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The halves of watermelon fall away from the blade with a weighty thud: summer's fruit at its crunchy, juice-saturated best.

I offer some counsel to the graffiti-istes who decorate the brick walls behind my house. Hone your craft as you wish—creep to any public wall under cover of night and do what you will—but please consider both the relevance and impact of your message.

To wit, I offer the following:
Exhibit A: Graffiti with short-lived relevance.

I suspect its relevance is short-lived, like a tattered billboard that offers a half-off sale today only or a TV spot for a rebate that expired last week. But really what I'd like from my local graffiti-istes is something more substantial: an epigram, an imponderable to ponder whilst I brush my teeth. That said, I do enjoy the subtle way that you've signed your work.

Exhibit B: More to ponder.

Now this work from the graffiti-istes offers more to ponder: a simple act of labeling that which lies , a comment on the provenance of the building material, a remark on contemporary political debate — what? Although I can only see this exhibit by contorting myself over the sink, I rather like it and the multiplicity of meanings it suggests.

Among other tantalizing finds at the Rice Farmer's Market, we could not resist adopting these purple-hued oddities.

Bi-color long beans from the Rice Farmer's Market sport racing stripes

But these foot-long beans taste just like any other fresh green bean: good indeed. Thank you, farmer's market.

Farmer's markets seem to be popping up all over Houston. A few short years ago, I hunted desperately for one true market and now I find three or more within a few miles of the house. Nicely done, Houston! (Does this nascent crop of farmer's markets cancel out one of Houston's 20 afflictions?)

In the unseasonally cool evening, we strolled past the tents of the Rice Farmer's Market and tasted like royalty: chardonnay mustard, free range chicken, kahlua gelato, goat (!) milk, and some very fetching vegetables.

Ahh, the squash blossom! So lovely with its golden petals and delicate green stems. And so so tasty.

A trio of squash blossoms from the Rice Farmer's Market await their fate.

A squash blossom frittata is flavored with simmered onion and smoky paprika.