Sunday, September 20, 2020

Pleasant Valley Sunday


Another row of baby bananas coming on. I am completely fascinated by this process. You would think that I had the first blooming banana plant in the universe. 


What a beautiful crown of flowers, marking the beginnings of more fruit. 

Y'all. I am wearing a sweater. Okay, it's not wool or cashmere. It's cotton but still. It's a sweater-like garment. And yes, we here in Florida have what is fondly known as "thin blood" which tells us that we need to bundle up if gets down into the low seventies but that's just the way it is and it is a remarkable relief not to be sweating, to actually feel cool. I have the doors open to the outside and I swept the porches this morning. The air conditioning is off. In a bit of perfect synchronicity, it is the second day of archery hunting and Mr. Moon is off in the woods with what he is calling his "old man hunting club" to kick off the season. He was so happy that his long-sleeved camo shirt would feel good and won't make him sweat in the deer stand. 
I am happy for him. The season of observing the woods and wildlife is upon him. His excitement this morning was almost palpable. As I always say- I do not understand his need to go into the woods to hunt but I understand fully that he does need to do it. And as I also always say, there is far more hunting involved than there is shooting. 
He'll be back around dark-thirty tonight unless by some bizarre chance he gets a deer. 
And he's getting vegetarian egg rolls for supper. With tofu. And he loves them. 

I finished watching The Office a little while ago. All nine seasons. The finale was indeed grand. I love the way the characters developed over the years. The people who were originally background characters became as important and as richly portrayed and as multi-layered as the main characters to the point where, at the end, there was no real delineation. Everyone has a story. In life and on television too, if a series is given enough time, has the right actors and writers and directors in place. Entertainment becomes art. There are series we fall in love with because we fall in love with the characters. 
I think of Northern Exposure.
I still miss those people. With all of my heart. 
If Netflix streamed that, I'd be watching it over and over.  
And I'm going to sign up for Hulu so that I can now watch the British version, the original. But first, I need a little time to grieve. 

And so it has gone today. A little opening up of the house to fall. Another season which is a true demarkation of time unlike the hours of the clock or the pages of the calendar. The way the air feels, the way the sun slants, the way the green of all growing things changes, subtly sometimes, and sometimes dramatically, the smell of the earth as it goes from fecundity to rest. These are things that as I grow older I sense and recognize more and more fully, giving them my attention in ways that I did not when I was younger. 
Just as I give my attention to the bloom of that banana which is as fancy and fabulous as a fan dancer, fully made-up and dressed in the colors of the wildest birds, hiding her treasure until it is time, in the slowest of reveals. 

I better go start chopping up vegetables and pressing tofu. Egg rolls are not hard to make but the preparation is time-consuming. This is true for many things, isn't it? At least, for the really good things. 

Maybe we should take hope in that thought. 

Love...Ms. Moon










33 comments:

  1. we roasted part of a chicken and had sunday supper sides; squash; dressing and roast potatoes. tony calls this time of year golden because we don't really NEED the heat or the AC... be well and enjoy the egg rolls and the reprieve from the heat!

    xxalainaxx

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    1. I love roast chicken! And Tony is right- it's the golden time of year for sure.

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  2. The big guy is taking me out for supper tonight, it's my birthday. I told Miss Katie that it was my birthday today and she gave me a huge hug. It was lovely.

    The weather here is beautiful too. The sun is shining and the trees are all turning color. It's my favorite time of year.

    I'm glad you had a good day and yes, good things take time and prep.

    Sending hugs.

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    1. I hope you had the best dinner out with your big guy. I am glad you were born!
      And how sweet of Katie to give you a hug. I know that meant everything.

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  3. Your banana is a fascinating thing! I did see one in hawaii one time and thought it was probably the smartest creature ever! I thought banana grew in bushes.
    Everything seems to be normally going along in the life of our Mary. As normal as we can imagine at this juncture! Thank you for a normal day!

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    1. It was a normal day.
      And don't feel bad about the banana bush thing. I knew a woman who actually thought that pickles grew on...something. Now she's sort of a farm woman which I think is beautiful.

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  4. that banana will keep me fascinated forever, as long as the pics continue. A beautiful thing indeed. And wearing a sweater.....sorry- I wore one about 3 weeks ago and that was it. Even sleeping under anything more than a sheet nowadays is a joy, but rare. So....comfort of a sweater I can understand! Calamari steak sandwiches for dinner here.....with guacamole....since we are inundated with avocados. I can think of many worse fates but would love one of your eggrolls! And....I always loved Northern Exposure......it didn't last enough seasons, did it?
    Susan M

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    1. It was mind-blowing to wear a sweater. It was so cozy and nice.
      I've seen recipes for Mexican eggrolls. Why not? They would go beautifully with guac.
      I thought that the last season of Northern Exposure really jumped the rails and I did not like it very much but the last episode made me cry my eyes out.

