copyright © 2021 By Niccole Perrine
Printed with permission from the Author.
This is a series of short scenes featuring the Joy Family and Friends from the Joy Series as they visit and work at their local Farmers Market. The Joy Series is a fictional series. all characters and data is copyrighted by Niccole Perrine (c) 2019, 2020, 2021. and can be found at the Nampa Farmers Market where you can purchase signed copies by the Author. Additional copies may be purchased at nperrine.com.
Market Days
Chapter One
“Many Hands Make Light Work”
“Mom! Where are we supposed to set up?” Asked Tansy Joy, her curly hair plastered against her forehead in the spring morning rain.
“Miss Diane said spot forty-two.” Replied Mrs. Joy, as she wheeled a large box on wheels. Tansy’s sisters Flora and Fauna were close behind carrying camp chairs and a big chalkboard-painted sign that said “Radishes” on it. Tansy pushed her new baby sister, Willow, in a stroller.
“Mom, they should really find a way for folks to stay dry when they’re pushing a stroller!” Tansy complained. “Baby Willow is warm and cozy, but I’m drenched!”
“Try not to let it bother you.” Mrs. Joy advised. “It’s always cooler in the morning at the Farmer’s Market and it will warm up later. At least this way, all the farmers get their produce out when it’s still cool and fresh. Would you help me with the box?”
The box contained a large tent called a canopy. Now that the Joy ladies found their spot at the local Farmers’ Market, they unzipped the box and took out the large frame. After locking Baby Willow’s stroller into park, Flora, Fauna, Mrs. Joy, and Tansy each took a leg of the canopy and gently put it into position.
“One…two…three!” said Mrs. Joy. The Joys all worked together and finally, the tent was in place. “Great job girls!” said Mrs. Joy. “Many hands make light work!”
“What does that mean?” asked Fauna, confused.
“Oh, it’s one of those old sayings that means when we work as a team, we can make the work get done faster.” Replied Mrs. Joy. “I suppose it’s a bit old-fashioned.” “Oh.” Said Fauna. “I guess I never really thought about it that way.”
As the ladies worked together to make their booth ready, more of the people who worked the Farmers Market, also known as vendors, began to arrive. The misty rain soon disappeared, and the sun began to make its way into the sky.
“I guess teamwork is important but do why we set up so early?” asked Fauna.
“Well that’s easy!” replied Flora, her hands on her hips. “We want time to make sure everything is just right for our customers!” She continued to talk to her twin as they worked together. “We don’t want to be caught without all our things in order! Someone might not want to see what we have if we look like we don’t have time to talk to them.”
Mrs. Joy smiled at her girls after checking on the sleeping Baby Willow.
“That’s right girls.” She replied matter-of-factly. “Not only will it help us be better prepared, but we’ll be able to help others as well. Not everyone has a crackerjack crew of ladies to help get things settled.”
The girls all nodded.
“Mom, can we walk around before we sell our veggies for the day?” asked Tansy. “We’ll stay out of the way, but we’d like to see what everyone else is up to.”
“That sounds like a great plan.” Said Mrs. Joy. “Stay together and see what there is to see. Don’t bother anyone who doesn’t want to be bothered and stay within sight of our booth.”
“Thanks, Mom!” twelve-year-old Tansy said. “Let’s go look around!
“Great!” said the twins.
Fauna spoke again. “Let’s not dilly-dally. We have things to do if we want to be ready for the day!”
The girls started walking down the aisle at the Farmer’s Market. There were produce vendors setting out all kinds of vegetables, from rhubarb to celery to turnips to fresh peas. Everything looked new and happy in the morning light.
Men and women at the booths were all laughing and smiling and bantering back and forth.
The girls walked around some more and saw one lady who was having trouble with her canopy. She was all by herself with a ton of boxes marked fragile laying next to her.
“Do you think she needs help?” asked Tansy.
“We should ask her.” Said Fauna. “Those canopies aren’t easy to put up alone like that. She could get hurt!”
“Okay.” Said Flora. “But let me do the talking.”
“Right.” Said Tansy.
“Excuse me, miss?” Said Flora. “We are from booth number forty-two. Can we please help you? We have experience putting up canopies and it might be good to have extra hands.”
“Oh my! Yes!” said the Lady. She wiped her brow. “My name is Ginny I’ve never had to put this new canopy up by myself before and it’s a bit tricky!”
“Great!” said Tansy, pointing at her sisters. “You know what to do ladies!”
Each of the Joy sisters and Ginny worked together to put the sides up. Once that was done, the girls carefully and quickly helped Ginny set up her tables and tablecloths.
“Thank you so much for your help!” said Ginny. I don’t what I’d have done without you!”
“Well… you know what they say!” said Fauna. “Many hands make light work!”
