Saturday, October 5, 2019

A Day Quiet Enough To Hear The Music Of The Spheres

 
Jessie inspired me to do this from a sprouting celery core that she had growing. It's pretty, isn't it? 

I have had the quietest day. I made a conscious decision to spend it here, at home, and to take it as easy as possible. My walks this past week have left my hips panting for relief and so I mostly sat and stitched away on overalls and I do believe that the blue ones are done now and shall go to August and then probably Levon. I have a green pair of children's corduroy overalls that used to be May's and I think I am going to decorate them for Maggie. I have already sewed on a pocket patch of a friendly bear at a campsite from fabric leftover when I made August one of his dresses.


I've been watching "Unbelievable" on Netflix, sort of out of default. I swear to you that it takes me forever to find something I think I might want to watch. It's the same with me and audio books. The library has hundreds, if not thousands available but sometimes it seems, as I scroll endlessly through the titles and descriptions, that I have listened to every one of them that I want to hear.
"Unbelievable" has my attention. The cast is excellent and includes Toni Colette who is one of the best working actors today if you ask me and also Merritt Wever whose work I was not aware of but she is very, very good. The subject matter is rape so if that's triggering don't watch it although so far, I haven't seen anything horribly graphic. I think it's all handled with a perspective that shines a lot of light onto the subject of rape which has needed to be illuminated for a long, long time.
Since, oh...forever.

And so I have been sedentary for the most part which is quite unlike me. I have an old friend with whom I exchange e-mails almost every Friday and yesterday, when I asked about his mother-in-law who has been quite ill for a very long time, he responded "Don't believe that a sedentary lifestyle leads to an early death" which makes me feel a little bit better about my sloth today.

As I stitched, Maurice joined me on the couch. The poor old lady is so very brave to defy Jack's attempts to keep her entirely out of the house. She's been more insistent lately on hanging out in the house and wanting affection. She has been sitting on Mr. Moon's lap at times but since he's not here, I suppose that I have had to do. She still gets cranky as shit if I disturb her too much which can mean something as simple as trying to get my scissors out from under her. But so far (knock wood) she has not actually broken my skin with claws or teeth so I consider myself extremely lucky.


Here's the scarred-up tiny warrior herself. She really cannot weigh a third of what Jack weighs. I do give her extra treats but she is just not a big cat whereas Jack is a bit of a monster. Picking him up to set him outside hurts my back whereas picking up Maurice is like picking up a doll pillow. 
Here's the large boy himself who has come to keep me company on the porch. 


He looks far more svelte than he is in this picture. But he's a good bed-mate. He holds the covers in place. That's for sure. 

Mr. Moon has made it safely to North Dakota and says he is glad of a bed. 
I bet! I am so glad that he is safe and sound. 

I did bake a loaf of bread in a cast iron pot with a lid last night. It went fine but it wasn't like the second coming of Christ or anything. 


Still- pretty cool. 
I mixed up the flour and water today for a sourdough starter. We shall see how that works out. Sourdough starter is like taking on the responsibility for a parakeet, I think. You have to feed it frequently to keep it alive. That's fine if I'm home but what if I ever decide to leave town? Which I will do at the end of the month. It's one thing to ask a neighbor to feed and water the chickens and cats, quite another to ask him to feed the sourdough starter. I'll figure it out. 

I did get motivated to walk out of the house and to the post office just a little while ago when the same friend I mentioned a few paragraphs above sent me an e-mail imploring me to listen RIGHT THIS SECOND to an episode on the All Songs Considered podcast. It's one with Giles Martin who is George Martin's son. George was the producer and arranger and occasional musician and so much more on the Beatles' albums and Giles has recently been a part of the re-mix of Abbey Road which was truly the Beatles' last album. 
Because I love my friend and because we share a deeply rooted love of all things Beatles, Stones, and Dylan, I immediately subscribed to the podcast, put in my earbuds and hit play. 
Whoa. 
As I listened, I walked to the post office and this was the sky over the house next door. 


You know, at one point in my life I listened to the Beatles way too much. I had a completely misjudged boyfriend who was completely obsessed with them and for a period of time, a very difficult and hard and rather insane time, that's pretty much all I listened to. And although the Beatles had meant more to me than I can even begin to describe, that experience did something to me that in a way was as destructive as how beat-down my soul became. I never for a second quit loving them, quit believing in what even now I, as a sixty-five year old cynical woman believe, which is that they were (if this is possible) divinely inspired and the best band ever on this earth. 
But. 
Too much is too much and the association with the boyfriend (I shudder, even saying those words) was also too much. 
And so today when I listened to this 26 minute podcast and heard parts of Abbey Road again that I had not truly listened to for many years with the new realization of what that recording experience had been like, what it had meant to those boys- John, Paul, George, and Ringo, I was given new ears. New ears to hear which voice was which, which guitar line was whose. 
"This is Paul," Giles said. "And here's George. And John. Dirty John."
A chuckle. 
My god. They were magnificent. Four separate human beings who came together and created something so vastly more than their parts. 

