Strange Day

Bad start to a strange day. The electricity went off right before we got up, right before the coffee got made  and it's that crazy sort of weather that makes you all itchy and sticky because Subtropical Storm Beryl is somewhere in the vicinity or at least in the state, playing havoc with the air pressure and sucking all of the energy out and away, leaving us flat and drained of all energy.

All of my tick bites and all of my chigger bites have come together in a strange concert of intense itching and the air is alternately completely still and then suddenly gathering itself and moving, swishing the leaves in an ominous dance.

I called the electric company and the nice lady apologized profusely, which they always do but at least she didn't ask me if there was anything else she could do because that always makes me want to yell something like, "Sure! Come on over and wash my windows!" I mean- what in hell CAN she do besides report the outage and of course they already know there's an outage. She told me they were looking for the source and apologized again.

But before I'd hardly gotten off the phone, the lights were back on and the percolator Mr. Moon had set on the gas stove had almost finished its burping and gurgling and so all of a sudden, all riches were restored, lights, fans, and best of all, coffee.

Still, the itchiness continues and yes, it is sticky but at least I can see in my kitchen. I cooked bacon and French toast out of bread I made yesterday which I let rise too long and so, after baking, resembled giant hot dog buns but is making nice French toast, golden yellow from our eggs.

Yesterday Mr. Moon spent hours putting up smaller wire around the bottom of the coop so that the babies can't get out and hopefully, we shall preserve one of Flopsy's chicks, at least. The teenagers, too, who are still six in number.

Last night was chaotic and both boys were not in the best of moods. For some reason Gibson decided to be a little bitchy and gritchy and we all took turns rocking him and trying to soothe him. Owen had had a five-minute nap in the car and was a demanding little man. When they got to the house and he woke up he informed me that it was a BIRTHDAY and that HANK was coming which cracked me up. But then he spent most of the night trying to force May to play with him and she did. Jessie came in from the festival and is here now and will be leaving in awhile to back to Asheville and my heart can hardly stand these comings-in and goings-out. But. It is the way.

Speaking of, Flopsy laid an egg this morning, first one in forever, and immediately demanded out of the coop. This is traumatic. Her baby chirped and chirped, sadly, pathetically, calling for her mother, and Flopsy went back and forth between the coop and the flock for awhile but then girded her loins and chose the flock. Does this mean she is done being a mother? Poor baby chick whose siblings are all gone and now she has been abandoned by her mother too.

Nature is cruel.

As we ate our breakfast, Jessie pointed out that maybe it would be easier for humans if the parents were the ones to move away, rather than the kids. The kid turns sixteen and the parents move to Boca. Or something like that.

I don't know. All I know is that it's a gray day and we might go to town to see Moonrise Kingdom with Hank and May and that thought cheers me some. I hardly ever go see a movie and this is one I've been wanting to see for ages and ages and ages.

And then we'll come out of the theater and see what the weather is doing, shaking our heads at the reality of the day after having spent a couple of hours in the conjured atmosphere of the movie theater and a damn yellow-fly bit my foot when we were eating our breakfast outside and those bites itch so much that the tick and chigger bites are no longer claiming my attention. In fact, my swollen foot is driving me mad and I can hardly write this. I sort of want to just overdose on Benadryl and go back to bed and sleep through this day but one doesn't really do things like that. Not for a few yellow-fly bites and a mean-skyed day.

Nope. Not even for that.

Jessie is loading her car.

We go on.