Friday, September 14, 2018


For all my discussion of the heat yesterday I still got out and walked this morning, stubborn to the core that goddammit, I was going to get ten miles in this week or know the reason why. So I had three miles to walk and no big deal. And oh, y'all. It IS so beautiful to be out under those massive oaks, to see all of the wildflowers and the butterflies which are just bountiful, dipping and sipping, the small ones, the large ones, swooping and darting and floating about, almost a storm of them in some places, like jewel-colored falling leaves, like a dream.
But when I got home I could barely move. I'd gotten so hot and the day ended up being made of not much, just very slow things done here and there. The sheets and the clothes did get hung on the line and the kitchen all cleaned up and tidy and some floors swept but by two-thirty I just took a shower and then laid down on my bed in front of the fan and couldn't even keep my eyes open.
And yes, I've drunk plenty of water today.
Probably quarts.
So I've been lazy but I don't care and I think that from now until this heat breaks I am only going to go out in the early morning and after that I am not going to do a damn thing outside that takes more than fifteen minutes at the most.

Jessie sent me a video last night of Levon who is learning to clap his hands and who thinks that this is absolutely the most hysterical thing in the world.



And August makes a cameo appearance.

That boy called me this afternoon. He was so excited. He'd found a marble in the yard. I have some marbles that I keep in a bowl which I found in this yard and he loves to play with them.


So he was very proud that he now has his own marble. He has it wrapped in cloth and tied with a rubber band so that Levon can't swallow it. And he asked me if I'd made his dress yet. I told him that no, but I will start on it tomorrow. He said, "Why?"
I told him about being hot and lazy and he seemed satisfied with that explanation.

And so it goes and here we are and a martini is being drunk and please don't bother to tell me that alcohol is not an approved hydration fluid. I was a nurse. I know that.

In Lloyd news, yesterday my county commissioner called me to update me on the situation I had alerted her to about a trashed-out trailer parked in the old parking lot of a no-longer-there gas station by the interstate and I loved that she did that. She apologized about how long it's taking them to do anything about it. It turns out that someone from Georgia pulled that thing down here and dumped it. It would cost the city a ton of money to haul it off and Jefferson County has no money but they're trying to figure it out.
"I think they should just pull it to the middle of the parking lot and set it on fire," she said.
"I've thought the same thing," I told her. "But I doubt that's legal."
We both laughed.

This morning I ran into our old post mistress at the...wait for it...post office, and as we stood there and discussed stuff she tried to fan me with her mail because I'd just finished my walk and no doubt looked like I was about to die of heat stroke. This is the woman who came by my house once with some of her sister Jehovah's Witnesses and when I tried, as gently as possible, to tell them that I had no interest at all, said, "Oh, Mary! You have such a good heart!"
This is also the woman who goes to her mother-in-law's house right down the road four times a day (FOUR TIMES A DAY!) to cook and do a little house keeping for her.
Talk about hearts.

And finally, the little store at the corner which has been empty for years has been sold to a couple who live in Tallahassee and they plan to fix it up and the wife is going to sell arts and crafts out of it which I think is about the funniest thing I've ever heard. First of all, that building needs to be knocked down as it's falling in on top of itself and secondly- arts and crafts in Lloyd?
Maybe she'll have a sideline in ballet slippers.
Oh well. God love the people with dreams.
We all have them. And who am I to say this one can't come true?

Happy Friday, y'all.

Love...Ms. Moon





17 comments:

  1. Just catching up with you! The dress MUST be made and it must be flouncy!! Baby laughter is such good medicine and then a side jaunt to listen to the bean song...OHHHHH the babies! You are a generous Grandmother, The mother Gods are pleased with you. You , showing them how it's done.

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    1. The bean song...
      Oh, Maggie.
      They show me how it's done. I swear.

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  2. Levon is such a happy kid, and that dress and those matching shorts are charming. I hope August likes his dress. As for the arts and crafts in an old fally-down building, who knows...worse things have been done. Have a good weekend.

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    1. Thank you, e. So far it's been different. Very good parts in it though. What more can you ask?

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  3. I don't do any work outside after about 9:00AM because, just like in Lloyd, it is just too hot. Love that bowl of marbles. I can hardly wait to hear more about the arts and crafts store endeavor; should be entertaining.

