Monday, December 16, 2013

As Owen Would Say, "I Did It!"

Here is what I learned today: the Tractor Supply Store in Monticello is perhaps the best place in the entire world to Christmas shop. Well, sure, maybe not the entire world but my world.

I walked in and I just felt so at home. They had tractor supplies of course but they also had poultry waterers and chicken party mix made with raisins and broccoli and peas and sunflower seeds and meal worms



and they had pig feed and all kinds of farm animal toys and little farm sets and miniature trucks to haul your little farm animals around in and everyone there was so kind.
They did have just the boots I wanted, real leather and reasonably priced but they did not have Owen's size. I asked one of the guys working there if maybe they had more in the back. He said that no, they did not, but he could call Valdosta or Tallahassee to see if they had any. And the Tallahassee store did and Mr. Moon has already picked them up and so Owen shall get his boots. And this same guy was singing along to the Christmas carols and a little bit out of tune but he was so unself-conscious and innocent about it, just singing along, and his name tag said, "Moon".
"Is your last name Moon? I asked him.
"Yes," he said.
"So is mine!"
And we bonded and it was lovely.

There was a lady shopping with a little pointy-eared dog in her cart and a kindly older gent shopping for gun cabinets with a large boxer/bulldog mix fellow and that was the prettiest dog and I patted him and it was sweet. Although I wish with all of my heart that I was not a dog owner, I do not dislike dogs at all and can appreciate a friendly encounter with one as well as the next person. Whenever the man would open up one of the gun cabinets, the dog would poke his snout in to see if it met his approval as if perhaps they were shopping for a new apartment just for him. It was jolly.
Another man was looking for directions to Washington Road and none of us knew where Washington Road was but then a man who was wearing a Monticello Utilities Services uniform told him that Washington Road is also Highway 90 and he told him how to get there and we all went, "Really? Really? I didn't know that!" and we were so amazed. Every one of us in the store.
And I bought Owen and Gibson camo overalls and if you had told me even ten years ago that I would be buying my grandsons camo overalls I would have laughed and laughed and told you that you were insane.
Oh well. Life happens.
I bought Mr. Moon and Hank little presents and all-in-all, it was just a joyful holiday shopping experience.

I went into Monticello proper and ran into Kathleen and her husband. Kathleen was sending packages off in the mail. I do believe she makes and sends presents to everyone she knows. She is so good, that woman. So very, very good. I shopped in a few antique stores but found nothing of great interest and then I came home and finished Owen's quilt.



I hope he likes it. It is very soft.

And I packed Mr. Moon's snack bag and made his coffee drink and sent him off to Orlando and then...I put up the nativity. I cleared the mantel in the dining room and I picked magnolia branches to place around it as is my ritual and I did it.



I put Buddha behind the baby, I draped the lights.


Can you see the happy Buddha? I think that he is saying, "Yes! I am God too! We are all god, including you, you sweet donkey and you, you precious cow and of course you, you newborn baby, be you boy or be you girl. Let us all be joyful in our god and monkey souls!"

Or something like that. 

I have realized that none of the Christmas shenanigans is going to occur at my house so every bit of decorating I do is for me and Mr. Moon who could not care less and so whatever it is I do must make me happy and that, that tiny nativity that I bought so long ago when Hank and May were little children, with the magnolia branches around it, with the tacky lights draped through and over it all- that makes me happy.

And so I have come back to the world or at least in as far as I can come, healed by the off-tune singing of a man named Moon at the Monticello Tractor Supply, by the finding of boots for my grandson, by the generous pouring of the sunlight over the part of the planet I live on. Also by the generous gift a friend sent for Owen and Gibson- a book so large that I staggered home from the post office with it under my arm, by the conversation I had on the phone with Hank, by the hug of a friend, by the kiss of a husband, by the warm attention of a dog whose fur was as soft as could be, whose eyes were as intelligent as any human's, by the fact that there are packages of Garden Delight in the world for chickens.
Let us all have sweet and good dreams tonight wherein we are all at home and where we are happy to be. 

Love...Ms. Moon






20 comments:

  1. Owen's blanket is beautiful and I am happy you got his boots.

    I think I see mealworms behind the bag of chicken treats, the same one I ordered online. Only a crazy woman orders mealworms for a chicken that doesn't lay her eggs anymore. I will look up the tractor supply here, there has to be one somewhere.

