Wednesday, November 18, 2020

A Better Day For Sure


Every fall when the horrible, awful, Bradford pears color up and lose their leaves, some of them look so much like the surrounding/setting in which the Virgin of Guadalupe is always pictured. I probably point this out every year. I used to have such a crush on that goddess, that Queen of Mexico, La Reina de Mexico.


Images of her can be found everywhere in Mexico from churches to markets to bars and restaurants to homes. She is still well-represented in my house although my mad crush has mellowed into more of a longtime, gentle love. 


Here's an image I just found online that I adore and wouldn't you know I can't find the artist's name? 


There's a thousand or more words for you. 

So today was much better for me. I went to sleep early last night and woke up feeling much improved and very rested. I knew that August and Levon were going to come out to play so that Jessie could go do her shopping and I got my necessary chores done quickly, including changing out the hay in the hen house. Poop begone! 
At least for a moment. 

The boys burst in the kitchen door and said exactly what I knew they would say which was, "Is Boppy here?" He was not. He'd gone hunting but would return soon. So after Jessie left, we played a bit and read a chapter of "Charlotte's Web" and the boys kept asking me to sew them something. I told them that I needed to oil my machine before I could sew anything, and so we decided to do that together. I can't tell you how much pleasure this gave me. I got out the old Singer and set it on the dining room table and told them that it was made the same year I was born so that we are exactly the same age. 
"Does that mean you were born to sew on it?" asked August. 
I pondered for a moment and then said, "Yes. Yes it does."

We got out the little pamphlet that came with the machine which has illustrations of where you put your drops of oil and we got to work. 



We talked about how the machine runs and what the bobbin is for and I even demonstrated how, when you sew with a needle by hand, you have to go underneath and above, both, to make the stitches hold the fabric together. Levon eventually lost interest but August did not and after we'd oiled AND lubricated the machine I showed him how I run a bobbin and thread the machine and then I showed him how it sewed. 
"See?" I said. "It sounds so quiet and it runs so smoothly? That's because we oiled it."
It was so nice to be able to show the boys something that I know how to do, that I sort of understand although, as I told August- it all still seems like magic to me but I know it's not.

Boppy came home and showed the guys pictures of the deer he saw from his stand this morning. Pictures and his empty coffee cup were all that he brought home today. I made them all some lunch and then I let the boys watch a tiny bit of T.V. and then we played cards. But oh! Here's a great picture.


Wearing Boppy's boots. 

These boys are so sweet. And so sweet to each other. I told August today that I really like the way he listens and behaves so nicely and he said, "So does Levon." 
I mean...please! 
Of course they are children and sometimes they don't listen and sometimes they are crazy (for about fifteen minutes today August refused to say anything but, "Why?") but overall, they are a joy.

Before Mama got here to pick them up we played some cards on the back porch, Levon on my team and on my lap. I was a bit relieved when Jessie did show up because it appeared to be one of those games of Battle that was never going to end, ever. 

Tomorrow I am going to run errands in town and despite my resistance to leaving Lloyd, I know it's good for me to get out of the house and out into the world. Unless I catch covid. Which hopefully, I won't. 
I am having a harder and harder time remembering that cases are spiking along with hospitalizations and deaths. I guess since I rarely go anywhere none of it seems real. But I do remember. I am aware. I will wear my mask and use my hand sanitizer and I won't touch my face. 
A quarter of a million Americans have now died from the virus. It is no time to grow lax. 

Be safe, y'all. Please. Live for the good days because surely there will be some for all of us. 

Love...Ms. Moon


34 comments:

  1. Boppy has boots fit for a giant. I imagine he says "Fe Fi Fo Fum" when he comes home from the woods. Lovely picture of the boys and August's brotherly hand upon Levon's shoulder is so sweet.

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    1. I always say that if I want to deter evil-doers when the Mr. is away, all I need to do is put a pair of his boots on the porch. I've never actually heard him say "Fe Fi Fo Fum", however.
      Aren't those boys sweet? They really do love each other a lot.

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  2. Just another covid day up here, no beautiful children in my kitchen and that sucks. I live through you these days, I also had/have a mad crush on Mother Mary Queen of the universe, have always had some form of "the Guat" around me somewhere.

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    1. Indeed on the vulva shape. Our Lady of Guadalupe is an extremely feminine deity in all regards. That is, no doubt, why I fell in love with her and also with Mexico who adores her so. I've always felt a very gentle spirit there.
      If you are living through me, I need to pick it up a bit. Sorry.

