Monday, February 3, 2020

The Mystery Of Chemicals


That is the only picture I took today. It's what we here in the south call a "Japanese Magnolia" and I did not plant this one. They do best when given lots of free sky and full sunshine and this one does not get either but it has grown since I've moved here. It is still here. It still offers its blooms to the universe.

It was so warm and springlike today. The sky was as clear as in that picture. And something about the light and the temperature and the soft warm air must have stirred something in me that would have best been left unstirred. I guess that's what happened. I don't really know but a profound sadness filled me even though I should have been thrilled at this weather, thawed out and rejuvenated.
It was not so.

I took a walk and No Man Lord was sitting at the table he's set up in his front yard with a glass candleholder and his Bible, a small wooden cross propped on it. When I walked past him on my way to the county line I swear I didn't see him underneath his neon-orange jacket and black hat. I saw the jacket and did not stare but I honestly thought he'd hung the jacket from the chair although I guess he was huddled underneath it all because on my way home, he roused up and appeared from the jacket and he waved and I waved back and said, "Good morning!" and went on.
Sometimes, when I am in sadness my eyes and brain don't seem to connect very well at all, or perhaps it's just that my brain doesn't process things the way it should. I know this is true. I can't make decisions, even the simplest ones like whether I should collect the trash from the bathrooms first or start the laundry. Everything seems huge even as nothing seems important at all.

I did gather up the trash and recycle things and found two old lamps I had stashed in a closet so long ago I'd forgotten about them completely and took all of that to the trash depot where I left the lamps and an old skillet that I haven't used in years, setting them where people leave things that others may be able to use. I went to the post office and did laundry and eventually, finally, I made it to the car and drove to Monticello to return library books. I drove around Monticello for awhile, trying to decide whether or not to stop for something to eat. I was at the point of low-blood sugar that, compounded with my brain fog, created a situation where I couldn't make a decision to save my life. Also, it would seem that most of the places to eat in Monticello are closed on Mondays. I finally just went to the farmer's market and bought some squash and some very plump and juicy-looking green Vidalia onions. On my way home I remembered the Hilltop and although I really wanted one of their chicken salad sandwiches, I just could not make the effort, came home and ate leftovers and managed to get the ironing board and iron out and stood and ironed and watched "Schitt's Creek" as mindlessly and automatically as a robot.

I listened to a less than an hour today of the wrap-up of the sham impeachment trial and that certainly did not improve how I felt. Trump's attorneys lied and lied again and again, defending what cannot be defended and the House managers tried and tried again and again to make a case for removal but they sounded defeated and even sadder than I was. I finally shut it off. I had no energy for anger yet I know it's there inside me, just waiting for its own chance to be stirred up, reactivated, recharged.

*******

There's a stray cat who's been hanging around recently. Have I mentioned this? Most likely. Every evening, just after sunset, he comes in close to the back porch and cries the most plaintive of cries. Mr. Moon and I agreed that he's begging us for food, perhaps for shelter. Who knows? Perhaps even for love. And I want so badly to feed him but I know what will happen and lately Maurice has become even more insane in her attempts to keep Jack out of the house. They fight every day and it's not always Maurice who starts it but she does sit at the place where Jack comes in on the porch and waits for him to try and come in and if he shows his face she hisses and yowls and spits and curses at him. Last night as I was typing she wanted to get on my keyboard and I gently removed her whereupon she grabbed my hand with the force of a panther and bit down on it so hard that I swear she almost broke some bones within it. It ached for hours although strangely, her teeth and claws only left pinpoints of blood. I really don't know how she does that. But I can only imagine what would happen if we tried to bring a new cat into the fold.
It just would not work.

Eh, well.

