Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Still Life With Beans


I have been wanting to put up a new header picture and I actually and thoughtfully arranged what you see above and took three pictures and did not realize until I had destroyed the elements by putting three eggs to boil that one of the eggs has a very dirty face and so, I shall not use it as a header, although really, I probably should anyway. Sometimes eggs have shit on them and that's just the way it is.

Do you see that big blue egg at the top? That is the same-sized egg as the one I got yesterday and the same color, too, and when I cracked yesterday's egg this morning for my breakfast I found two perfect yolks. Twins, as it were.

Anyway, eggs and beans and roses. And maiden-hair fern. I am in love with my new hens, as in love as Elvis is, but I am in love with them because of the beautiful blue eggs they are giving me. Blue and brown and let's face it- the blue ones charm me the most and why shouldn't they? I am not sure what has caused Elvis to be in love with the new hens but I think it may have something to do with their lovely fluffy butts. Ah. Sex. Ah. Love. Ah. The continuation of the species. Or in this case, protein for the humans. But if one of the new hens wants to set on her eggs, I will joyfully let her.

The beans are what's left from one bean plant in the garden. They are as beautiful as the eggs in their own way. I spent awhile in the garden this evening, weeding and getting the dirt ready for the fall garden of lettuces and onions and perhaps beets. Who knows? We shall see.

Today was amazing. The light, the air, the temperature, the humidity. The humidity, my friends, was less than fifty percent. The temperature was less than ninety degrees. I read in the paper today that this past August was one of the hottest Augusts on record and you cannot even begin to know what that means unless you live here in a place where August is always and without ceasing, unbearable. So today's relative dryness and coolness has been like finding that you have wings you did not know about. That is what a gift and miracle it was. It's supposed to get down to fifty-eight tonight and I can't even believe that. Working in the dirt was a joy and everything has been a joy today. Even going to town. Everywhere I went, people were talking about the weather- how good it felt. I saw a woman with long sleeves on in the library. Long sleeves.

Here's something funny- you know how people always say that time passes so much more quickly when you get older? It's true. It's so true that I don't even bother to put my down comforter (AKA, the Duck) away in a plastic bag during the summer. I just stuff it in my closet in a basket. Time passes so quickly these days that I can't even be bothered with storing things away for winter. And yet, it's like I always say about the first months of motherhood- they go like a blink of the eye, and yet, some nights last for decades.
Those walking-the-floor with a crying baby on your shoulder nights. This summer has had its fill of days that passed like centuries and yet, can it really and truly be fall again? Already?

The number of flies in the kitchen has decreased dramatically today. I had a beautiful and loving talk with Kathleen on the phone. I made the two phone calls I was dreading to make. I went to the library. I went to the grocery store. I weeded in the garden. Mr. Moon is playing cards in town tonight and I am going to eat leftover chili for supper. The very air I breathe in brings me memories of sweetness and nights of cool sheets and reaching for the covers. I gathered eggs and one of them was still warm. I talked to Lily and she told me that their power went out last night too and that when they lit candles, Owen kept saying, "Happy" in a singsong voice and they realized he was trying to sing Happy Birthday which is what he associates candles with. I am a grandmother, a mother, a wife, a woman who, although she mostly stays home these days, has done some things, has gone some places. I took a picture of eggs and beans and roses and maidenhair fern. I prepared the earth for the slipping-in of seeds.

I can't ask for much more than that.

Nor will I. As time passes so quickly I am grabbing up this day and holding it close.

I hear goats and birds fussing and beyond that, not much.

I am alive.

Bless my old heart. I am alive.

25 comments:

  1. You make me want to move to Lloyd. But I suppose I'd need your other life-parts, too-

    You make me want to move to Lloyd, marry Mr. Moon, raise four beautiful children and build a chicken coop.

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  2. That won't do at all. I still wouldn't have all your Ms.Moon-parts.

    I supposed I'll just move to a more rural spot and start building my Me-parts.

    Does this make any sense? I have acid reflux. I think it's making me a little crazy.

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  3. This is such a total affirmation of life, and no, I don't particularly like the word affirmation but it does seem to work well here. This is a beautiful description of life and who you are. You made me smile--big.

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  4. I hate August so much...I am breathing so much easier, it's unbelievable.

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  5. I think your photo is gorgeous. I was admiring the colors and composition and thinking what a pretty header it would make ~ didn't even notice the discolored egg!

    That was pretty cute about Owen singing "happy" :)

    The heat and humidity is a bit lower here, too, and the sky has been a strikingly beautiful autumn blue. Love it.

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  6. Before you, Ms. Moon, I had no idea eggs came in so many colors. I fear I am too removed from the earth. Perhaps I am suffering from to much concrete, that is all. Love to you. This is a divine post, a goddess post. you are a goddess.

