Falling Back, 3. Market Day

This morning I went to the Wednesday market in our town. If the festival of Guadalupe hadn't been cancelled, today's market wouldn't have been held. That was the first thing out of kilter.

The second thing was that everyone was wearing masks. I haven't been to market since last winter, I think. It now seems smaller, with fewer people, and some are a bit unrecognizable until they recognize you and say hello. 

The third thing was what almost every vendor was selling. Masks. Normally, on market day you can see the fashion most people will be wearing this or the coming season. And, now, the fashion most will be wearing is masks. There were all kinds of designs, colors, and even sizes. A woman was asking if a mask was a large size. Right now, masks are the fashion accessory everyone is buying to match their outfits. So much for bags, shoes, belts, brooches, or necklaces. 

Once upon a time, I used to haunt markets. I knew that on Monday there were none nearby, on Tuesdays in Boiro and Vilagarcía, Wednesday is Pobra do Caramiñal and Rianxo, Thursdays Noia and Santiago, Fridays a poor showing in Catoira, Saturdays in Ribeira and Vilagarcía, and Sundays in Padrón and Rianxo. Vilagarcía and Rianxo have two market days, the others just one; I don't know why. 

Now, I haven't gone to them in ages. I haven't been to Vilagarcía's market in maybe two years. Since Boiro twice changed the location of its market, I've been maybe three times, when I used to go every week. Pobra hasn't seen me in over a year; Padrón in maybe three years. The last time I went to Ribeira's market was well over fifteen years ago. Before today's visit to Rianxo, the last market I went to was Noia's, with my brother-in-law when they started up again after the lockdown this late spring.

You can find a lot of different things, from clothes, to bedding, to plants, to fruits and vegetables, to cheeses and cured meats, to underwear, to shoes, to leftovers from closed-out shops of kitchenwear, stationery, and once, even watches (I picked up a Seiko and a Pulsar for a song that time.). You will find everything that a lot of people will wear and use, so, unless you're buying stuff from a close-out, you won't find original things. 

Many older people will take advantage of market day to do their weekly shopping. I used to do that by going to Boiro on Tuesdays and doing the supermarket shopping, as well. Then, our daughter was born, and it was easier to wait for Saturday for my husband to go with me to help, especially the first weeks. My mother used to have me drive her into Rianxo on Wednesdays, where we would walk through the market, and then go up to the supermarkets for her shopping. A lot of local buses have, or used to have, more buses on market days, though now, most people go by car.

Around here, Padrón on Sunday was always pretty popular. Families would go to market, look around, maybe buy something, and then stay to have lunch at one of the food tents. Or they would go to a pulpería in town, where they would sit and eat pulpo, octopus, with its requisite red pepper, rock salt, and olive oil. Others would buy a large empanada to take home to eat. Whatever, Sundays in Padrón was something most people used to do as a family trip.

Now, it seems not so much, thanks more than anything to the devil virus. Our daughter went last Sunday to buy a pitchfork (at Padrón, an iron monger or two often sell their wares on Sunday), and she had no problem parking the car. Normally, going at eleven like she did, one would have to search under a rock to find a parking space. But the market was pretty empty last Sunday. 

Not all vendors are going to survive. The older ones will probably retire early, younger ones who can't make a profit will probably leave the market, and go into something else. Markets have been around for hundreds of years, but a blow like this one tends to take the sails out of a lot of businesses, selling from market to market, included. 

Life continues.

Other times.