The morning of a recent farmers market, I decided to play the pick-a-color-and-notice-it game inspired by our friends at Daily Creative. I chose purple and promptly forgot about it, going about my day in a pink dress with purple peacocks on it.
Urban Pharm’s spot at the market faced a huge mural on the side of a brick building across the street. It wasn’t until the busy of setting up was done that I actually saw it: not the mural so much as its big swaths of purple. The universe, I imagine with a deep sigh and a giggle, sat back and watched me finally tune in to the parade of purple on offer. A teenager in a lavender top and plum leggings investigating honey. An older woman in purple tie-dye browsing eggplant at the stall across the way. A reusable bag the color of grape soda spilling out of an unzipped backpack. A purple hard cider can illustrated with psychedelic ghouls. And then the clincher: a customer reached into her bag and, wait for it, pulled out a purple credit card to pay for her shrub.
Our market manager, Abe, stopped by to say hi just after this last bit of purple bombing and was subjected to the whole story. Both the story and my delight were somewhat confusing, I’m sure, but he followed along well enough to look me up and down and say, “I get it, the purple peacocks!” I looked down at my dress and laughed. I’d been playing the game all morning without knowing it.
He also followed along well enough to catch Anne when she arrived and tell her she needed to conjure up some purple, going back to her car if necessary, because it would 100% make my day. Anne took the assignment seriously and arrived at the booth already rummaging through her bag. Nothing in there, but then we noticed a few purple spots on the outside of the Urban Pharm tote she’d Jackson Pollock-ed over the summer. Hooray!!
After handing things over to Anne, I made my rounds of the market, not looking for anything in particular, just checking things out. The shiso drew me in. Red and green bunches leaned together in a bucket, the red leaves ruffled and bruise-dark at the edges, and when I rubbed one between my fingers it smelled like basil and cinnamon were sitting on a bench chatting. A must. Also eucalyptus for the shower, field tomatoes (for tomato sandwiches, obviously), and a collection of heirloom apples with names I’d never heard before.
On the drive home I texted Anne, “What do you think about a one-off batch of red shiso and Concord grape shrub?” “Love it,” she texted back.
Out to dinner that night, a friend and I got into a conversation about the joy of browsing: at farmers markets, at antique stores, at tiny shops that sell nothing but handmade bellows. “I don’t actually need to own any of it,” my friend said. “It’s more like bathing my eyes in beauty.” “The beauty bath is such a good thing, isn’t it,” I agreed.
Picking a color is a noticing practice. You start out noticing, and before long you find yourself bathing in it, which is a gift of its own. Sometimes it goes further. Following the path of purple crumbs this time was not only fun; it ultimately led to the creation of something new.
Red shiso wasn’t on my radar. It wouldn’t have occurred to me to go looking for it. But Urban Pharm had planted me across from a purple mural, in a parade of purple strangers, a short walk from a bucket where the shiso was waiting.
Red shiso, Concord grape. That shrub is going to be purple. Of course it is. I’d been wearing the idea all day.
A little bonus for our Pharm Notes readers: We’re giving you first dibs on our new limited-edition Concord Grape & Red Shiso shrub before its official launch next week. Consider it a thank-you for being here and following along.
xo Jill