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  7. ooohh... so envious of the eggs...

    so scared of the predators...

    maybe I'll be bwave come spring...

    xoxoxo

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  8. Nicely done on the photo and egg arrangement. Glad that the new hens are lovable by you and Elvis.

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  9. It's amazing what cool weather will do.

    I am happy that you're relieved and happy.

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  10. Aw, Owen thought there would be cake.

    I ran into dad at the Corner Pocket. I was leading trivia, he was playing poker. Dunno how he did, but I walked out with cash.

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  11. The eggs and your writing are beautiful (as usual), Ms. Moon. :)

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  12. Hey!

    We fed the goats today and have a shortish story to tell. (Harley stayed home today because he was sniffly)

    Ok, so we saw this really cool butterfly and followed him over to your herb garden. We were checking him out when something moved ever so slightly in the herbs... I had a small panic attack thinking it was a snake, and it turned out to be a chicken! So we were laughing about the silly chicken in the garden when all of a sudden Harley announces 2~ 2 chickens in the garden mom! hahahaha! Then 3 and so on, till we finally ended with I think 6 or 7. It was pretty sweet.

    Also many of them looked like the new ones. Boy are they lovely. I'm not a really so much a chicken person, but they ARE pretty ones! and very polite.
    xo

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  13. OOoooh, I love your still life.......I don't see any dirty eggs.....they just look natural and lovely. Do use it as your banner.
    ox

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  14. Beautiful eggs. A farmer's wife gave em a bowl of cream and brown and greeny duck eggs and I am wondering if I should just treat them as if they were chicken eggs or cook something special with them.

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  15. If you grow beets, I will visit. We will make a wonderful beet salad I learned in Russia (them folks know their beets!) and feel very earthy.

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  16. You have captured in your thoughts what I have felt of the passage of time. The too shortness of a day with children. I would relish a long night with an awake baby all over and over again just so I could hold a baby and smell their sweet soft skin...inhale my babies.

    And our fresh hens eggs are like life...never perfect...but each comes in its own unique shell, s*** and all.

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  17. I want to hold those lovely eggs in my hands, they are triumphant. So are you, Ms. Moon. :)

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  18. It sounded like a great day. Tempus fugit, man.

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  19. I love you and I love that photo - it's a beautiful still life that illustrates your ever-moving life, my dear friend!

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  20. Dear Ms Moon...the arrangement is beautiful!!! That maidenhair fern is dreamy. I love your chickens! I think I may want some of my own.
    Glad things are cooling down a bit especially since i am making my way east in a couple weeks.
    Love,
    Yo
    PS I find long white cotton or linen sleeves to be ideal for hot weather.
    is that really crazy?

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  21. See Kate Run- It all makes perfect sense to me.

    Towanda- Thank-you, dear.

    SJ- August was unbearable. And yet, we did bear it. How?

    Lulumarie- We do have our seasons here, don't we? They may not be the "traditional" ones, but we have them.

    Angella- I can't even imagine how I would live in all of that concrete. I am pretty sure that I am not suited to it but you know- some people are and that's okay. I envy you some of your city- that great place where things are done and where so many people manage to live lives of love and learning and art and growth and everyday things like meals and books. Here I am to show you eggs and there you are to show me what only you can show me. This is good.

    Michelle- Spring would be the best time anyway.

    Syd- Ah, we both love them but for such different reasons. I think!
    Who knows? Perhaps he admires their beautiful eggs too.

    Elizabeth- Weather affects us so much more than we know.

    DTG- He told me! Said you had a good crowd and you were most impressive!
    And yes, I am sure that Owen thought there would be cake. Or...pie.

    Nicol- Thank-you, sweetness.

    Lisa- Well, interesting ones at least. Always.

    Ms. Fleur- What a great story! Yes, they love that little garden. They do such a good job of keeping it weeded and fertilized, too.

    Lo- I might.

    Mary LA- I have never used duck eggs. Ever. I would have no idea.

    NOLA- Mr. Moon hates beets and I have never had any luck with growing them but I am going to try anyway. I would love that salad!

    Ellen- I tend to think of each egg as perfect in its very own way. Even yes, with shit on it.

    Silverfinofhope- They feel SO good in the palm, those eggs.

    Ms. Bastard-Beloved- Amen, sister.

    Kati- Yes. As I move from the house to the garden to the hen house and back again...
    Love you, too.

    Stephanie- And back at you, Ms. Mama.

    Ms. Yo- I think you would love chickens. They are the very best and I do believe we are wired to feel more content with them around. As to sleeves- it has been so hot here that we want nothing touching our skin that does not have to. It is a bit better now and sleeves do not seem ridiculous.

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  22. Such beauty and bounty that Nature provides (along with a lot of hard work from the humans involved.)
    The heat has taken a cross country trip and come to Southern California. A hundred degrees or so yesterday and today in the San Gabriel Valley. Hoping the winds stay civilized.

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  23. I know just what you mean. I have no idea where summer went. Seems to have slipped through my fingers.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.