Saturday, April 17, 2021

In Which I Am Spoiled



I picked a basket of mulberries today and will pick more tomorrow. I might make a pie. Who knows? I've just about given up trying to make plans. One would think that with my life I could safely predict what I will be doing from one day to the next but one would be wrong. 

I was sitting on the back porch this morning when the chickens, who were still shut up in their coop, made a horrible ruckus, flapping about and shrieking at the top of their little chicken lungs. I rushed out the back door to see what I first thought was a fox, slinking away from the coop but it might well have been a coyote. It was pretty large for a fox. I did not get a good look at it before it slipped into the bushes by the railroad tracks but whatever it was, it wasn't a dog. It had a very bushy tail and that I am sure of. 

Dammit, everything loves chicken and now this mystery canine knows where my own personal chickens live. 

Lily and I had planned on getting a pedicure this afternoon and Jessie said she could join us. My toes have been sadly and sorely neglected for over a year now. And as much time as I spend outside wearing flip flops, my feet have just been looking like hell. I am not vain about my feet although I used to have feet that were pretty enough to inspire vanity. Truly, they were. But one does what one can, you know, and as anyone who has ever gotten a pedicure knows, it is the most luxurious of treats. And so, Lily made us an appointment at a salon where we'd never been and it was so fun. Everyone was masked, of course, there was hand sanitizer everywhere, there were plastic screens between the manicurists and the customer with a space for them to work through and they took our temperature when we came in. It felt quite safe. We lounged in our massaging chairs while beautiful young women tended tenderly to us. Before I left home I shaved my legs, I used a loofa and lots of soap on my feet, and I even scrubbed my flip flops. It would have been so embarrassing to track chicken shit and black Lloyd dirt into such an elegant salon. 
I am not even kidding here. 
So now my feet feel so pampered and my legs are smooth. I chose polish which is just about the same color as I always choose. My daughters tease me about this but like Popeye, I yam what I yam. 


My poor old feet are as scarred up and worn out as my porch floor. 
Still, it was worth it just to get to sit there and be tended to, to be able to talk and laugh with my daughters. When the lady was done working on me, I wanted to gather her into my arms and gently embrace her. 
I did not. But I did thank her about a dozen times and tipped her well. 

Mr. Moon has been working on the shelves all day, painting and sanding. He called me in to look at something and at first, I did not see what he meant to show me. 
"What am I looking at?" I asked. He pointed to the floor which a shelf was about to cover. I peered over his shoulder and this is what I saw.


Can you see it? 
"Someday, someone will see that," my husband said. 

Listen- my husband is not perfect. He's more perfect than I am and that's a whole other story. BUT, he is perfect for me. There is so much that he could be working on, that he wishes he was working on, and yet- he is spending days making my pantry dream come true. That's real and that's love and that's real love.

Tomorrow Jessie and Vergil are heading up to Georgia to sign papers and haul back their new (to them) RV which they plan to stay in on Black Mountain when they go up this summer to work on the house they want to build there. They are going to drop off their sons who will be staying with us until they get back. I think I will be a terrible grandmother and tell them that their parents have abandoned them and that August's dream of being adopted by Bop and Mer is coming true. 
Haha!
Of course I won't. I am mean but I am not that mean. 

Love...Ms. Moon

31 comments:

  1. First things first: how is your tongue today? I've been meaning to comment on yesterday's post to ask all day. I hope it's better.

    So, I've never once in my life had a pedicure. My feet are a bit gnarly, especially the right one where the sole builds up lots of excess skin. I also have the unfortunate habit of picking at it. Sigh. I keep my toenails short and there's so little nail on the smallest toe it's barely there. Then there's the horrible eczema on my ankles. I'd never be comfortable baring my feet to anyone lest they think my skin affliction was some communicable disease. I HATE my feet.

    Here's an odd thing, though. Even though I can count of one hand (probably) the number of times in my 46 years I've ever polished my nails, the other night I had a dream where I was painting my fingernails and toenails a pretty robin's egg blue. How weird is that? My fingernails are super short and not worth polishing, but I keep remembering that pretty color.

    I love what your husband wrote! So sweet! My husband is sweet like that, too. How lucky are we?

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    1. Girl! We share feet features! My feet make thick callous too. And my little toes barely have a nail. And I'll just say that the people who do pedicures have probably seen it ALL! You and a girlfriend should go get yourselves pampered up. It's amazing.
      And you can get robin's egg blue.
      We ARE the lucky ones, aren't we?

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  2. I've never had a pedicure but your feet look lovely, your husband's message in the pantry brought tears to my eyes...... and now you will be Mer and Boppy for a few days with the grands. Sorry to hear about your (probable) coyote. We had one nab our hen a few weeks ago.....thankfully she escaped his jaws with just some feather loss......... but if they determine a pattern......they will be determined. Wily creatures. I am hovering under a grey cloud today....hearing news from a dear friend this morning that she was just diagnosed with breast cancer. It hit me in the gut like a freight train for some reason.....and I can't explain why........it just did, and I just have to accept that I love her, and will support her (along with her supportive family) in whatever comes next. Just felt the need to share that....... thank you for *listening*
    susan M

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    1. PS. I am envious of your mulberries! They are fabulous!
      Susan M

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    2. Oh, Susan. I am so sorry. I know how a friend's diagnosis can hit us. I've been through that too many times. ONCE is too many times. It's hard on many levels. I know you'll be there for your friend in whatever way you can. And there is good reason to be hopeful- there are so many good treatments for breast cancer these days. I wish all of the best for her, and for you, too. I send my love to you.
      Dang coyotes! I swear- we didn't have them in Florida when I was young. They have made their way here. And yes, they are indeed wily.

