Thursday, March 21, 2019

Ah Well


How many of you remember Mercurochrome? It was like iodine's slightly gentler little sister. If you put iodine on a cut it would burn so bad you had to scream. No control over that scream. Apply iodine to an open wound and scream. But Mercurochrome (which is now banned because it contains, uh, mercury) didn't hurt quite as bad. If you were a wussy, you still might scream when it was applied to your boo-boo but if you were a brave little soldier, you could perhaps merely whimper a bit.
I was a clumsy child and uncoordinated. It took me over a year to learn to ride a bicycle. My grandmother finally hired a neighbor girl to teach me. That's how bad it was. And even after I learned I was constantly falling over and off of it. I also fell on the playground at school A LOT. And in those days, they didn't worry about the precious little children and their safety. Our playground was a mixture of dirt and dirt with rocks and oh yes, we could jump rope or play jacks on the cement lid of the septic tank and no, I am not kidding you.
So. I constantly had skinned knees. And well, sometimes, cut knees. And out would come the Mercurochrome and I would apply it myself with that little glass wand that came in the bottle which fit so cleverly into the lid. I guess sterility was not exactly a cherished concept in those days. And it always stung even if it didn't burn with the power of a thousand suns.

But all of this is not what I came here to talk about today.
No. Not really.
It just occurred to me a little while ago that some days are akin to being constantly doused with iodine while others are more like many applications of the gentler Mercurochrome.
Today was one of those.
I woke up with no energy and felt completely guilty about not taking a walk, not getting out in the garden to really get things done there, not pulling up weeds or trimming back palms or whatever. I just didn't feel like it. I felt wimpy and yes, wussy. And sort of whimpery.
Mr. Moon stayed home to work on my laundry room although he wanted to first get the tomatoes planted which would involve tilling the garden which he said would take about an hour and guess what? It's 6:30 at night and he's still weeding that garden by hand and the tomatoes are not in the ground and the laundry room hasn't been touched. Of course he did take a "break" to accompany our friend to the doctor and go to a few places in town but still- I can't complain because that garden needed attention and the plants do need to be planted. I'm just going to have to be patient about the laundry room and that's that.
So anyway, when Mr. Moon is here my desire to at least appear to be productive increases by tenfold because I am not an enlightened person who truly believes that she has worth even if she doesn't suffer while accomplishing something and so I tried this morning. I did kick some bamboo because look at this.


Do you see all those sprouts? That's from one day. There was no sign of them yesterday.  
So I kicked bamboo and took stuff to the trash place and planted a few herbs in pots and then I decided to get started making August another dress because that's sort of productive but doesn't take a lot of energy. I've been working on it all day and it's not finished and it's going to be too big and who knows? By next year he may not want to wear dresses at all. 
So that's that part of my day. 
And guess what? I'm a terrible chicken mama because I should have gotten rid of those eggs so that the mamas would have gotten off their nests but no, I just kept putting it off and yesterday we discovered that in the night some critter had come and eaten all of the eggs AND Viv/Vera, too. 
Feel guilty much, Ms. Mary Moon? 
Why yes, yes I do. 
Dearie is still alive and doesn't seem overly traumatized but she probably is. 

I finished listening to Michelle Obama's Becoming today while I was sewing and stuff. It is one hell of a fabulous book and I recommend it with all of my heart. But speaking of my heart, it made that particular organ ache because her descriptions of her husband and the amazing things they did while he was in office and how hard he worked and studied and how much he cared and how much they sacrificed as a couple, as a family, brought me to tears over and over and I think about Trump and the many hours he spends watching Fox news and Tweeting and I just wonder who in the hell is running this country because IT AIN'T HIM! 

So. Guilt and weepiness and more guilt and more weepiness and I haven't even talked about a lot of stuff which I am not going to talk about because there's no purpose. 

It's just been a Mercurochrome sort of day. And now I better get in there and make our supper. Despite the recent tragedies in the poultry world, the chickens are calm and placid, getting their last pecking and scratching in before bedtime. It amuses me to watch them as they range closer and closer to the hen house as it gets closer to bed time. They are as fond of routine as I am. 
I've downloaded another book to listen to and one of the reasons I chose it was because one of the reviewers on Goodreads gave it a poor rating because it had too much stuff about chickens in it. 

One more thing. 


Even the blooming wisteria is making me sad because I have seen exactly one bee courting those flowers. The bees used to visit the blooms in such numbers that standing underneath them was like listening to a symphony of buzzing. 

Fuck. 
We're doomed. 
Forget iodine and fuck Mercurochrome. Those remedies will not do it. And I have no idea what will but I guess we'll just keep lurching forward as best we can until we can't anymore. 

Hope I was able to cheer you up a little.

Love...The Extremely Wimpy And Whimpering Ms. Moon






13 comments:

  1. Lurching forward is precisely how I feel. Love you. Not dead yet,
    Rebecca

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  2. At the old house we had a tree I only knew as the Beegum tree. Every spring it was a mass of blooms and you could hear the bees on the other side of the house. The last several years there were no bees, and no Iodine will cure that. It's been a no bees day here today, too. Good night.

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  3. yes we are doomed. the human race has fucked up everything it needs to exist through sheer arrogance, it thinks it is so smart but not smart enough not to shit in it's own yard which even dogs know not to do. but we can still enjoy what beauty we have not destroyed. some of us anyway. I am seeing bees. some. and fuck Trump.

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  4. In Tucson, we're not seeing bees. Last year I had to avoid the side yard because the neighbor's bushes were covered in them, and I react badly to stings. This year, there is no buzzing. We are doomed, in 12 years the temperatures will rise and we're all going to die. Makes me wonder why I continue to eat a balanced diet, might as well go on the corn dogs and onion rings regime. I am sorry to read that Viv/Vera was eaten. Raising chickens is heartbreaking.

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  5. I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND KICKING BAMBOO. I hate that fucking stuff. Even though it's a damn tough plant and useful. But not in my garden. Not.

    Mercerochrome had mercury? Well, it's right in the name. I'm so disappointed. I loved that stuff.

    And I love you. Mz Moon. And all the assorted Moons.

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  6. THERE WAS MERCURY IN IT. God. Poor Viv/Vera, I'm sorry.

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  7. I too am sorry about your chicken...I wish I could send a hug for you.

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  8. I'm feeling grumpy today too. I got stomach flue this week and still feel like shit and I'm tired of feeling like crap. My back hurts like hell and I feel like my body has betrayed me these past six weeks.

    It will get better for both of us.

    Sending love and hugs.

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  9. OK, I've learned several things from this post. For one thing, I remember mercurochrome vividly and although I knew it wasn't used anymore, I had no idea it had been banned and contained mercury! Jesus! How much poison must I have in my body?! It also never occurred to me that leaving the chickens on their nest could endanger them in any way. Maybe Viv/Vera flew off and will eventually return? Do you think?

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    1. Oh, and it makes me sad to think of the lack of bees. I hope they'll show up soon. It worried me to read that and then Joanne's comment -- we still see lots of bees in our garden, fortunately.

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  10. Methyolaid, I remember, ORANGE, stinging but effective! My knees were always orange, all summer. I am so glad that the humans in your large family are all the best of what humans can be! I love you and your family.

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  11. It is one of the rare, rare times I seem able to comment here! I remember Merchrichome! I had no idea about the Mercury and have not thought of it in years. I remember just liking the color. I wanted to plant bamboo in my yard as a tall divider. I guess it’s a good thing I never did...

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  12. Lord. You sure took me back. Mercurochrome! I used to think the red stain it left was the coolest thing, like the mark of a warrior.

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