Tuesday, November 3, 2020


This soup is comfort food. Not as much in the eating of it, most likely, as it has been in the making of it. I started early this morning, simmering a venison roast's bones that I'd frozen with garlic and a bay leaf for hours and hours and just a while ago I cut up carrots and celery and onions and sweet potato and tomatoes and browned some venison stew meat and combined all of that with a can of tomatoes and frozen broccoli, green beans, corn, baby limas, and peas. That and leftover bread will be our supper. 

My other comfort today was having August and Levon over so that Jessie could get her shopping done. And that was a joy. They really hung out with their grandfather more than with me because that is THEIR joy. And his.


August helped Boppy open the garage doors. 


And then the boys helped him oil up a bike we have here and put air in the tires. I loved watching them, Boppy explaining what he was doing and making sure that they were getting to assist him. Unfortunately, even with the seat adjusted all the way down, August's legs are not quite long enough to reach the pedals. "I will be big enough in this many days," he said, holding his hands up with ten fingers spread. We agreed that it will be soon. No doubt. "Me too!" said Levon. And he is also correct. 

They helped Boppy unload some logs somewhere while I made peanut butter sandwiches and then it was lunch time. After that we read books, the boys and I in the library. "No Hugs Til Saturday," "Duck in a Truck," "There's a Wocket in my Pocket," "The Jolly Christmas Postman." Levon slipped out of the room before we had finished that last one and we found him in the Glen Den, watching a video with Boppy on how to drive a front-end loader. August joined them. 


Levon was mesmerized. 

And then we moved on to necklace making with beads and elastic string. This made us happy for quite awhile. August can string his own beads but Levon likes to find the ones he wants and give them to me to add. Even though we tried to pick up all the beads that had rolled to the floor, I bet you that there are still at least twenty of the little things hiding out in the dining room as we speak. 

After that, we went back outside and the boys and Bop opened up the old camper van and pretended to go camping. They are charmed by the little sink, the idea of packing food and, as Levon said, "Eating wherever we want!" and sleeping like cozy bugs in cozy rugs. 


I sent that picture to Jessie and she said she wasn't sure if she'd ever seen Levon smile like that. He is a Boppy's Boy for sure. 

I was in the kitchen cutting up vegetables when Jessie came to pick them up. As always, they were as happy to go home as they were to get here. They are such easy-going fellas. Far more for us than for Mama, I'm sure because that's how it goes. They don't fuss and they don't cry and best of all, they don't fight. At least not here. I have it on good authority that this is not always the case at home. 

And now we wait. I guess some polling places are about to close and I am certain that Trump has an army of lawyers lined up in three piece suits, holding their brief cases and ready to dash off to wherever they need to go to try and stop votes from being counted. I feel almost sick with anxiety and dread. I dare not hope. Isn't that awful? But last time I had so MUCH hope and the way I felt when that hope was dashed upon the sharp rocks of shock is not something I feel I can live through again although honestly, there is no way to be prepared should the election turn out badly. 

I am thinking of the night Obama won his first term and Hank called me in tears. "We did it!" he cried. "We did it!" and I cried too, from stunned disbelief and joy. 
Oh god, how I want to feel that way again. 

Well. We shall see. And no matter what happens, I have my family and we have each other and there is soup and there is bread and no one can take the love away from us and no one can take our kindnesses away from us and no one can take our beliefs and our dreams and our values and our hope for a better world eventually away from us. 

See you tomorrow, come hell or high water. 

Love...Ms. Moon


28 comments:

  1. Amen, Ms. Moon.......we all hope to once again have the enthusiasm Hank did....... YES! No one can take away our kindnesses and love, and I'm hoping to dish A LOT of it out in the next day or two also! I lift my wine glass to all of us tonight....... with good hopes
    Much love
    Susan M

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    1. And love to you, Susan. You always cheer me with your comments.

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  2. You’ve described perfectly how I felt them and now. As my friend says, it was a real kick in the twat. I’m also trying to remember that the truly sweet things in life will still be here no matter what. Much love.
    Xoxo
    Barbara

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  3. OH MY! That smile on Boppy's face is so full of love that I cried! I'm doing a lot of that today. Like you, I'm afraid to hope, but hoping just the same. I hope my next cry is one of happiness. PS: Your soup looks so good! I swear I can smell that dark, meaty smell of a perfect soup.

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    1. It was good soup. That I can say for sure. And that Boppy loves his grands.
      As to hope...well. I'm just waiting as are we all.

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  4. i made soup yesterday (minestrone) and we are not watching the polls come in- sitting in some place between hope, anxiety and fear of what the results may be.

    xxalainaxx

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    1. I wish I hadn't watched them. It did me no good but a great deal of anguish.

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  5. Lovely boys lovely family. You'll soon find the missing beads when you cross the room barefoot..

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  6. Those two smiles are perfecto. I'm glad Jessie liked it.

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    1. It is a very nice thing that humans have evolved to smile.

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  7. lyrical, your life!
    I am numb - there will never be another high like the Obama high. That was truly exceptional felt the world over

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    1. You are so right about the Obama high. It was a sublime moment in time.

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  8. Your Comfort Food looks Comforting. I might settle for Alcohol to take the Edge off and I don't even drink! That this Election is so close is deeply disturbing to me. I see you weren't able to Flip your State, sorry... we managed to Flip ours and I hope that Flipped the Middle Finger to the Death Cult Dictator. I can't Believe that so much of America is on board the Crazy Train with this Lunatic and wants another Four Years of this horror... it's Mind blowing!

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    1. Yep. People joyfully stepped on the crazy train and they have no idea what price they'll be paying. Do they care? I don't know. It's a cult.

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  9. Oh God, you don't know how much the rest of the world agrees with you about the election. Only the dictators and Nazis and fascists want him to win. I'm sure he'll be doing all he can not to leave even if the vote goes against him. I am not reading the details. I'm surely VERY sorry that Florida didn't manage to stand out but glad to see from the comment above that Arizona did.

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    1. Arizona certainly did and I am not surprised by Florida. Trump is trying dictator-like tactics in order to take this election and will continue to do so. Since he has put his little handmaiden in the Supreme Court I have no real confidence that he won't succeed. I apologize to the world for the mess this country is.

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  10. We will have an Obama moment again. It may not be this year, but it will happen.

    It's so funny that Levon snuck away to watch a video of a front-end loader with Boppy. Isn't it interesting that at such a young age, some kids have intensely individual interests?

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    1. I hope you are right re: another Obama moment. I really do, Steve.
      And yes, Levon is dedicated to heavy machinery. He does love to listen to books but the Jolly Christmas Postman is a little above his head. There are some fairly sophisticated jokes and also literary allusions he doesn't get at all. August is starting to, though.

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  11. Hard to imagine any grandfather more loving than Boppy. The pure joy on his face and the boys when they are together is something to behold.

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    1. It's true, Mary. It is one of the dearest things in my life.

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  12. Boppy is the best grandfather! He really understands those little boys. I think August is stretching up at such a rate he will indeed be able to ride that bike soon. And Levon, so interesting how durable his interest if big machinery is! Focusing on those darling boys was far preferable to to focusing on the election, which is going into late innings in the most disheartening way.

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    1. Remember when Levon carried a shovel around all the time? His "fa-fa"? Moving dirt around is his love and his main interest in life.
      No comment on the election. You know how I feel.

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  13. Those pictures of the boys with Boppy are just adorable. You can just see the love!

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.