Wednesday, September 9, 2020

 



I wanted that picture to be bigger, not because it's a great picture. It isn't. I sort of took it by accident while trying to get the darting sulphur butterfly that was sipping from the little orange flowers but I didn't manage to snap her. And dammit, here I am complaining again about new blogger because my pictures' sizes are all messed up. I was on my walk when I passed the flowers. Wildflowers are growing all down the side of the road, not great clumps or blankets of them but enough for the butterflies to be happy about them and as I watched this morning, two more of the sulphurs climbed high into the air in a whirling dance, and I would assume that mating was on their minds. 
I walked down to the gate on the ranch where the cows and a few horses and the one sheep live which makes my walk three miles and that was enough for me. Although the air is a bit dryer it is still hot and I came home drenched and then later, when I went back outside to do some yard work and clean the hen house, I immediately began to sweat again and within half an hour I was done, not with what I had hoped to get accomplished but with the heat. I got so testy with my husband when he asked me a simple question that he asked me most kindly if there was something he could do for me or if he'd done something that was making me angry and I apologized and reassured him that it was the heat, not him and I finished up the job I was doing and came inside. I just cannot handle the heat anymore and that is not a terrific thing for a woman who lives in North Florida.

One of the things I did do when I was outside was to pick what I swear to GOD has to be the last of the green beans. This is like Cher's many "last tours." I've snapped them and they will be cooked and then dressed warm with a shallot vinaigrette for our supper tonight. 


I'm also making pizza, inspired, I suppose, by
Mr. Pudding's recent recounting of his pizza supper. 

Mary Wharton and her film made the front page of the Tallahassee Democrat today along with her talented daddy. I just can't wait to watch the movie. You can go to this link to stream it if you want.  
We will definitely be doing that. 

I am feeling a great deal of longing these last few days, especially for Vero Beach and the Atlantic Ocean and staying in a beachside motel. I miss the hiss of the waves hitting the shore, the sense of endlessness and vastness as I look out over the Atlantic while watching the sunrise in the morning. All of this is probably ridiculous because I seriously doubt that there are any beachside motels left. It's probably all condos now. For some reason though, my memories of the times I've stayed there are fierce and sharp now. I want to smell the salt and walk the same beaches I walked as a child where my granny would walk with me and my grandfather would always say, "Mother, you're going to get your dress wet," and she'd say, "No I won't," and she always did, the sudden, sly waves coming up to drench her hem. Because she had lost her hearing at an early age, her balance was off and her tiny feet would leave tipsy footprints in the wet sand. I want to find shells and look for shark's teeth and the gold doubloons of pirates' treasure. I want to see the sea grapes and listen to the gossipy whisper of the Australian pines. I want to immerse my body in the holy, warm, amniotic waters of the Atlantic Ocean. 
Is it because I've not been anywhere for so long? Is it because it's fall? Is it because I am growing older? 
I don't know. 
But it's a real yearning. 

Aw well. I am grateful to have memories. I pray that time does not rob me of those. And in the meantime, I will content myself with this place in this time, and try to remember to be grateful. 

Here's a picture of Mary Wharton and sweet Jimmy Carter.


I swear. That girl hasn't changed a bit. 

Love...Ms. Moon



21 comments:

  1. They were in the trailer you put up last night. I only knew Jimmy Carter.

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  2. Thanks for the link.Have a sweet night. Perhaps you'll go to Vero Beach in your dreams...

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    1. I wish I had. Instead I had the weirdest dream I've possibly ever dreamed.

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  3. I was at Vero Beach way back in the seventies, on a driving/stopping tour of Florida. The Everglades before Andrew changed them. The Keys still a bit funky, not touristy. One of my best trips, just moseying about, us and the dog, for a couple of weeks.

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    1. Oh! That sounds like a beautiful trip! Even though I live in Florida, I love to be a tourist here too.

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  4. At the risk of mansplaining: When you upload your picture, highlight it and you should see a little box with various tool symbols. Click on the pencil (far right symbol). You should then be able to choose the photo size you want. I think you can also standardize text size by highlighting your text and choosing a font size, though I haven't tried to mess with that.

    I miss modest little beachfront motels too. When we were little we used to stay on Longboat Key, and there were tons of motels. Now a lot of those motels are gone and condos have been builtin their place. (Last time I looked, though, the little motel and cabins where we stayed was still there, amazingly.)

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    1. Please don't apologize. That was not mansplaining. It was good advice and I will try it!
      The era of those little motels was so precious. I'm glad I was alive when it was still a reality.

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  5. it was cool here this morning...68˚! I couldn't believe it. I got out there with the trimmer, two gas tanks full. I'm hot, sweaty, and tired now. this weather is crazy and the bluebonnets are totally confused. I've got plants out there that are big enough to start sending up blooms.

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    1. Ellen! I doubt it stayed 68 for very long. Please don't kill yourself with working outside. A trimmed yard is not worth it!

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  6. There actually are hotels still on Vero's beach. My granddaughter works at one. I too have been missing home (Vero).

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  7. Your description of times at the beach was lovely. Took me right there. If your memory ever fades you have years of blogs you can read. I'd pay for a book of your blog.

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  8. We used to go to the sweetest little hotel on Sanibel Island. Efficiency rooms decorated with shell mirrors and nets and furnished with rattan. Lots of books and games in the room. A one story place, when I was last there, completely shadowed by condos on all sides. I'm sure it's long gone, but I long for that again.
    Xoxo
    Barbara

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    1. Sanibel is a place I want to spend some time. My mother's family went there frequently when she was a little girl. Somehow we didn't spend time there. I suppose because we were so close to other beaches.

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  9. The Jimmy Carter movie looks interesting-I hope they put it on Netflix!
    I,too,am longing to walk along the beach again.

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  10. Ah, the beach. Been quite a while since I have visited one. Nice job of describing the view, the smell.

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    1. It is so clear in my mind. Such complete images.

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  11. Ms Moon I have been reading your blog for a while because you make so much sense and also because of the depiction of Florida life.

    I have a yearning for Vero Beach too.

    My grandmother's sister moved out there in the 1920's and in the late 70's and early 80's we took 4 trips to stay with her. This was before it was common for us Brits to come over and staying at her house we did a lot of normal life. Riding around on bikes to get her shopping etc.

    My big Vero Beach memory is my beloved grandad, who died way too young when I was 9, pulling out his pristine white cotton handkerchief to dust the sand off my feet whilst sitting on the boardwalk.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.