Saturday, September 19, 2020

How Do We Honor A Great Soul?


 The roses are putting out a fall bloom and I suppose when they're all done, I should prune them back. It would appear that we are about to get some cooler temperatures here. My weather widget says we're going to get down to 64 here tonight, 62 tomorrow. Any sort of change which is normal change, any sort of relief from any aspect of the past few months seems unbelievable somehow. 
And yet. 
Perhaps we'll open up the house. 
I don't know. That seems like such a huge decision. Everything does. 
Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death was a normal, natural event, strictly speaking. The most unbelievable thing about it being that she had held on for so very long when I am convinced that 999 people out of a thousand would have died long before from the complications of various types of cancer she had, from the stress, from the sheer weariness of hanging on. 
She was not a woman to give up, though, was she? She had a very specific and real reason to stay here as long as she possibly could and she pushed the envelope of that particular goal as far as anyone could. 
We owe her so much. We owe her memory so much. We owe her spirit so much. We owe her wishes so much. We owe her accomplishments so much. 
With her mind she changed the world. And always for the better. Justice was her super power and obviously, what she lived for.

Well.

Last night Lily and I made a plan to meet up at the Hilltop today to get lunch which we could eat outside. And so we did that. Mr. Moon was able to join us too and we ordered our shrimp sandwiches and hamburgers and onion rings and fried okra (Owen!) and then we waited and waited and waited at the covered tables. 


Maggie and Gibson were certain that they would die of hunger before our food was ready. And it did take a long time. But we chatted and the boys told me things that are going on in their lives with school and video games and the river that had run through their property when we got all that rain. It was so good to just talk to them. 
No one but us at the Hilltop was wearing masks. Not even the employees. And I suppose we should have just walked back on out when we saw that but we didn't. We merely sighed and accepted. 

The food did finally arrive and with it, the flies came around too. So many flies that Maggie, despite her state of near starvation, refused to eat and closed up her to-go box to take home where there were no flies. Just like with the non-mask wearers, I let the presence of the flies slide. At least flies aren't generally deadly. 
This all makes the experience sound rather dreadful but it wasn't. It was a lick, a taste of normalcy. No pun intended. The food was fine but it was the act of sitting down with family to take a meal that made it all so lovely. "Would you like some ketchup?" "Trade you an okra for an onion ring." The most prosaic of pleasures, fully appreciated. 

I don't have much else to talk about. We watched "My Octopus Teacher" on Netflix last night and it was astounding. The most beautiful underwater footage I've ever seen and a most unusual story. It was a balm after the news about Justice Ginsburg. 

I'm having a very hard time these days trying to maintain any hope whatsoever about the future of our country and of the world in general. People don't listen to scientists and would not, will not do what they say we must in order to save our planet. I'm as guilty as the next person. Religion obviously isn't going to save us. Chant, pray, prostrate and pretend all you want. Not going to change a thing, not going to save so much as a bumblebee. Most religions seem to have acceptance as one of their most basic tenets. 
And it has always been very hard for me to define, even for myself, the line between acceptance and denial. Which is which and why is one superior over the other? Neither one require much action to be taken. 

But then I think of RBG and her spirit for fighting the good fight. For doing, not just saying. For turning thought into deed. For refusing to lay down at the altar of acceptance. For using her voice for the masses of the voiceless. 
That helps a little. 

Sleep well tonight. In peace if possible. I am trying to remember that above all, kindness is something we can all express and it is, in the most gentle way possible, a powerful force, a power that we can all access. That's something, I guess. I try to remember.  

Love...Ms. Moon


26 comments:

  1. Thank you, Mary. This helps with the immense grief I have for RBG and our future. I think I have that same rose, Louis Philippe, aka the Florida cracker rose. Wish we had some cooler temps here, it’s still sweltering. Much love.
    Xoxo
    Barbara

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It may be a Louis Philippe. It sure does smell so sweet.
      Much love to you!

      Delete
  2. Is there anything worse than waiting and waiting for a restaurant or cafe order to appear? I hate that. Sometimes those long waits can really spoil your appreciation of a good meal. Hang on - I just thought of a couple of things that might be worse - not having enough money to buy food and not having a place to live. I think that Justice Ginsburg might have agreed with that observation. She was small in stature but big in understanding.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes. Smile. It's easier. Be kind. It's easier. And generally appreciated. And don't think about politics for a few weeks.
    Hooray for Miss Maggie's good judgment to stay happy.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am somewhat in denial...the whole environmental shift is truly unthinkable. But I know it is fact and the change will not be great for any of us living on this planet. Ruth knew when to hit the road! She did last a very long time , I think about eleven more years than her pull-by date. She is a champion! Inspiring and truthful! Ruthful!
    So good to see your family! Even if the flies were way too interested. Maggie really is a sensible child.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sometimes I think about my friends who have gone on before me and I wonder if in a way, it's better that they didn't live to see this shit. They all had such huge hearts, such true souls. But that's probably just one stupid way for me to grieve them.
      Maggie is sensible when it suits her. When it doesn't, sense is meaningless to her. Well, she has her own sense, I suppose.

