Saturday, January 23, 2021

In Which I Relate Absolutely Nothing Of Interest To Anyone


 Lily sent us a picture of her broccoli which is starting to head and I wondered how ours is doing because I haven't actually looked lately. It's off to the side in the garden in pots, and I was surprised to see this happening. 
Well dang! 
Nice surprise.

It got pretty busy here this morning for awhile. Mr. Moon got a call from the place where he was getting his almost two-hundred pound wild pig processed, telling him that it was all ready. He and Vergil did the small one but they let the pros handle that big pig. This meant that he needed to unbox and set up the outdoor freezer he'd bought and he had to go get the meat and he also had a duck-hunt planned so suddenly everything was moving and shaking and I made him some breakfast sandwiches and then Vergil and the boys came over to pick up Boppy to go get the pig which they did.
Things calmed down and I did a crossword or something. 
Guys- I think I'm losing about ten percent of my vocabulary a week. At this rate I'll be in the memory care unit by Christmas. I'm not joking about this. It's getting weird. Still, I struggle on with the various crosswords, being frustrated and and somewhat horrified. It's not that much fun but it has become an obsession anyway. 

Then the guys got back and while the men split up the meat and then Mr. Moon got ready to go hunt, I fed the boys some peanut butter and raisin and honey sandwiches. Recently, August got curious about the little dorm-sized refrigerator in my kitchen where I keep grains and beans and things like that. He wanted to know what was in it and I showed him and he noticed a box of golden raisins. 
"What are those?" he asked and I told him. He asked if he could try them and I said, "Of course," and he did and he liked them. So when I was making up the sandwich concoction, he asked if I could use golden raisins too and I said I could and I did. I was not surprised that he remembered. Kids remember everything and don't even try to convince yourself otherwise because they do. 
After they ate their sandwiches and generously offered me the crusts (I told them that they would know they were growing up when they started eating their crusts) we read some books. We read "The Five Hundred Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins" which is really an odd story in some ways but I do like it very much. You can tell it was written a long time ago because there's an executioner in it who is prepared to cut off Bartholomew's head with his axe and that would not pass the editor in today's world, not to mention the fact that a spanking is involved. But August adores the story and asks many questions about what certain words or phrases mean and why things happen and so forth. He's a curious little man. Reading it is a joy because there are so many voices and emotions which makes me happy. Sometimes when I get too dramatic, Levon puts his hand over my mouth. 
You cannot please everyone. He wanted a book called "The Train to Timbuktu" by Margaret Wise who wrote "Goodnight Moon" and I have to say that she should have stopped with "Goodnight Moon" although she may have written the other one first. But, we got those trains to Timbuktu, the big one and the little one, clackity, clack, clackity clack, and clickity click, clickity click
By then Vergil was ready to go and so off they went after I gave the boys their going-away treaties of six M&M's apiece and when I got back in the house I realized that I could not find my phone. I called it from the landline (which is about the best use of a landline these days) but I couldn't hear it ringing. I distinctly remembered taking it out of my pocket but I could not remember WHERE.
Could it have gone home with Vergil and the boys?
I called him, again from the landline, and yes, I think I had set it down on the seat by August when I was digging in my pocket for the M&M's. Poor Vergil had gotten almost all they way to the Tallahassee exit on I-10 and he turned around when he got off and got back on, heading east and brought it to me. 
I felt so stupid and although he was incredibly nice about it, I know he had things to do and it was completely ridiculous for him to have to make that drive twice. 

And that was about all I did today. It was spitting rain on and off, gray and dreary, damp and chilly. Not cold at all, but just that sort of wet chill that gets into your bones and I didn't feel like doing anything outside anyway. I have so much that needs doing out there and plenty that needs doing in here but I have absolutely lost my motivation. 
I don't know. I keep wondering if I'm depressed. I mean- sure- Biden's the president now and that's a huge relief but we're still stuck in this horrible pandemic which is affecting the entire world. I've been reading an article in the New Yorker about how horribly the pandemic was mishandled by Trump entitled "The Plague Year" and it's by Lawrence Wright. It's long as fucking hell but if you want to read it (and I consider it to be worthwhile but that means nothing) you can find it here. 

Trump's blundering, his ignorance and disdain and disregard of scientists and doctors, not to mention using the whole thing for what he considered his political advantage, has caused the deaths of literally hundreds of thousands of people. The man should be tried on charges related to that if nothing else. We all knew about these things but to read the timeline and details is horrifying. 

