Sunday, July 10, 2016

Attitude And So Forth


Yesterday as I worked outside I was listening to that book. I had to give Mary Gaitskill credit for her writing, for the gritty realism presented through the story of a former model whose life has been in a downward spiral for quite some time.
Finally, last night, I just couldn't take the grit or the realism any more.
So I downloaded this.


I started listening to it this morning and, well...sigh.

I love it. 

And before anyone jumps on me for not being able to deal with reality, let me just point out that "Pontoon" starts out with the death of an eighty-two year old woman and there are books and chickens and unhappy children and disappointment and post-menopausal sex and things that are far more real to me than what Ms. Gaitskill writes about in her book where the realities include S&M clubs in Paris in the 80's. I think it was the 80's. Whenever it was, it was mighty sad. 
And I'm very glad that's never been my reality. 
I'll probably go back to "Veronica" but for right now, today, on this hot and sunny Sunday in North Florida, I'm happy to listen to a story about a woman who, when she reached the age of 80 quit worrying about things like a sagging porch. 
"That makes two of us," she says, and gets on with her life. 
And of course, it's read by Garrison himself which is perfect. When the woman's daughter finds her mother dead in her bed, she immediately wants to call someone to say, "My mama's DAID," and the way Mr. Keillor says it is the way I'm sure he heard it when he wrote it and what could be better than that?

Well, onward. 
I think Lily's coming over with the kids and Mr. Moon is setting up the kid pool where I used to sit with Owen in my lap when he was a baby. 
I stole this picture off of Facebook this morning. 


The child can't quit eating and what he's holding there is what he requested his mama fix him this morning which is a pepper with carrots grated into it. Hopefully, he can make a dent in some of the fruit around here. He's growing so fast and so are his brother and his sister and it's a joy to see but heartbreaking at the same time and as they grow up, I am growing old, and it's...interesting.

Give me something with a twenty-year warranty and I'll say, "That'll do and may be excessive."
Send me to take the trash and I'll remember everything except the trash in the actual trash can which needs to go. Put me in a hallway and I won't remember where I was headed or for what purpose. I can take my earbuds out of my phone, set them someplace while thinking, "It'll be easy for me to find them here when I need them again," and an hour later when I do need them again I can remember the whole thing except for where I put them. 

Oh well. As long as I can read a book and remember to feed the animals and how to cook peas and rice and do the laundry, we'll be okay. I get pretty good exercise, wandering around this spread-out old house trying to remember where I was going and why I was going there. 

Thankfully there is Google and I am grateful for that instant method of trying to remember the name of something I have forgotten and then there's always the old-fashioned thesaurus, even though I may use the one on my laptop. And a husband who, unfortunately, understands my forgetfulness completely. I wish I would stop losing things though. I took my go-to bathing suit to Cuba, never once used it or even took it out of the suitcase and now I can't find it for love nor money. I also lost the guava seeds I carefully wrapped in brown paper and hid in order to smuggle in and I blame Lis for that because as I was doing it I told her, "Remember where I'm putting these," and she can't. 
Okay. I'm not really blaming her.

And we're not even going to get into the discussion of how the simple act of cutting my toenails can give me a cramp in my side. 

God. It's pathetic. You spend half your life just yearning to grow up and do grown-up things and then you do and you are and you take a breath and suddenly and without warning, here you are having difficulty getting down on your knees to get a pot from under the counter and by the time you get back up with it, you can't remember what the fuck you were going to cook in it. 

Yeah. Go ahead. Laugh. It's pretty funny. 

And I'd far rather laugh than be horrified although sometimes it's impossible not to be. 
Horrified, that is. 

And I suppose that's why I like "Pontoon" better than that other book where the woman was beautiful and had crazy, wild experiences which have resulted in vast and life-threatening and soul-sucking problems as she reaches her LATE FORTIES and has very little reason to laugh and a great deal to be horrified about.

I better go clean up from breakfast as the boys will be here soon and want some lunch. 

And that's the news from Lloyd where the women are strong, the men are good-looking and the children are always hungry. 

Love...Ms. Moon

14 comments:

  1. Apparently daily coconut oil stops the Alzheimer's.

    I don't know, I've always been like this, so how it's going to be in 20 years is a terrifying vista for me.

    Those chubby legs sticking out in the bottom of Owen's photo, they're so perfect I can't tell if they're doll legs or baby legs!

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  2. I loved this post, and the last sentence was the clencher! :)

    I <3 Mary Moon!

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  3. Your posts are the best stories around.

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  4. I freely admit that I laughed just where you knew we would :)

    I hear you. And I feel life is too short to read stuff that doesn't appeal. And don't let those voices in your head tell you that it's (and now I can't find the dang word I wanted!! See?) it's ... avoidance, there's the word. It's not avoidance, it's choosing how to use our remaining precious years wisely. There are plenty other serious things in the world that we do engage with. Our lives, our choices.

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  5. I read a book yesterday that I absolutely loathed but couldn't put down. It was about a pair of women who were friends and their husbands and of course, wife #1 banged husband #2 and wife #2 banged husband #1 and it was so dang stupid, yet I couldn't put it down because sometimes you just need a distraction!!
    Good luck with your seeds and your swimsuit. And anything else you misplace today! Xo

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  6. I came here to write something wonderful....and now I can't remember what it was...:(

    Except to say - you are wonderful and so is life...that's good enough.

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  7. this morning as i moved the chairs back under the dining table a bolt fell to the ground and I called my daughter over to get down on her knees and look to see where it had fallen from because if I had got down on my knees to look under the dining table I think I might have just stayed there all day.

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  8. I'm the same way -- I can take only so much gritty realism.

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  9. Akannie- Thank you! I love being loved!

    Jo- I have as much faith in that coconut oil thing for Alzheimers as I do in prayer for Alzheimers. Of course, I could be totally wrong and I do use it frequently in my cooking. And there's Alzheimers and then there's about a hundred other types of dementia and then there's just plain old wearing out of the head.
    Maybe. I don't know shit.
    Those are Maggie legs! I think she must have been excited.

    Jennifer- My refrigerator is a lot emptier than it was about four hours ago.

    Birdie- Oh. Stop flattering me. (Not really. I love it.)

    jenny_o- And some of us are just too dang sensitive and things affect us too much. Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

    heartinhand- That book sound awesome! "Veronica" has a lot of graphic sex in it but it's nasty sex. And I don't mean fun-nasty. I mean...ick. Mean sex.
    I realize this is a personal judgement.
    Seeds and swimsuit still missing.
    Speaking of- I am missing your blog, dammit.

    Liv- Haha! YOU'RE wonderful. Thanks, sweetie.

    Angella- Sometimes I think that too when I get into certain positions. "Well, I'll just stay here for the rest of my life." And this from a woman who spent half her life either in half-lotus or a modified tree-pose.
    Sheesh.
    Hey! Maybe that's the problem!

    Jo(e)- Gritty is all too abundant as it is.

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  10. My advice for finding that lost swimsuit...buy another just like it and three months later you'll find the first. Sadly, I speak from experience.

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  11. I haven't heard of that Mary Gaitskill book but I don't blame you a bit for moving on to something less soul-destroying. There really is such a thing as too grim.

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  12. I'm not laughing. This post is so true.

    Can you imagine being 4 or 5 years old and having to learn EVERYTHING all over again? It wears me out just thinking about it. DAMN. I think about it a lot for some reason. Obviously I hope reincarnation is NOT true.

    Love youse.

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