Getting Ready To Get Ready To Leave

Is it possible that I haven't been to Dog Island since last May? I swear to you, that's the last time I remember being there. I've gone back through the blog some but hell, I'm way too prolific to actually go through an entire year. Please.

Anyway, I am sure we were there in May. Jessie and Vergil came and also Jessie's Mama and her husband and we had a really nice time. Lily and Jason and the boys came over for a short visit and Gibson was only two months old. Not quite, actually. Here's what he looked like in Vergil's mother's arms.

That boy's going to be a year old next week. Do you realize that? A year old. Oh my. 

Anyway, it's been quite a while since I was on the island and that always means that I have no idea what's over there and what isn't. For those of you who are new here, Dog Island is a small barrier island off the coast near here where we own, with a friend, a very small house on the bay and it's sort of a shack but it's sweet and since there's no bridge to the island, it's extremely quiet. There is no commerce on the island whatsoever although we have electricity and a phone. No TV. No wifi, either, so if I blog, I do it with the iPhone and that is a tedious thing to do but I am so addicted to blogging that I do it anyway and I can certainly put pictures up and honestly, that's all I need to send from the island because it truly is beautiful. It's the real Florida in all ways, wild as can be for the most part. There are a few dirt roads that'll trap your car if you're not careful but mostly it's beach and bay and woods and swamp. Nothing to buy there, nothing to do but fish and lay about, take good walks and read and dream and play games and cook crazy meals and sleep. And swim, of course, if it's warm enough which it definitely will not be this week. 

But if you get over there and you didn't bring coffee, say, then you really have no coffee. A trip to the store involves a car trip down that dirt road to the dock a few miles from the house and then a three mile boat ride across the bay and then another ten miles to a store that's worth anything. So you try to take everything you're going to need and of course I always take too much which is why there are probably five bags of self-rising flour there and yes, I'll be taking coffee because god knows I can't live without coffee. And water. We don't drink the water that comes from the tap although we bathe in it and wash the dishes in it. So it's always a crap-shoot when I go shopping for a trip to the island but we've never run out of food and that's the truth. We usually come home with a cooler full of leftovers. That is the way of the island. Mr. Moon says he has a list of "need" and "don't need" on his phone and good for him. I'll peruse it before I go shopping tomorrow. 

I'm looking forward to going a lot. Mr. Moon and I are good travelers together and when we are alone together, we usually get along pretty darn well. That is a blessing. These past few months have been way too full of difficulties and stress and busy-ness. We need a break. And on the island, we'll get one. We'll build our days around which birds we see, what the weather brings, and the sunsets which are always magnificent. 

It is suddenly so quiet in Lloyd. The sky is very gray and the wind which has blown all day has stopped and it is as still as it can be. Even the birds are quiet. That reminds me of something that happened yesterday at the party which was that while we were all sitting around the tables outside, there was a sudden commotion overhead. A hawk had taken a cardinal and as we all watched, the hawk carried the poor red bird over the railroad tracks and into the woods. 

"Nature red in tooth and claw," murmured Kati beside me and Lily cheerfully announced, "That's a good omen!" 

We all laughed. 

Nature is not all baby chicks and blooming daffodils. Certainly not here in Florida. 

Owen was off with this grandfather when this happened so I told him about it later. He looked at me when I was finished with the story and said, "That was so RUDE!" 

Haha!

My boy. 

I am going to miss him and his brother while I am on the island but I'm sure we'll all survive. 

Ah. The wind is back. I think we might get a storm tonight.

Tomorrow I will shop and the next day we will go to the island, the good Lord willing, the creek don't rise, and the boat runs the way it should.

Good evening, y'all. 

Love...Ms. Moon