Felicity Niles, of Border Bee Company, who was there selling honey and beeswax products, was quick to correct people who were complaining about the so-called bees.

“Those are NOT bees, they’re wasps!” she said, staunchly defending the honey bee reputation.

Hugs have clearly made a comeback after the COVID pandemic. There were plenty of hugs in evidence as well as promises to “see you next year,” along with the oft repeated question, “Will you be at the Winter Market?”

Hosted by Keene Arts, in the Keene Arts Center in the former Methodist Church on state Route 9N, the Adirondack Farmers Market Cooperative will, for the first time, continue the Keene market on Sundays from Oct. 18 through Dec. 21. Market hours will be from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

The Winter Market will be considerably smaller, with fewer vendors, than the regular Keene Valley market. (To be fair, the regular market couldn’t fit inside the old church.) The market manager is Brendan Richardson. Vendors for the Winter Market will be Ron Rodgers of Motley Artist, Bernadette Martin of Saranac River Ranch, Mike and Michelle Kuba of Crown Point Farm & Dairy, Paul Besignano of War Cannon Spirits (a small-batch, Champlain Valley farm distillery), Simon Colley of Great Northern Pantry, Adam Hainer of Juniper Hill Farm, Dina Garvey of As you Wish Signs and Gifts, Rene Lussier of Muddy Trail Jerky, Ashlee Kleinhammer of North Country Creamery, Rachelle Waters of AHA Mushroom and Greg Rowe of Cornucopia Mushroom.

The Keene Farmers Market brings vendors, shoppers — and dogs — to Marcy Field every Sunday in summer. The market atmosphere is busy and friendly for people and dogs, a place to meet and greet. The Winter Market strikes me as a welcome continuation, probably without dogs, allowing market customers to make a more leisurely transition.

And speaking of making a more leisurely transition, now that Columbus/Indigenous Peoples Day is over, we should, according to the fashion police, have put away our summer clothes. This year we’re conveniently experiencing an abrupt transition from warm and sunny to chill and rainy weather the day after the holiday, making it easier.

As we all know, in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Ever since, we’ve been forbidden to wear white shoes or linen clothing or straw hats after the second Monday in October, simply because Christopher Columbus stepped ashore in the Bahamas on Oct. 12, 1492. It is high time to end this tyranny.

Yes, we are told to carefully pack away our summer garb, replacing it with “back-to-school” attire — but what if we don’t feel like it?

What if it’s warm enough to wear flipflops or shorts? What if you tend to “run hot?” Must we capitulate to the arbitrary restrictions associated with Columbus Day?

And what does Christopher Columbus have to do with it anyway?

Maybe burn a cinnamon-scented Yankee candle and celebrate with pumpkin spice coffee to commemorate old Chris’ fruitless search for the Land of Silks and Spices, always remembering that he landed in the Bahamas, never finding the fabled Orient, which was his goal.

We have had a beautiful Indian summer. When local people say that fall is their favorite time of year, I believe they are talking about this brief span following Columbus Day when many of the visitors have left, the weather is still mild and people have a few pleasant, restful days after a summer of hard work in the tourist industry. Friends and neighbors we haven’t seen for months are coming out of the woodwork, reclaiming the town.

Coming up: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas.

Surely we need not think about Christmas yet. We haven’t even started raking. Life is made up of cycles, so that just when an anxiety-inducing aspect, like overgrown zucchini, is passing away over the horizon, and we are happily waving it good-bye and shouting “See you next year!” another one is looming up.

At least this year we’ll have the last Winter Farmers Market on Dec. 21 for finding those last minute Christmas gifts.

Have a good week.

(Martha Allen, of Keene Valley, has been writing for the News since 1996.)