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    1. I will definitely keep everyone updated about the arts and crafts. I hope it's awesome.

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  4. Who doesn’t love a baby laughing? What a beautiful child. All your grandchildren are.

    One of my favourite people is a Jehovah’s Witness. In October she is going to teach my and some of my frIends how to make soap. Knowing how sweet and kind she is makes it impossible for me to be rude to Jehovah’s Witness when the come to the door. Though I believe they are in a cult and a dangerous one at that I admire their devotion. The majority of them are just as lost as the rest of us are and find their strength in their religious beliefs.

    Sometimes I see Jefferson county on Live PD. It would make my year if you did something like steak and ended up on that show.


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    1. What is Live PD?
      Okay. I just looked it up. I couldn't find (but I didn't look very long) Jefferson County, Florida.
      This is a thing? Real? A real thing? Oh my Lord.
      I agree with you on the religious thing. I wish I knew more about Jehovah's Witnesses so I could have some fun banter with them if they ever come back. But not if Miss Martha is there!
      I think you are going to love soap-making.

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  5. You do have a good heart and I am a little in love with you! Happily it’s actually cooled off here on the West Coast, and there’s some hope the fires will be contained soon.

    My daughter and her boyfriend moved to bumfuck Maine a year ago and bought a dilapidated ancient house 30 miles from any possible job. Sight unseen (except online) They planned to make stuff and sell it on Etsy. Oy. Oh, and they were angry at me for not telling me about winters. Can you believe some people? I blame her father. Ha ha!

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    1. Oh, Annie- you made me laugh. You daughter and her boyfriend buying that house reminds me of what I might have done back in the seventies. And why DIDN'T you tell her about winters. I mean, come on, MOM! That's your job!
      As I always say- it is always the mother's fault. She gave birth to the kid and if she hadn't those problems would not have ever arisen. Right?

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  6. is that the little store that opened up and lasted about a year? well, good luck to them, it's a sweet little dream but you need traffic for it to work.

    I wish I still had my small bottle of marbles I dug up over the 40+ years I lived in the Houston house. my grandson made off with them one weekend while we were gone, swears it wasn't him but he had been pestering me for them for weeks and I told him no because the boy already had plenty of marbles, some that I had bought him. I don't know what happened to them and he never would fess up, even had me go through his marbles. all I know is that they were on my windowsill when I left and gone when I got back. I was so furious, he probably threw them away.

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    1. No. This is a different store. It was a little corner convenience store forever but then the owner got sick and business just couldn't provide an income and, well, there you go.
      I don't think Papa Jay's lasted for even half a year. Maybe it did.
      I just see no hope for this new enterprise. The building is all fucked up. Ceilings falling in, just a mess. And although there is a good amount of traffic on that road, it's mostly people just going home from work or else truckers getting from one highway to the other. We shall see.
      I bet your grandson feels horribly guilty to this day.

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  7. Well, I have loved catching up on all the news in Lloyd this morning! Levon is such a happy little guy and August in his cameo reminds me of when my own son, the older of my two, would try to ensure that he got his share of attention, too. Something about it just tugged my heart. As for your postmistress, I kind of get her because I swear Mary, you are the mostly Godly non believing person I've ever known. Frankly, to my mind, being Godly is really the same thing as being loving, and you are that in spades. And Ilove you back. Happy Saturday, dear friend.

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    1. Happy Saturday to YOU, dear friend!
      Yep. August had to get in there to show off his invention of how to carry around a Fisher Price toy telephone. Or whatever that was.
      Miss Martha, the former post mistress, is sorely missed by the community because she knew EVERYTHING that was going on. Am I saying she was a gossip? Well...let's just call her a news collector and distributer. But she did it so sweetly and never said anything ugly about anyone. So, bless her heart. And she sure kept everyone updated.

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  8. I was going to ask if you meant the same store as Papa Jay's but I see Ellen already got the answer to that question. Lloyd is a peculiar place to sell crafts, but maybe she's got a sideline on the Internet that pays the bills? Is the store up on the highway, at least?

    The movie with August and Levon was funny -- August clearly wanted to be included.

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  9. There's something so brave and optimistic about that woman and her arts and crafts, though. I hope Lloyd has room for her, even if not for her shop.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.