Conundrum

QUESTION:
Conundrum: we live in the south, we drink pale lemonade, fans in each room gently circulate the air, bookcases are bent with the weight of other's words, 

 green vines coil and twist around white porch columns, bees and birds hum ballads with their busyness

BUT

despite southern proclivities, I flit and dart about like a hummingbird, skittering here and there, looking for a place to land, rest my wings and reconnoiter. 

Something is off base with this mental image of southern charm and sleepy rivers. 

I search for the SLOW in Slow- Down Time?  Those cherished moments where I can wrap my mind around one thing only and be content. 

Check: I have new paintings. Check: filled a hard drive with summer's photographs. Check: battered "Idea" notebook brimming with blog post ideas. Despite available choices, I suffer from Brain Scatter!
No kidding it is real.
 Last night I had this crazy idea to "spontaneously" choose a photo from the thousands, post it, then figure out something to say that might be a smidgeon interesting.
  Decision made, easy peasy...now just do it but first lets dream on it.  

Spontaneous photo #5609...

Tomato Tasting Day in Charlotte

Into the Honda Accord went the GrandK's, Trader Joe plastic bags, one dollar bills and coins, and the ubiquitous sunscreen. We are heading to a real honest to goodness, old fashioned fruit and veggie market. Despite the oppressive heat the market was a bustling beehive bursting with sagging wood-slab tables laden with the bounty the neighboring farms provide; people stretching over landscapes of green onions to reach the "right" one (always furthest away); energized children, skin glistening with sweat and chocolate ice cream dribbling down their chins; a few "oldsters" sitting in any shadow of shade  available listening to live music and then the always LONG line to the French pastry chef.  No I am not kidding.  There is a bonafide French pastry chef/accent and all.

HOWEVER

This particular day was a bit unusual, the lure of a honest-to-goodness-tomato-tasting-contest beckoned us. Two tables were draped in patriotic red plastic cloths, a ribbon of styrofoam plates, and cucumber "stands" holding the official name of the tomatoes. Table #1: LARGE exotic reddish-purplish tomatoes, pale pink tomatoes, finally grocery-store red tomatoes. Table #2: held itty bitty tomatoes, which in turn were labeled; toothpicks in place for tasting; and a reference sheet and pencil stub to mark one's choices on.
This was a "serious" contest, folks, for the best ever tomato!  

Jabbing a toothpick into thick-diced tomatoes we were rewarded with a variety of tastes. Sweet-what-I-have-dreamed-of-all-summer tomatoes caught our attention.    

We didn't  stay around to see who the GRANDE DAME of TOMATOES was...  But amongst our family we pretty much came up with the same two or three choices.  

Back home, the reward for our hard work was an afternoon picnic of farmer's bread and tomatoes.