I suppose I should quit dwelling and ruminating and I know I should try to make myself do things that get me out of the house, even if it's only as far as the garden. And yes, be more regular with my walks. 

Okay. Here's something I don't think I've ever seen. 



An egg which has sort of a mottled color. And it's a bit pointy. Not sure what's happening there but I'll be interested to see if I get more like that. 

Lord, my life is small. 

Love...Ms. Moon




37 comments:

  1. I love the picture in my head of Levon covering your mouth while you read! I just ordered (through Amazon), the complete Brambley Hedge books. The stories and pictures are wonderful. I'm hoping to watch her read some of them on Zoom. If you remember, she's the only of my only and lives 10 hours away in KY. I haven't seen her in nearly a year. I know I'm depressed-it's like a Trump hangover that will take quite a while to go away. I'm going to be 70 in April and I think that's enough reason to be depressed, don't you? Plus! We are supposed to get up to 6 inches of snow tonight, what a kick in the head. Fucking Wisconsin weather. And bless your heart.

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  2. The 'her' is my granddaughter Henley --- lost that in the editing.

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    1. I will check those out, Dianne! Thank you!
      Six inches of snow?
      Bless your heart.

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  3. a pig in your freezer, and a wonderful visit with the 2 boys. August discovered golden raisins! I was intrigued and had research *the 500 hats of Bartholomew Cubbins*....... you mentioned *editing* and how that would not fly in these days. HA! I've been an avid reader since a very young age, having grown up without TV. I recall at about age 7 or 8 reading Hans Christian Andersens *The Red Shoes*.....and being both captivated AND mortified by it. Even to this day (I read it again recently) I feel the same. It would not be deemed child appropriate now. But your grands all have a vast range of life experiences....... and are well grounded children.
    Susan M

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    1. PS Lily's broccoli and your green speckled egg are things of great beauty!
      Susan

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    2. Yeah. We tend to keep kids in cotton-lined boxes these days. Some of this is good and I approve but some needs to be lightened up.
      And of course August thinks that spankings are imagined things.

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  4. My grandson once told me "don't use that other voice" with one book or another. I of course complied. I have been in a state like yours for the past two days and also read the New Yorker article...a huge mess overall and it is rather overwhelming. It does help if I walk every day and I do it,no matter how cold and windy it is.

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    1. Terry- thank you for being a motivator. The weather has not helped here very much in that we've been getting rain but I can do better.

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  5. could the pointy egg be from a new layer? My chickens have tended to lay pointy eggs when they first start laying, then they get a little rounder.

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    1. I see that pointy egg in new layers too but these hens are all well past that stage. I hope whoever laid it isn't sick in any way. I've been so lucky with healthy chooks. Knock wood.

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  6. Today was a do-little day here, too. I think it's a little deflation after the excitement of the inauguration. And that's OK - as long as vim and vigor aren't taking a long holiday. You did make it outside to find that beautiful broccoli head!

    Chris from Boise

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  7. Love the egg. Now you can have green eggs and ham!

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    1. I'm fine with green eggs but the green ham? Not so much.

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  8. I couldn't believe the broccoli photo. There was serious frost on my car this morning and it didn't get out of the 30's. Thats ok. I had a picnic with my friends outside and we froze but I made an olive oil cake and it was delicious. So there's that.

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    1. There IS that! I'm glad your cake turned out well and that you got to have a nice picnic, albeit a cold one.

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  9. I feel exhausted and can’t stop sleeping, despite relief over the failure of the coup I knew was coming for 4 years. My psychiatrist thinks it’s Covid fatigue and says lots of people have it including himself sometimes.

    I’m glad you’re here and I take comfort in visiting.

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    1. I'm sure that Covid fatigue is a real thing. And there has to be some sort of reaction after the relief of the inauguration. We can't fall apart until it's safe sometimes.

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  10. The title of this blogpost "In Which I Relate Absolutely Nothing Of Interest To Anyone" does not fit with the content of it. I am pleased that you did not lose your smartphone but hey, if those phones are so smart how come so many of them get lost?

    Trump seemed to view the pandemic as a personal affront and when you think about it, the likelihood is that if COVID-19 had not come along he would have been elected for a second term - thereby changing America for the worse for many years to come. Maybe it would have been impossible to heal.

