Monday, April 15, 2019

The Complete And Unexpected Delight Of Cooler Weather


It has been an absolutely perfectly perfect day here in Lloyd. Weather-wise, at least. I decided to take a shortish walk on the sidewalk that goes from the corner a few hundred feet to the east of me to the county line west of me. I had to stop almost immediately though to cross the street and take a picture of a neighbor's roses. They are fabulous every year and you can actually smell them from a distance as they warm in the sun.
I don't think there's been one cloud in the sky all day long and it's been drier and cool enough to work outside without sweating which is what I've done this afternoon although I will admit that I did not do anything very strenuous. I concentrated on the front yard, especially by the fence where I have planted rooted firespike and wild phlox. The invasive bulbed plants I always thought of as wild gladiola but which are not but which I cannot remember the name of because I'm lucky I can remember my own name these days has gone completely crazy.
I've just used The Google and I think these plants may be Van Bourgondien Crocosmia Masoniorum.
I will never remember that shit nor frankly do I see any reason I might need to.
Anyway, they are everywhere and do not really bloom in my yard due to lack of sun and I pulled the ones choking out the plants I do want there along with some dewberry and some thorn vine and a few other random things. I cleaned up the grave of Elvis, my beloved rooster who died too young. And then I got out the big pruners and cut back the Canary Island date palms.
I bitch about these motherfuckers every year because they are lethal. Their fronds are made up of needles that seem to want nothing more than to pierce human skin. Here are some I trimmed and hauled to the burn pile.


I planted these evil things and I admit that I was wrong, wrong, wrong in doing so. I have no idea what I was thinking. But as I texted to Mr. Moon, these things are going away. ASAP. I don't care what we have to pay to get rid of them. They are quite literally dangerous. They could poke a kid's eye out or lance an arm. When I was a child I accidentally kicked one and had to go to an emergency room because the needle pierced my toe all the way through. 

I picked up some branches and also trimmed a few fronds off the innocent Sabal Palms I planted by my front porch. I do not regret planting these and again- hopefully they will one day be tall and proud, ever-guarding the front of this old house. Like the Ashe Magnolias though, they are slow-growers. At least in this yard where there is far more shade than sun. 

And that has mainly been my day. I've picked some carrots and kale to go into my supper which is going to be a sort of eggplant parmesan. I am quite looking forward to making it. I've already baked the eggplant. I am trying to decide when to go to over to Apalachicola to hang out with my man and sister-in-law. They have had terrible luck in picking their week to fish. It's so windy there that no one is going out on the water. Not gulf and not river. And I so wanted some grouper. At this rate I'll be lucky to get some shrimp bought on the way home from the coast. 

Can you believe the Notre Dame cathedral fire? That's insane and horrible and so sad. I visited that cathedral when I was eighteen years old and of course I can remember standing in awe, gazing at the Rose Window. I pray (in my own way) that the fire was not caused purposefully. That would just be too evil. Unfathomably evil. I cannot imagine all of the art and history that just went up in smoke. To me the cathedral does not necessarily represent a religion or even a country. It represents the spirit of human beings who set themselves to the task of creating beauty and symmetry and awe with stones and glass, sweat, blood, and dreams. An impossible task and yet- one that was achieved and has stood in majestic proof for over eight-hundred years. 
The very thought of what it took to conceive of and to build that cathedral makes me wonder if the best, most noble and glorious days of humanity are long past. 
I hope not. 

Time to go chop some vegetables. 

Love...Ms. Moon





9 comments:

  1. The fire is unbelievable. It just hurts my heart for the loss of it all.

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  2. I can see that summer clear blue sky through the trees. 'Nuff said. That's my kind of day, too.
    I was just wondering out loud on another blog how different the skyline of Paris will look. I have a engraving of the NYC skyline including the twin towers, and I know how naked the skyline became, across the GW.

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  3. "Van Bourgondien Crocosmia Masoniorum" is hard to remember. The other day, our mutual blogging friend Mr Reed advised me that some plants I had photographed were actually American Skunk-Cabbage. Much easier to remember than Lysichiton americanus and also a potential new nickname for the 45th president.

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  4. I was so sad when I heard the cathedral was on fire yesterday. I was there almost 20 years ago. It was beautiful and I lit a candle for my son and said a prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Some things don't change.

    Nothing much going on here.

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  5. I suppose humans still build amazing things -- like Frank Gehry's buildings -- but because of our mechanized society, it's hard to see the same level of dedication and devotion that it took to build Notre Dame ENTIRELY BY HAND! From what I'm reading it now looks like most of the damage is confined to the roof and the interior has survived pretty well. I hope that's the case, anyway. Still, it's so horrible, and what a blow for France, which has absorbed so many terrible blows this decade.

    Sometimes you can actually sell palm trees. I don't know if Canary Island palms are worth anything but you might be able to get a nurseryman to take them off your hands so they can be planted elsewhere. Might be a cheaper alternative to cutting them down.

    We have crocosmia in our garden -- in fact Dave just planted another one today! I don't think it's the same as yours, though.

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  6. I have pulled up all the crocosmia in my yard, well except for some I can't get to easily. I planted them but the bastards hardly bloom, they multiply profusely and spread out and when they do bloom they want to lay on the ground instead of stand up. so, out they went. the weather has been glorious here too the last several days and today. I should be out in it doing stuff.

    it is a shame about Notre Dame. the part that burned was nicknamed 'the forest'. 800 year old dry as a bone timber, a bonfire waiting to happen. and seems I read arson was ruled out.

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  7. I typed a long comment here and then somehow lost it. That's why I hate commenting on blogs using my phone!

    Also, where have you been? When you miss a day blogging I worry and imagine the worst. I hope everything is ok!

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  8. I hope you are okay and just taking a break.

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  9. I read all these posts on my phone but somehow the iphone browser wont let me post comments anymore, so now and I'm on my laptop, and now I am all caught up! I love you.

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