MOSES LAKE — The sun was out, a gentle breeze was blowing, and the crowd at the Moses Lake Farmers Market had the faint air of people emerging from a dungeon into the sunlight. After weeks of limited activity in accordance with Gov. Jay Inslee’s “stay home, stay healthy” measures, a lot of folks were really eager for the chance to get out.

To be sure, everything was not business as usual. Only businesses deemed essential were allowed to participate, and tables and benches had been removed to prevent folks from eating at the market. Hand sanitizer was available at the entrance to the market and people were encouraged to wear masks and keep a distance from each other. Nevertheless, people seemed to enjoy the feeling of normalcy.

The market also had slightly shorter hours, opening at 8 a.m. rather than 6 as in the past, and continuing until 1 p.m.

“People are ready to come back to the park, ready for the market to start,” said Ronna Woodward of Pies by Ronna.

One popular item was handmade masks, offered for sale by Alet Bosse of Sew Dutch. She couldn’t remember exactly how many masks she had brought to the market, but by a little after 9 a.m. she had sold almost half.

“It’s going like crazy,” she said. “The man masks are almost out. They’re going fast.”

Bosse, a member of the farmers market board, was taking lots of precautions. She kept two apron pockets for cash, one for money received from customers and the other to make change from, in order to minimize the number of people touching the bills.

Her husband, Martin, was also helping with safety precautions. He served as the market’s “scarecrowd,” dressed up as a scarecrow with a burlap mask and measuring tape on his sleeves, to mark the six feet recommended distance between patrons. He chatted with market goers in discussions about safety and health, encouraging them to follow the guidelines.

“We want to keep people six feet apart and keep them moving,” Alet Bosse said, “but we wanted to not be stern about it.”

Debbie Doran-Martinez, staffing her Cornfusion booth, said the restrictions were affecting her business, but things were still going well. Cornfusion sells a wide variety of flavors of popcorn, which vary from one week to the next.

“Obviously it’s a little different routine,” Doran-Martinez said. “We’re used to (customers) sampling the product. Now we have to guess what flavors people want and how much.”

A couple of booths away, Brenda Horat of B-Safe products, was selling hand sanitizer and beeswax.

What constitutes “essential” is “a little unclear right now,” Horat said. “Our market manager is working really hard to find out what we can and cannot sell. Hopefully we can get it sorted out by next Saturday.”

Fresh veggies certainly qualified as essential, and Santos Guadarrama of Royal Produce was out with spring crops of asparagus and salad onions. He had brought carrots too, he said, but those sold out quickly.

“It’s been a good day,” he said, “a blessed day.”

Pies by Ronna had also sold out of stock quickly. By 9:30 Woodward was just taking pre-orders for pies for next week.

“People are buying pies to put in the freezer,” she said with a chuckle. “Pie hoarding is a thing.”

Editor's note: this story has been modified to reflect that B-Safe Products was selling beeswax but not candles.