Tuesday, September 24, 2013

In Which I Settle On A Mood


Today is a neither-nor day. It has been neither horrible nor great. It has been neither stormy nor clear. It has been neither terribly hot nor cool. I have felt neither well or frankly ill. 
Just...some netherworld of gray in-between.

Mr. Moon is on his way slowly home from Orlando. It is raining on the road and when I last talked to him, he had pulled over to let it pass. Lily and Jason came out today, the boys with their other grandmother and relatives from out of town, to help clean up some and decorate for the party. This is what the dining room wall looks like.


The presents are wrapped and put away where hopefully he will not find them. He wanted to have his party here this year because, "MerMer really likes birthdays."
I have no idea how he came up with that conviction. It is certainly not true but I will be glad to have his party here. My house is big enough, Lily and Jason's barely is. It makes sense and Owen feels as if this is as much his house as the one he sleeps in every night. So why not? I do joyfully celebrate my grandsons' birthdays. 

I walked this morning in my new shoes. It was a completely different physical activity. My old shoes were worn down past the sole if that is indeed possible, and yes, it is. It felt fine and the wildflowers are out in force, the butterflies, as I have mentioned, taking sips everywhere. 


I have never seen the likes of this year's Beauty Berry bloom. The stalks the berries are on are incredibly long and full. 


Well, I just looked up the Beauty Berry and find that it is more generally written Beautyberry and that its leaves can make a powerful mosquito repellent and that the berry can be made into jelly. I am not surprised. There is such a vast universe of information I am blind to. Now- will I try to make a repellent cream from the leaves? Jelly from the berry? 
I seriously doubt it. 
But I could, if I had to. 
Many people think the Beautyberry is poisonous but it is not. It just doesn't taste very good eaten right off the branch. It's odd how we accept things that we hear without doubt, without bothering to do a little research. I've been thinking about this in regards to Facebook a lot recently. We tree-hugging liberals accuse Right Wingers of posting things which do not bear the slightest burden of truth but it seems to me that we are guilty of the same. I see so many things on Facebook that just really don't seem quite...right and if you do a little searching, you may find that no, the facts presented are not necessarily true. For some reason this has been pissing me off and I should just stay off Facebook entirely and the only reason I don't is because I have a masochist streak. Well, that and loving my kids' posts and Billy's and a few other people's. There are good articles I am directed to which I would not have seen otherwise and so I am grateful for that but honestly- we all know that a hell of a lot of Facebook is crap. 
God. Sometimes I really cannot believe the things I waste my time on. 
I COULD BE MAKING BEAUTYBERRY JELLY! 
Or quilting or saving the planet or cleaning the grout in the showers. Something. But no, no. I'm having too much fun getting upset about Facebook posts. 

I have a feeling I'm not the only one and that only increases my sense of despair. 
Yeah. I think I'm feeling doomy today. That may be the word to describe it. 
Doom and Gloom. Which, by the way, is the name of a Rolling Stone song! Oh yeah, I've already told you that. Probably about forty-two times. 

Ah-lah. Oh well. Did you know that Mick Jagger is about to become a great-grandfather? 

Do you ever feel like you woke up in a world that you absolutely do not understand?
Get to be my age, look in the mirror. You'll know what I'm talking about.

Love...The Doomy Ms. Moon

13 comments:

  1. I am always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

    I love new walking shoes-makes a huge difference.

    All I've seen around me lately are dropping spiders-from trees, house lights, chairs, corners, etc.

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  2. Glad you got new shoes!

    My grandmother always used to say she didn't understand things -- like shows on TV -- and I thought it was funny. But now I completely get how she would be confused!

    I always thought the beautyberry was poisonous too. I certainly never heard of making jelly from it. Maybe it's like an elderberry -- you COULD eat it, but why?!

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  3. Nicol- It has been a spidery year here, too. My goodness. All the bugs have been out in force. New walking shoes are awesome, aren't they?
    Thank you for Owen's birthday greeting.

    Steve Reed- Could very well be although the few web sites I checked about making jelly with the beautyberry said it was delicious. Of course almost anything with as much sugar in it as jelly is going to taste all right.

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  4. I never considered Beautyberry to be edible, I thought that color was a message to not eat! Like you, I have a head full of neat things I could do, like rose hip jelly, but no, I won't get to that either. I hope I manage to take a walk, I dream that big. I'm glad your new shoes are working out, sometimes it's the little things, like new shoes or inserts that help chronic, old problems.
    Also, Owen's birthday at your house will be wonderful. He probably associates fantastic gatherings with his amazing Mer-Mer's house and wanted the best party in the universe there. I bet it will turn into a dance party! Have fun,
    xo

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  5. Ah, the Facebook. Created to bring us all together. Does my hatred for it translate? I'm glad you are able to find SOME redeeming quality in it. :)

    I have a sort of cherry tree in my yard that we were afraid of yet we all ate some cherries off it and no one died, so I guess I should pull out a book and research what it is and then maybe I can make some jelly or a pie with the berries next year. Live off the land a bit. LOL!

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  6. Salon is a lot like Facebook and Fox -- full of ridiculous untruths. I do like checking in with my peeps, though, now that I've unfriended the riff-raff.

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  7. Salon is a lot like Facebook and Fox -- full of ridiculous untruths. I do like checking in with my peeps, though, now that I've unfriended the riff-raff.

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  8. Or quilting or saving the planet or cleaning the grout in the showers. Something. But no, no. I'm having too much fun getting upset about Facebook posts.

    I have a feeling I'm not the only one and that only increases my sense of despair.

    My giggle-out-loud lines, sitting here at my desk :)

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  9. I guess beauty berry reminds me too much of some of the other poisonous berries like Jimson weed. I am glad to know that it is safe to eat. Had a full day today of driving around old haunts.

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  10. Mel- Owen associates my house with good times, I'm pretty sure. Mostly.
    I know- I, too, thought they were poisonous but obviously, not so. What? You're not making rosehip jelly? You slacker. Haha!

    heartinhand- I used to be a much better back-to-the-land hippie than I am now. God, I used to preserve everything.

    Elizabeth- What? Salon is full of bullshit too? Dang. Who do you trust?

    SJ- I love being able to make you laugh at work.

    Syd- Time-traveling. That's what you're doing.

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  11. I make beauty berry jelly because it is very pretty, it's free-ish, and the kids love it. When the bugs kill off everything I try to grow, there is still beauty berry, and I can make jelly and feel like I had a harvest. Can I give you a jar one day?

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  12. Food and Brew Love- Oh my! Really? I would love one. And hell, maybe you've inspired me to make a few pints. Maybe.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.