I feel like I should apologize for this post with its narcissistic dreary ramblings but look- this is sometimes how it feels when you're a person with depression. The sky can be so blue and yet, the heart can be so gray. And if you ever feel that way, you know what I mean and you may need to hear that you are not the only one. That this does not mean you are crazy but that you are a human being with what we so euphemistically may call "challenges." And that we may well wake up the next day feeling foolish and ridiculous for having wasted a day of this life feeling so hopeless, so helpless. Absolutely mystified at how these moods can come upon us.
And if you don't ever feel this way, perhaps someone you love does and these words can help to explain a tiny bit of how the person who suffers from depression can perceive things.
It is as mysterious to us as it is to you.

I'm going to go make up a loaf's worth of sourdough now. And I'm going to go to bed early. As Moira said in an episode of Schitt's Creek- "Let's go. I've had enough waking hours for this day."

Love...Ms. Moon


20 comments:

  1. Not a wasted day because you made it beautiful for me. Schitt’s Creek is worth watching for Moira Rose alone. 🌺

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    1. And you know what you did for me. Thank you.
      You are right about Moira Rose. Cathleen O'Hara may well be one of the greatest actors of our time and the scripts, written by Daniel and Eugene Levy show such an amazing progression of a family- nontraditional in so many ways but so loving and accepting too.

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  2. Thank you for your insight into depression. I don't suffer from it, but friends do, and it's helpful to learn a bit about what they're going through. I can be more helpful if at least I have some understanding. What's a helpful thing that someone in your family, friend, could do?

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    1. That's such a good question.
      Sometimes I think that just knowing that family or a friend would like to do something low-key, like go out to lunch helps. Short, sweet, but touching base. Listening if the person wants to talk but not prying. I know for me that it's hard to talk about things but it's helpful just to be with someone I know cares for me. Helps me get my mind out of my butt, sort of. But also, understanding if the person doesn't feel as if they can get out into the world. I think more than anything, just expressing love. However that works. Hugs for me are very, very helpful.
      Thank you for asking that question. I really appreciate it.

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  3. I know what you mean about spring--I often also feel sadness when spring gets underway. Not usually that major depression because I have a boatload of antidepressants, but there is something about spring, and it's really weird because we're supposed to feel the opposite.

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    1. Isn't that weird Sally. I absolutely love spring. It feels like coming out of my cocoon and everything is possible! But each to his (her) own huh!

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    2. Sort of like Christmas, Sally? We all react differently to situations. Our experiences in the past may have a lot to do with that. Or just the expectation of happiness can make us feel inadequate in our sadness.

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  4. I get it and I hope tomorrow is a better day for you. Hugs.

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  5. I understand. It's such a hard way to live and yet we keep going. People who live with depression are far stronger than people give them credit for.

    Sending hugs and love.

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  6. The Sky being so Blue and The Heart being so Grey is something I can mos def relate to. Ramble on... it's like a balm to the Soul.

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    1. It's weird, isn't it? Be we go on. And things change.

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  7. Moods, for lack of a better word, are strange things, the way they come and go unbidden and often seeingly unrelated to what's going on in the external world. There's always tomorrow -- to quote Little Orphan Annie. (Honestly, I know it's no laughing matter.)

    I always knew those trees as Japanese Magnolias, and then when I moved to New York I heard them called saucer magnolias. Apparently they're also sometimes Chinese magnolias. No one seems sure!

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    1. Oh, and I feel like I should know this, but...are Maurice and Jack fixed? If not, that could be why another cat is coming around.

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    2. Yes, both cats are fixed. Perhaps it happened too late. But we got them done when they came into our lives.
      I think that in some places what we call Japanese Magnolias are simply referred to as "magnolias" whereas we refer to the Grandifloras by that name.

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  8. yesterday dawned clear but clouded over mid-way through the day. back to being overcast and supposed to rain today. my cat Emma has never tolerated another cat except she seems fine with that gray cat that's been coming around. go figure.

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  9. Some days we just get through. Having something diverting to binge watch always helps me zone out. Sometimes zoning out is the only way through. Hugs, dear woman.

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    1. True and true and true and true.
      And I love you.

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