Carrying the Weight of the Summer

We went to the farmers' market inside Lincoln Square this morning. As we were walking out Ernie cheerfully complained how heavy the bag was. It was full of cauliflower, brussels sprouts, bok choy, sweet potatoes, gold potatoes and broccoli....all the vegetables of fall. I thought for a moment, and realized that even though we fill our bag up as much in the spring, the vegetables are so much lighter----the lettuces, greens and radishes of early harvests. And then in the summer the vegetables get heavier with tomatoes and corn and beans coming in...and then the sturdy fall root vegetables weigh even more. It's as though the weight of all the sun and all the rain builds up in them and they are full of the weight of summer. I've never thought about that before but it made me kind of happy.