An earworm is not as fearsome as it sounds; it is a song you get stuck in your head. The experience can be embarrassing. You find yourself face-to-face with another startled shopper while singing “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” over the sound of full-blast air conditioning struggling against the dog days of August.
The experience can also be annoying. While the earworm fumbles how many half-steps are necessary to come down to the next passage of “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring,” office supplies may start to fly in over the upper edge of your cubicle. Inexpertly whistled or hummed, Bach’s greatest hits are tedious to coworkers.
Seasons in The County capture your earworm in a cage of quarter notes. These are often hits from golden oldies radio; many years of endless repetition may be the brain drill that produces its burrow. This summer started out with “Splish-Splash. I Was Taking a Bath” but later, we were bopping to “A Big, Bright Green, Pleasure Machine” and “The Morning Sun is Shining like a Red, Rubber Ball.”
In northern Maine, “To Everything There is a Season (turn, turn, turn).” This fall, our earworm cued up “They Call Me Mellow Yellow (Quite Right)” and our palette shifted from a pastel Monet to sharp-edged, vivid reds and oranges of O’Keefe. The opening credits for autumn in Aroostook brought both theme song and stunning cinematography … brilliant blue skies, gentle apple scented breezes, pastures and gardens that continued to produce right through September.
The extra growing days were welcome, of course, though venders at the Presque Isle Farmers’ Market felt a bit disoriented. Who ever heard of getting to nearly the end of September without a black frost?
This year, venders continue to have vegetables, fruits, preserves, and pickles available on their farms in October. However, Columbus Day Weekend is traditionally the end of our season. Perhaps this Saturday, your harvest should include business cards and contact information so you can continue to get good things to eat after the Market closes.
As always, Market members will miss our regular customers in the parking lot of the Aroostook Centre Mall on Saturday mornings. As we prepare to close out our market season, we thank you for your patronage and friendship.
“We had joy. We had fun. We had seasons in the sun …”
The Presque Isle Farmers’ Market contact person is Gail Maynard, who operates Orchard Hill Farm in Woodland with her husband, Stan. Their phone number is 498-8541 and their email is orchhill@gmail.com.
