Thursday, April 26, 2018

Stubborn Old Woman


This morning I decided to let the littles in the outside small coop explore the big coop if they wanted. I opened the wire lid of it and the two blond Buff Orpingtons immediately fluttered up to the edge and then fluttered down to the ground with a few of the jungle fowl right behind them. Here they are, eating some cornbread. I hope beyond hope that they'll get back into their little coop tonight but they probably won't and I'll be forced to chase the little buggers to catch them and put them safely in with their brethren. I'm about ready to transition some of the inside chicks to the outside and have also made the coop box ready to receive babies. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to do this in terms of who-goes-where, but I'll figure it out.

Another thing I did this morning was to give myself a challenge. Lord, that sounds so stupid, doesn't it? But hell, that's exactly what I did.
And I met it.
Last night I said to Mr. Moon, "If I walk seven miles tomorrow, I will have walked twenty in total for the week.
"Haha!" we both said.
And then this morning I just fucking decided to do it and I did.



I LOVE Jessie's response to this.
Did you get lost? Oh my god.

No. I did not get lost unless you count getting lost in a sort of meditative trance. I am listening to this.


I heard part of an interview on NPR with the author yesterday and today, when I went to search for a new audio book from the library, there it was. 
It's rather beautiful. 
So I put one foot in front of the other and after quite awhile, I had walked all seven miles. I did not do it very fast, but I did it fast enough. 
And once again, I did not die. I didn't feel as if I would die at all. Which is sort of amazing. 

I have written many times before about how I simply cannot walk for more than a few miles without stopping to pee. Quite frankly, I feel fortunate that I am still continent at all and it has not been easy to find places for me to hide from the road to squat and water the weeds. The road is barbwire-fenced for miles and miles. But I have found a few places and this is the magical one. 


The photo does it no justice. I can't seem to capture it properly. But it is shady and green and fern-filled and cool and it is a lovely bit of serendipity that I found it in such a mundane way. It is posted but not fenced and I take that to be as much invitation as I can rationalize. It's like stepping into another world and I promise, I tread lightly. 

I saw a pileated wood pecker today, which is not so uncommon but I also saw something that I could not positively identify although I thought it was probably a fox squirrel. I looked them up when I got home and I was right. Here's a picture of one although I did not take it. 


Trust me- that looks NOTHING like our regular squirrels and they are rare here and they are good at hiding but the one I spied was on the road and as I came around a corner and saw it, it did not dart immediately the rest of the way to the woods but seemed to observe me as I observed him. And then, he scooted up the bank and up a tree and I felt so lucky to have seen him. 

And so that's what I did today, or at least part of it and Lily finally got that tooth pulled which is wonderful because it started causing her agony again yesterday. I don't care how old my children are, it makes me so anxious when they are sick or in pain and I am so glad that her pain has been relieved.
I thought I was going to be hanging out with Magnolia tomorrow morning because that's when Lily's appointment was scheduled for before her pain became unbearable which is why I decided to walk seven miles today to make the twenty, thinking I would not be walking tomorrow. 
And I probably will NOT be walking tomorrow but I sure do need to get into the garden and get some work done there. 

I hear the little chicks peeping their roost-time song. 

Time to make supper. 

Love...Ms. Moon

16 comments:

  1. Congrats on attaining 20 miles during your weekly walk, I'm impressed! And that Magical place you found... simply Enchanting! I'd love to own property that looked like that!!!

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    1. Ah, isn't it magical? It's just a small little fairy spot, lined on two sides by planted pines. But within that little bit of green...oh my.

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  2. Wow, that's damn impressive! 20 miles is a lot! And what a beautiful walk it is.

    I love the fox squirrel! They're not very common here, I've seen a few further south, near the coast.

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    1. I don't think they're very common here either. I've only seen them a few times. Once up near Georgia. Well, we're pretty close to Georgia as it is but even closer.

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  3. First. Congratulations on making that 7 mile walk! That's awesome. Second. That little "pit stop spot" is amazing! If I ever have a stationary home again I think I'd recreate that as a bathroom. XXOO

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    1. Wouldn't that be the best? The JUNGLE bathroom. The Magical Glade Bathroom. (No Glade products allowed.)

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  4. Fox squirrel WHAT? I have pine weasels here a cross between a squirrel and a ferret as far as I can see. The stretch limo of squirrels. Mary you carry pain for so many people and you do it with great grace and I’m among the lucky and I know it.
    xo

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    1. I swear- I thought this guy might be a weasel too. And I swear to you- I did not even now that Florida has weasels which is why I determined it must be a fox squirrel but I just googled the things and we do have them! Their favorite food- poultry! Oh my. But I'm pretty sure that this was a fox squirrel. It sure did clamber quickly up a tree.
      By the way, I adore you.

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  5. I am so proud of you with the walking 20 miles in a week. I began a walking habit this week, too, but I am trying to get to 20 minutes in a day. I started with ten mins and today I am up to sixteen. Can you tell i am talking it slow? But better than nothing, right. Maybe one day I will walk 7 miles in a day, too, although that's doesn't really seem likely. Soooo glad Lily's tooth pain has been solved.

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    1. Hey- you have to start somewhere. And let's face it- I've been a fairly regular walker my entire life and one would think that by now I could easily cover ten miles at a stretch but I've never really concentrated on distance that much. Seems to be a matter of...starting slowly. I seriously doubt I'll be doing a whole lot of seven miles walks. I was just seeing if I could do it. It takes a long time, even if you walk briskly, but there is the fact that it's not like I'm on a schedule. Usually, at least.

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  6. Seven miles is a nice length to walk, but nicer on the soft ground than on tarmac. I have just downloaded an app which measures "brisk" walking. So often I get sidetracked and just wander along....

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    1. I agree that it would be much nicer to walk on some nice clay and sand roads or trails. But I'll take what I can get. And luckily, I seem to have feet which can handle the pavement. And this pavement is in such a beautiful place.

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  7. Woo hoo! Congrats on making your 20-mile goal! A seven mile walk is a good long one, and I'm glad you had something interesting to listen to on the way. I used to see fox squirrels in Pasco County on our next-door neighbor's farm. I hope they're still there. (Well, newer generations, obviously.)

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    1. You inspire me with your ten-mile jaunts in and around London, Steve.
      Fox squirrels are odd-looking critters, aren't they?

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  8. I love that your daughter asked if you were lost. Too funny. I'm not a fan of peeing outside but if you have to, that looks like a beautiful place to do it:)

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    1. I thought it was funny, too. I'm still giggling about that one.
      I've never minded peeing outside. Don't know why. I guess part of it is that I once lived in a house that had no indoor plumbing and so I peed outside a lot for a year. Too far to the outhouse for just a pee. This does not mean that given the option of a nice toilet or a patch of dirt with possible poison ivy on it, I would not choose the toilet.

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