Flea market weekend

It has happened so rarely this year that yesterday afternoon was remarkable for its sheer summery-ness. My best friend Frootee and I got out of town -- we went to a giant outdoor flea market in St. Eustache. It was huge! There was tons and tons of new crap for sale -- cheap T-shirts, knock-off watches, perfume, faucets and showerheads, you name it -- as well as a few tables of food -- fruit and vegetables, baked goods, cheese curds. There were auto parts, golf clubs, fishing gear, and kitchen appliances. There was a life-sized motorcycle made out of wicker. There were puppies! Then there was all the old crap, which is what we were after. We pored over old dishes and vases and costume jewellery. Within an hour, Frootee was carrying a cardboard box filled with coffee mugs that resembled tree trunks, a pair of plastic sunglasses with "Max Headroom" printed all over them, and various other precious items. I forked out $4 for a necklace with three strands of giant blue baubles. (Neither of us bought an owl, for some reason -- maybe the display was too perfect to disrupt with a purchase.) When we came across draft beer being served out of a ten-foot apple, we headed back to the car to drop off the box, but when we got back the apple was closed. Still, we found beer being served elsewhere -- big plastic cups of Molson Ex for $3 -- so we bought our beer and kept walking around in the hot sunshine and agreed that it was the best summer day of the year.