And so that was my day. 

Thank you SO much for being here. I am never lonely somehow, feeling that my insignificant words are being read and contemplated. 
How could I be? 
I think I'll open a can of peas tonight. 

Love...Ms. Moon






23 comments:

  1. no such thing as listening to the Beatles *too much* LOL! Your day sounds lovely all around. I'm not a Netflix person.......but have you watched (or do you have access to) the current PBS 8 part documentary by Ken Burns on Country Music? It is wonderful and I think you would love it.......
    Susan M

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    1. Susan I desperately want to watch that documentary but haven't figured out how to access PBS via our patchwork TV reception methods. I will eventually, though. I guarantee it.

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  2. I've never seen cat ears the shape of Jack's ears. I wish he were nicer to Maurice!
    Amazing the amount of time can be spent scrolling through audio books from the library. Of course, If I am scrolling and it's dinner time, I'm the only person who misses it (dinner!).

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    1. I've never thought of Jack's ears as oddly shaped but I guess they are. I wish he were nicer to Maurice too!

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  3. Jack’s ears are so long and elegant. I love the bitey cats the best. My self destructive streak? I didn’t know about the podcast but I listened to Abbey Road in my car this morning.
    XO

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    1. Like I said to Joanne, I've just never really noticed Jack's ears. He has a tiny v-shaped nick in one of them but it's not that catch/spay/release nick because when I got him he was still intact. So to say.
      Maurice is my familiar. That's all there is to it. Bitey or not.
      Listening to Abbey Road in a car is one of the best things in the world.

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  4. I liked seeing pics of your cute cats. With those ears, Jack appears to be a very good listener. Maurice is like I am, once I find a comfortable position, I dislike being uprooted. I am sure they are missing Mr Moon.
    Music can transport us back to another time so quickly. When I was younger, I did not completely understand Bob Dylan. Now I think he is a genius.
    Your bread looks fabulous. Was butter and jam applied liberally? I hope you enjoyed every morsel.

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    1. Maurice has been known to reach out and grab my arm when I walk by her and just scratch the hell out of me. She hasn't done that in awhile. Maybe she's mellowing.
      You're right about music. Just listening to that bit on the podcast yesterday took me right back in time.
      I always say my friend Kerry "gave" me Bob Dylan. He sort of forced me to listen and then I fell in love.
      Yes, on the butter and jam. Of course!

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  5. Jack looks like a rabbit dressed up as a cat. I did nothing special today but it was still a nice day. I took the dog for a long walk this afternoon and took more photos. I'm trying to push myself. And then the little guy came over for the night. His mama got invited to a hockey game and asked if we could watch him. Of course we can.

    Hope you have a lovely day tomorrow as well:)

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    1. I can't believe I've never noticed that Jack's ears are unusually long.
      Pushing ourselves can be good. Or so I hear. (Ha!)
      Your grandbaby is so lucky to have you around. And so is his mama.

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  6. I feel bad for Maurice. Wasn't she there (in the house) first?
    So happy that Mr. Moon has made it to the Dakotas. That's a really long drive.

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    1. Yes! Maurice WAS here first, dammit! I try to remind Jack of that but he doesn't care.
      It was an over-thirty hour drive, I hear. They should be in Canada now.

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  7. This makes me so happy that I didn’t have a boyfriend in my Beatles days!

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    1. You should be happy you never had this boyfriend ever.

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  8. I still listen to the Beatles even though I am a generation behind them. No boyfriends mar my experiences with them either...Your day sounds great!

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    1. I think the Beatles are universally listenable to. Everyone can find something there.

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  9. Well, clearly I'm going to have to listen to that podcast! I love the Beatles, but I suspect I mostly love their public personas (and of course their music) and I suspect I might not feel the same if I knew them more deeply, warts and all. Which I guess is true of many people.

    I also love your celery bowl and the stitched pocket for Maggie. Jack is a handsome devil!

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    1. Funny how I didn't care a thing about Keith Richards until I read his autobiography wherein he certainly lays out his warts. AND ALL. Mostly. I guess. So it can go both ways.
      Isn't that celery just so sweet? Bonsai celery.

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  10. my Emma cat has been wanting more affection this last year. unfortunately she wants it in the middle of the night. everytime she hears me stir she comes in meowing and jumps on the bed next to me where she stays until I fall asleep again. Abbey Road is one of my favorite albums and I loved the idea of the concert on the rooftop as the final act of their break up. it must have been so intense to be them, no wonder they broke up. who could maintain that?

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    1. Jack has a tendency to come up and ask for petting if he knows I've woken up. Otherwise he just lays next to my hip in the bed which is fine and even comforting.
      I think you're exactly right about the intensity of being a Beatle. NO ONE could maintain that. Harder even than being a Rolling Stone.

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  11. I said hello to the jolly green giant for you :)

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  12. Decorating overalls, baking bread, planting celery, post office run, Beatles podcast and you call this sloth? Not at all! I shall have to check out Unbelievable.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.