      Delete
  5. Small but mighty and a wonderful example for women...I am glad you enjoyed your lunch.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I loved Linda Sue's *Ruthful*.......that is what we can all hope and strive for. Your *low* night temp....cool by your standards, makes me chuckle. 64 night is cool for you, really? In *normal* conditions that would be a daytime temp for us.....but of late, nothing is normal anymore. We are still in mid-high 80's day.......mid 60's at night......and this is very warm for us.....but.....fires, smoke, quakes......... can't tell up from down or normal from abnormal anymore. all is just so surreal. And.....if Ted Cruz gets a SC nomination.......I'm done with life- period
    Susan M

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sixty four IS cool for us. I'm not kidding. We're just not used to it.
      I swear to you- I can't imagine a world where Ted Cruz is on the Supreme Court. I know exactly what you mean.

      Delete
  7. watched My Octopus teacher, - thank you. Incredibly beautiful

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am amazed at how long RBG hung on in her fight with cancer. And I know she did it all for us, for all the people she devoted her life to in hopes of fairness and equality. I hope for more to follow her example.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Having much the same feelings as you after hearing the news of RGB. Could not bring myself to even read newspapers yesterday. Just couldn't bear all the sniping and viciousness--the ugliness of it all. Will need to pull up my socks and keep putting one foot in front of the other. Clearly, RGB left a legacy we must try to sustain and push forward. But for moment...I will simply sit in contemplation of her goodness, her humor, her strength of will.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And that is a beautiful thing to do. A sort of sitting Shiva.

      Delete
  10. the prospect of another term for Trump and the possibility that republicans would get rid of two term limit has us seriously thinking of emigrating. when RBG died my husband, who is jewish and I raised our kids as such, announced he was going to pursue getting his passport renewed. it's that scary. but where would we go? Canada? too cold and would they even let us in. Mexico, which I love. Mexico it would be I suppose. but oh what a daunting task, to cash out, leave everything behind at this point in my life. we all helped Ruth survive as long as possible...all the prayers and thought energy directed at her from millions of people who needed her.

    and it was 67˚ here this morning! glory be. of course there's a tropical storm headed right for us here on Monday.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know a woman who did indeed move to Mexico about a year ago. She and her man are quite happy they did. They have a very active, interesting life there now. And yes, they had to jump a lot of hoops but I know they think it was worth it.
      I sure hope that storm doesn't pick up much. I hate to think of all the work you've done since the flooding being undone in any way. I'm thinking of you, Ellen.

      Delete
  11. I'm glad you got to have a relatively normal lunch outing with Lily and the family. Like you, I am losing faith in our future.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sucks, doesn't it?
      But small things can make a huge difference in my days.

      Delete
  12. The sweetness of those babies. Nice that you had an outing together. And you're so right. Kindness is the most powerful force there is. I see it as synonymous with love, because one can't really express kindness except from a place of love.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you're right. Kindness does come from a place of love. It is the action of the emotion.

      Delete
  13. I'm glad that even tho' our State lagged behind in doing the safe things during Pandemic, they do have a Mandate on Mask wearing in ALL establishments or you're not allowed in and Employees certainly must wear them. We have a Covidiot Governor like Florida does but pressure got put on him and he finally relented to making wiser decisions and our numbers improved significantly. That said, this vile Administration keeps holding Rallies here which are super spreader events and they know it. Pence was here just the other day running damage control behind his Boss by trying to woo the Veterans and holding a Rally near the Base. We live close by and it bothered me that he was holding a super spreader Event in our Community and inviting Veterans to it to try to kill more of them off I suppose... since the Moron-In-Chief considers them losers and suckers anyway. It all just is tiresome and frightening. I'm glad you got lunch even with the Anti-Masker presence and Flies... it made me think that the Flies somehow got attracted to the BS of the Anti-Masker Statement. *LOL* RBG was indeed Iconic and her Legacy shall live on. In my Corporate Lives I truly benefit from some of her fights for Gender Equality in the 70's and 80's... I recall how biased it all was before she broke some Glass Ceilings for us. May she now Rest in Peace, having fought the Good Fight right to the very end.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is horribly unfair for these super spreader events to be held in communities where people don't want them. Or at least a lot of the members of the communities. But this administration doesn't care at all about either the people's will or well-being. I think that's pretty obvious.
      I doubt we've even begun to realize all that RBG did for this country and for women. Her legacy will live on.

      Delete

Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.