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  3. Lovely kids. They're lucky to have grandparents they know, too.

    One of my irreverent workmates used to call those statues of Mary in people's gardens, with that curved shelter thing " Mary on the half shell".

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    1. Yep. Well, perhaps she is part mermaid which would make me even happier.
      We grandparents are lucky to know our grandchildren, too!

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  4. I can honestly say my then six-year-old granddaughter ‘helping’ make chicken and noodles was a highlight of my life. I remember every single second of it, and the deep conversation we had about how boys have cooties and girls don’t. Love the pic of the boys in their Boppy’s boots, up THAT FLOOR!!! I love that floor and had a sudden urge to put my cheek to it and breathe it in.

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    1. I, too, love the organic conversations that arise when we do things with our grandchildren. They have so much to say that if we don't take time to listen, they won't be able to tell us.
      But Girl! You gotta let me clean the floor before you put any part but the soles of your feet on it!

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  5. Those two boys in Boppy's boots--priceless.
    I remember teaching my granddaughters how to clean and oil a sewing machine, step by step from the book. My sewing machine was an old singer, too, with the motor mounted on the back with rheostats. It was from the early twenties. When its motor failed the last time, it was toast.

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    1. I love that you and I have had the same experiences. I have a feeling that if we met we would have much to talk about.

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  6. I believe the artist is Yolanda Lopez. http://almalopez.com/projects/ChicanasLatinas/lopezyolanda3.html

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  7. Those brothers are so sweet together! My mother had a Singer circa 1950's, lots of clothing came off that machine.Have a good night.

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    1. Yes. I wonder how many garments have been made on mine? Hard to fathom.

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  8. Love your floorboards,
    Worn and loved xx

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    1. Not as old as the floors in the rest of the house but left unfinished so they look even older. They feel so good on my feet when I take the time to clean them.

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  9. What a wonderful post and those dreamy boys in Mr. Moon's boots. Honestly, your life is a dream sometimes -- I guess all of life is a dream, sometimes.

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    1. I often have to ask myself if I am dreaming or awake, especially after a night of long and intricate dreams. Seems even more intense lately.

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  10. I reckon you've got two young inventors there!

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    1. At least one! August is ALWAYS inventing in his mind. And describing out loud, using his beautiful hands for emphasis.

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  11. Those leaves DO look like the virgin. Glad you had another fun visit with the boys!

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    1. Me too. It was nice to have them to myself for a little while. If Boppy is here, they are much more interested in him and his doings.

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  12. Precious moments for all of you! Thanks for sharing them with us!

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  13. Dear Ms Moon

    I have gotten into the habit of reading a few blogs with my morning coffee, instead of the news, and reading your blog and news of your lovely family, makes me feel all is OK with the world.

    I have a Singer that came from my Great Aunt. I love that machine, I mean really love it, it is a thing of beauty. Your post made me look up it's age. From the serial number it was made in 1953.

    Then I got out the instruction booklet to try and make sense of the weird looking feet and was surprised it talks of treadles and hand cranking because it is powered. There is an advert in the booklet to mechanise your machine. I love it

    HAVE YOU SEEN THE
    SINGER MOTOR?

    Cuts out all fatigue!
    Both hands free to guide work!
    Makes sewing a pleasure!
    Better work done in half the time!

    And then, after dark there is the

    SINGERLIGHT

    which, by showing the stitching more clearly, prevents eyestrain and saves time and annoyance when threading the needle

    Any Singer Shop or Singer Salesman will tell you all about them

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    1. I love this! I think that the Singer sewing machines probably changed the lives of more women than almost anything I can think of with the possible exception of getting the vote. Truly a labor saving device. And I am constantly amazed at how well the instruction manual is written and illustrated. Absolutely a genius example of what an instruction manual should be, unlike today's phone-book thick manuals that contain forty-eight languages and very little information in any of them.

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    2. I'm coming back to this post to say yes to the instruction manual. 1953 and mine has proper photos of what I'm actually seeing not weird diagrams

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    3. Ok just been back to look and they are not photos at all but illustrations. So life like compared to modern instructions my memory was convinced they were photos.

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  14. have you seen the meme? Zoomgiving is better than ICU Christmas.

    my mother had a Singer that I taught myself how to sew on when I was 9 making doll clothes. mine is not a Singer but it does the job.

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  15. I love how curious the boys are and the journeys you all go on together.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.