Somewhere within me lives an inner artist, itching to express himself with beans. One of these days I'm going to do it. A portrait of Celia Cruz or a landscape of the Sacramento delta? I can't say but one of these days legume will hit canvas and a new vision will be revealed!  

In the meantime, with much more talent and much less fanfare, my pal Lena went ahead and drew this beautiful portrait of the beans, using more traditional methods, at the farmers market one busy Saturday last month. Lena's mom and dad are Andy and Julia Griffin of Mariquita Farm and I would probably get much more work done if they weren't so much fun to pal around with. Julia introduced me to tea breaks during a busy farmers market, and I believe Joan, who often works the booth with me, is glad to have me out of her hair for awhile.

For what it's worth. Lena is the only Girl Scout I have ever purchased cookies from.

If you want to leave a comment for Lena, I bet she'd get a kick out of it.