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    1. I think this is the first time I've ever really "lost" my phone and in this case it wasn't truly lost, it just took a little trip without me.
      Trump did see the pandemic as a personal affront. And perhaps you are right about it affecting the outcome of the election but it's still hard to get past all of the unnecessary deaths. It's a tragedy, no matter how we look at it. And I hope it's possible for us to heal.

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  11. I had read that New Yorker article, too. Another reason to impeach him--dereliction of duty. But I can see why it didn't help your (or my) mental health. Seems like we are in an endless loop of grimness. Read an article in WP about Denmark (their health system checks every single positive test for variants--unlike the less than .3% tested in US) and their conclusions about where this is all going are not good. No wonder that the joy and light of inauguration day hasn't been enough to keep our spirits up. So much damage to be undone.

    On a brighter note, at least a visit by the twosome is always helpful to raise spirits, notwithstanding the reading critic. :) Vergil is a gem, too.

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    1. So much damage to be undone. You are right. And we are still facing so much uncertainty as regards the virus. Frightening uncertainty.
      Vergil IS a gem. And a sweetheart. And Levon can feel how he feels but I'm still going to read like the drama queen I am.

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  12. 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins was one of my favorite books as a child. And I am 47 so there you go. I am super silly (and maybe mean) when it comes to sandwich crusts :) I tell kids that oh no those crusts are going to he so so sad if they can't go in your belly with the rest of their family (the sandwich). Lord I'm weird. But over the years I have gotten my kid and other kids to eat lots of crusts. Haha.

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    1. That is an excellent strategy to get the kids to eat their crusts! They always give them to me as if bestowing a gift!

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  13. I believe that is a dinosaur egg.

    I can understand being depressed. It's winter and we're all tired of this pandemic and even with the "regime change" we're dealing with the after-effects of four years of incompetence. That Lawrence Wright article was fascinating but yeah, pretty horrifying, too. (I'm sure he'll be writing a book about Covid, don't you think?)

    Sometimes I also feel like I'm losing my vocabulary. I have a terrible time remembering proper names -- like the names of plants or people or a movie I once saw. It takes me minutes to dredge it up sometimes, if I'm able to at all.

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    1. That's what all my kids said- it's a dinosaur egg!
      I agree that Wright will probably write a book about the virus. He sure is well educated about it. And yes- horrifying.
      As to the forgetting things- I know that a certain amount of that is normal but this feels beyond normal. It's scary.

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  14. I have Bartholomew Cubbins still! I LOVED that book, despite the spanking.

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    1. Well, that little pisser deserved a spanking. He was going to throw Bartholomew off the turret!

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  15. nothing wrong with a small life if you are content. and yesterday was the same here...the weather and lack of motivation. mostly I just read all day. and losing words. me too. not losing them completely, just not able to call them up when I want, minutes, hours later I will know the word.

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    1. Usually I can pull the words up too, eventually, but I often find myself googling the definition to find the word and I'm grateful to be able to do that but damn- I wish I didn't have to.

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  16. I thought that egg was a mango at first. And no day is inconsequential when it includes passing wisdom to your grandbabies and that includes introducing them to golden raisins and giving them signposts like eating crusts.

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    1. Mango egg! That would be awesome!
      I LOVE showing my grandkids new things. It's just...a thrill. Maybe one day August will come across golden raisins and remember his old Mer. I hope so.

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  17. I can't wait until things are green and growing here. We were babysitting a four year old who wanted to know why 'peapaw' shot a deer. What was he going to DO with it? Tim looked over at me unwrapping 4 venison burgers to cook for lunch. He said, "Ask your mother to explain."

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  18. Sounds like a pretty busy day to me.
    I always find it funny that my grandchildren always remember what I have asked them NOT to do and then will always try to DO that again if they visit. Even if it is months later!?! What a hoot!

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    1. Yep. Like I said- they forget nothing. Minds like little steel traps.

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  19. Your Small Life is Beautiful, as you are and that Fabulous Egg! I'd blow out the innerds and eat those and Save that Egg for my Naturalist Collection, it's worth Saving that one, so Unique, I Hope you do get more of them. I think many of us are lacking in motivation due to the state of affairs Worldwide being so heavy and I often feel I could be heading for the Memory Care Unit eventually!

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.