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    3. thank you for the love, I know you have been there too many times.....and I have too....but today's was just a hard one to hear. I know treatments have come a long ways and I bear great hope. Love you to pieces!

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  3. You have the happiest feet! There is nothing I love more than a pedicure, even a full body massage, the feet are the thing!
    Now i am nervous about your pretty birds- your house has been marked.

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    1. The feet are absolutely the thing. You nailed it.
      So far, no more sign of the mystery canine. Which means nothing, of course.

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  4. How happy you sound. And that lovely secret message from Mr M, too, oooh.

    I can't tolerate having my feet touched at all. I even have to brace myself when my doctor tests my sole reflex! She has joked that I'm no candidate for a pedicure. If you want all the atomic secrets, just threaten to touch my feet! Gah. But I hear people find it luxurious, so that's lovely. Im very glad you tipped your technician well, always nice.

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    1. My friend Billy is the same way about feet except it's not just his feet. He can't bear to touch anyone else's feet. Or even look at them. And yet, he does paint his toenails!
      I'm glad I don't have a problem with it because like LilyCedar said- there is nothing in the world like a foot massage.

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  5. I've never had a pedicure, but think yours is beautiful. Especially the color. Those nails say pay attention to us, down here, all you people up there.
    And Mr. Moon made more than one person tear up today. Don't tell him; he needn't be embarrassed into stopping.

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    1. I might tell him. He deserves to know that it's not just me who thinks he's pretty sweet.

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  6. I gather mulberries from a tree in Elizabeth Cady Stanton's yard in hopes of growing a tree. Alas... I have never has a pedicure. I can't stand people handling my feet. That message...may all women know the joy of finding their own version of perfect.

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    1. The house in New Jersey? I had to look it up, of course. You gather her mulberries? That's wonderful! I'm so glad that they don't go to waste.
      It would appear that some people just do not like their feet touched. I am so sorry for you and for them. It's such a wonderful thing to get a foot massage.

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    2. No. In Seneca Falls, NY. We were performing the play Equality of Rights in the very church where the first convention was held.

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  7. What Mr. Moon did is just about the sweetest thing I've seen in days, months, maybe years? Oy. And your feet photo is fantastic.

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    1. He's just a pure-heart sweetie, that man.
      My feet are quite happy.

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  8. That message from Mr. Moon is so touching. What a guy!

    I got a pedicure once, as a gift from Dave, and I felt so terrible that I was making that woman touch my feet that I'm not sure I could ever do it again. I mean, I know it's her job, but still. (Unlike you, my feet have never been considered attractive.)

    Mrs. Kravitz, next door, chopped down her mulberry tree. She makes me crazy.

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    1. I have noticed more and more men getting pedicures. Can you imagine Glen getting one with his size sixteen feet? Oy vey! They'd have to charge him double.
      All right. Now I despise Mrs. Kravitz. Simply despise her.

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  9. no mulberry trees around here. and most my dewberry bushes are gone too due to the fence clearing along the front of the shop property trying to civilize it for my sister since it's now her front yard. I still have one big patch on the side of the shop. when Jessie and Virgil get their house built, will that be their summer house or are they going to move permanently? I've had three pedicures in my life, always before some big party event. what I really want instead of a pedicure is to get my upper lip and chin waxed. I can deal with gnarly feet but the whiskers have got to go and plucking is a pain in the butt.

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    1. I bet you could grow mulberries there! Check at the nursery.
      Jessie and Vergil are planning on building a house to stay in during summers. It's right next to his family's houses.
      Girl- go get that waxing! Why not?

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  10. Your day today sounds like perfection. Having someone pamper you and massage your feet (oh I'd be in heaven) and having a husband who wants to leave his love for you behind for posterity!

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  11. I could have sworn that there are only twelve months in a year and yet Glen seems to believe that there are at least fifteen!

    EXPLANATION: In England we would write 18-4-21 for today's date and yet you folks across the ocean would write 4-18-21 for some crazy reason. Day-month-year seems more logical to me.

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    1. Yes, another thing we silly Americans do all wrong. And yet, it's what we do. I can't explain it.

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  12. I have never had a manicure or a pedicure; not a massage either. I think I feel awkward having strangers touch parts of me.
    Your nails look nice tho and you make it sound inviting.
    Mr. Moon is sweet.

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    1. Well, you do have to feel trust in order to enjoy a massage or any other spa-like body treatment. And I've known masseuses and they love their work so...
      Does that help?

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  13. I've never had a manicure or a pedicure. I don't think I would be too keen on someone else cutting my toe nails and my feet are ticklish.

    I used to do that when we did a reno, write down our names and the date as kind of a time capsule. Mr. Moon just one upped me:)

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    1. Ummm...
      You might enjoy a pedicure. They do rub your feet and ankles.
      That's a nice thing to do- write down names and dates. A little something for posterity.

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  14. Mr. Moon is a true romantic, and how lovely to be in love with a brood of grand babies. This is what is most real, and you know it. Beautiful post.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.