I didn't realize I loved the outdoors...

My dad is an outdoor guy. As children, we were encouraged to play sports, ride bikes, play with the neighborhood kids, and help my dad with outdoor chores. On spring break, we went to state and local parks and walked around for hours. We were frequently taken to local parks where we “hiked” short trails and just generally walked around in woods. I wasn’t a fan at all. Bugs and being sweaty all the time were boy things and my dad happened to also have two girls along with my three brothers. I wanted to be indoors playing Barbies or using my EZ Bake Oven and coloring. I complained a lot.

As I grew up, I DID play sports (soccer) in high school, and that was the extent of my outdoor time. In college, walking to classroom buildings was my only outdoor time. I do not camp or hike or generally walk around in the woods. Aside from swimming, which I adore, I never wanted to be outside.

When I had the retail bakery, there were two huge windows in the customer area. It was great out front: sunny, bakery cases full, retro tables, pink walls, the whole shebang.

But in the back, where we prepped and baked: windowless, dark, hot, suffocating.

SO MANY retail bakeries are this way. It's the same as when people complain their offices are cubicles with fluorescent lights. It's very depressing.

So, when I shut down the retail bakery and said I was going to do outdoor markets, my dad questioned my ability to handle the outdoors. Honestly, I thought about the heat before I made the decision (but I NEVER thought about the wind -why so windy?). The heat was a deterrent for sure. Humidity levels hurt my joints and cause extreme fatigue, so even being indoors is painful in the summer. I questioned my own ability to handle the outdoors too, but it seemed like my only option if I wanted to drop all the overhead.

I have completed a full cycle of outdoor markets (year round) in a state with all four seasons. It was definitely a learning curve. Was I sweaty in summer and freezing in winter? Yes. Did I dread long stretches of no customers when it was 100 degrees with no breeze? Absolutely brutal. Did I spend 4 hours holding my tent up in extreme winds? Yes. Did I sell baked goods out of the back of my trunk when there were tornadic winds at one of my first markets? Yes (why did anyone show up for that?).

You know what? I loved it. I was OUTSIDE. No more windowless, dimly lit, old, dark buildings. I watch the birds through the windows while I bake now. I dress for the weather. I am definitely sweaty, hot, and sleepy in the summer. But I walk around my neighborhood now. I garden in my backyard. I ENJOY the outdoors the way my dad did when I was a kid, and it only took 47 years to change my mind.