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  5. Your Banana Blossom is Magnificent. For the first time ever I saw one Blooming here in Arizona, where they don't grow well, because it's not Tropical, just Hot. The Vegetarian Hand-Made Eggrolls sound delish. The Man loves Hunting too, it's a Guy Thing that is kinda Primal I guess.

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    1. Primal indeed! For some men it's just not enough to go to work to earn money to buy food at the store. They feel like they need to provide the meat in a more "traditional" way, I suppose. And it is good meat. I can imagine that it isn't humid enough for bananas in Arizona. Poor things probably dry up.

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  6. I got lost in the hot sunshine today. I could stand by a window and soak it in like a heating pad. I went outside on the porch, and soaked in a lot more.

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    1. And that sounds divine. I know that feeling. The skin feels as if it were smiling.

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  7. That nice reminder of northern exposure. What a great series that was with all the odd characters and great lines. And the moose in the opening credits. Now I want to find it again.

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    1. It's not streaming ANYWHERE here. Maybe in Europe? I'd love to watch it again too.

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  8. Dearest Mary-After the news of RGB's death, I watched My Octopus Teacher as the urging of my daughter. As you know, I love the water, love to swim and the movie let me cry wholeheartedly for the everything, the smoke, the fires, the election, the pandemic. And the beautiful planet we live on. Be well, dear friend. We will carry on as best we can.

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    1. We will, Beth. We will carry on. Some days it's harder than others.
      My Octopus Teacher was ethereally beautiful, wasn't it?

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  9. I never watched the entire series, but my sons loved it so much and played many of the episodes or their favorite parts for me. I never watched Northern Exposure! Should I?

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    1. You can't watch Northern Exposure unless you have a DVD player and somehow find the discs. Or VCR! It doesn't stream anywhere. But yes, you should definitely watch it if you ever get the chance. It's magical.

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  10. Enjoying your bananas. Good to focus on nature's beauty in the midst of turmoil. No bananas on our trees this year. Surprising, given how miserably hot and humid it was this summer.

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    1. I wonder why your bananas aren't making fruit. Do they usually?

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  11. Like you, I have discovered that as I grow older I notice and appreciate things that never used to register with me when I was young. Your paragraph that begins "And so it has gone today..." is so well-written like a fragment of true Literature.

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    1. Oh, thank you, Mr. P! I can't tell you how much I appreciate that.

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  12. banana trees blooms are exotic, aren't they. I still have one tree with it's long bloom and a nice cluster of green bananas still. three others bloomed but two didn't make any fruit and the one that did made few but those three are the ones that keeled over two thirds of the way up.

    yesterday was so nice, in the high 60s when I got up, today 70. and I don't think I sweated AT ALL yesterday. and it rained, 2 ½" in the afternoon, the first of it from TS Beta which last I looked is aimed right at us. did my storm prep after it stopped raining.

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    1. Oh gosh. I haven't checked the status of the storm today. Is it a hurricane yet? Lord, I hope it doesn't hit you hard.
      I am loving our cooler temperatures.

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  13. You inspired me to rewatch The Office. I just finished Jim and Pam’s wedding, which was so good I’m going to watch that again before I continue the series. I’m getting so much more from it than I did when it originally aired. The micro-expressions of the case are great acting. Looking forward to Michael’s proposal, which I remember as another great moment. And hoping that Dwight and Angela get back together, because they deserve each other, can’t remember if they do.

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    1. Well, I won't give you any spoilers but yes, what a good idea to watch it all again. And if you listen to podcasts, there's one called "Office Ladies" with Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey where they discuss episodes and give lots of facts about them. They have other cast members as guests along with directors and writers. It's really fun.

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  14. Bananas are so prehistoric-looking.

    You know, I've never watched "The Office." At least not entirely -- just little snippets of episodes here and there. Maybe we should do it! We have the British office on our Netflix, I think.

    A sweater! Wow!

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    1. Yes. You do have the British Office on Netflix over there, I think. I just started watching it today on HULU. I think you'd like the US one but it's like anything- you have to take enough time to know the characters before you can fall in love with it.

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  15. I loved Northern Exposure too- I wish they would bring it back on Netflix.

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  16. "...fancy and fabulous as a fan dancer, fully made-up and dressed in the colors of the wildest birds, hiding her treasure until it is time, in the slowest of reveals." What a perfect take on that beautiful photograph!

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.