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  2. You are rich, Ms Moon, indeed.

    Now I have to add a quilt in addition to a snack bag to my wish list of things Ms Moon will make for me, and here you are taunting me with both in one post, devil woman :)

    I love you. Sweet dreams! Glad you got a boy his boots. And a quit. May he be tough as leather, soft as a feather.

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  3. Wonderful quilt!

    The dog makes me think of my Selma, such a wonderful dog I had for so many years. Every time a package would come in the mail, she would demand to inspect it, certain that there was something for here. 80% of the time, she was right. She was very loved, far and wide.

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  4. What a wonderful bedtime story, Ms. Moon! I can just see this as a Capra movie! Pleasant dreams!!

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  5. That store sounds like a lot of fun. I know I would enjoy wandering around there. So glad they found the boots. And your quilt is so lovely. Owen will surely love it.
    Your nativity is perfect.
    I hope sweet dreams tonight for all of us. xo

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  6. That green Owen quilt is a beauty. Such vibrant greens.

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  7. I was ready to sample the Garden Delight myself until you mentioned the mealworms. Some people eat mealworms but I am not ready to go there.

    So glad you got the boots, and that quilt is GREAT! He will treasure that all his life.

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  8. I love the quilt and your conversation in the tractor store and all the rest. Most of all, I'm glad that you were happy.

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  9. Yes, you sure as hell DID do it. The tractor supply store sounds lovely. We have smaller stores like that here in MN and also huge ones bigger than walmart called Mills Fleet Farm. That store kicks butt.

    The quilt is beautiful. It will mean so much to Owen.

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  10. It sounds like you had a wonderful day. And the "Moon" man at the store? Awesome! On my way to work each day, I pass a Moon Road and a Manning Road. Coincidence that these roads share names with my blog sisters? I think not! It's all a bit of magic, in my opinion.

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  11. days don't get better than that. Owen's quilt is wonderful and he will cherish it, and buddha definitely belongs tacky lights and all. and I don't care what the live traffic feed told you, I am not in Palacios. Palacios is farther down the road.

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  12. ooh, I love the quilt! Great job. Lovely post. You inspired me. To do what I'm not sure yet. You just lifted me up with your shopping experience. I want to buy garden delight for your chickens.

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  13. Gail- I did not buy the Garden Delight. My chickens not only don't lay eggs, they get every sort of treat from my kitchen and whatever they can forage out of the yard. But maybe one of these days I'll get them some.

    Rebecca- Thank you. He won't care a thing about it now but maybe someday...

    SJ- I told Owen last week that I was making him a Christmas present. He hung his head and wailed, "This is going to be the worst Christmas EVER!" True story.

    NOLA- And some dogs are like that. I was happy to meet this one yesterday.

    Sylvia- I did have pleasant dreams. Thank you! I hope you did too!

    Mel- See above as to Owen's possible true delight in the quilt. Haha.

    Mary LA- Yes. WE can appreciate the quilt.

    Steve Reed- I hope those boots fit him nicely. They are handsome.
    Yeah, I'm not especially into eating meal worms although they may be quite tasty.

    Elizabeth- It was a fleeting moment. Ha!

    Jill- I'd so much rather go to a Farm Supply place than the mall. With all of my heart.

    Nancy- There used to be a blogger whose last name is also the name of a street I cross when I walk here in Lloyd. That seemed a little bit magical to me as well. I know what you mean.

    Ellen Abbott- I never look at that thing. Well, unless I'm trying to figure out where some spammy comment came from. But I trust your word. I always come up as being from Tallahassee which we know is not true.

    Bethany- You could make granola out of that stuff! And give it to that patron who always gives you backhanded compliments.

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  14. Just to clarify, I ordered my feral chicken the mealworms to entice her to lay eggs in my yard. I wasn't calling you crazy.

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  15. Ms Moon....that Owen tidbit is amazing and I love it.

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  16. Amazing how the healing things can be so simple. And the quilt is really lovely.

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  17. Gail- Oh my god, NO! I was apologizing for NOT getting any for my chickens. Let me know if you lure her back with that stuff.

    SJ- I had to assure him that I was also buying him presents. He is so dramatic. I swear.

    Stephanie- Thank you, darling!

    Syd- If I were a kid, I think I'd like it.

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  18. Oh she comes over and eats them alright, even squawks at my front door for them. She has either stopped laying or found a better hiding place.

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