Saturday, May 8, 2021

Ramble, Ramble, Ramble


I talked to Mr. Moon and Owen just a few minutes ago. They are on their way home. They did have a good time despite the fact that they couldn't go offshore due to wind. 
Safety first!
They went over to the island and checked out the house. Mr. Moon said that there's more that needs fixing and repairing than ever and that of course all the food has expired. Dog Island is never easy and we've absolutely let it get away from us. The washer and dryer which are under the house, which is on stilts, got flooded during a hurricane and need replacing. I think the oven does too, just from age. The stove top works but it's never worked very well and I doubt that it's gotten any better lately. He reported that the AC works and I think we still have water. For any of those who are newish here, we have a little cabin on a barrier island not far away to which there are no bridges and no regular ferry service. One has to haul everything that may be needed from drinking water to appliances and furniture and food and- well, everything- on a boat. And then haul the stuff from the boat to the house. There is nowhere to buy anything at all on the island. No commerce whatsoever. So you bring it or you do without. 
When I talked to Owen he said that just being out on the boat was so much fun for him. I asked him if being at the Dog Island house brought back any memories. 
"So many," he said. I remember him there as a little boy, running wild and playing in the sand and in the bay. I hope we can get the place back up and running because all of the grandchildren deserve to visit there, to experience Florida as it really is, or at least was, mosquitos, snakes, gators, raccoons, and all. To hear the wind singing through the pines, to learn to catch supper out of the bay, to have absolutely nothing to do except read, nap, take walks, swim, and play cards. 

I've had a very quiet day and have done essentially nothing. I spent hours and hours looking at Airbnb and VRBO to try and find a place for Mr. Moon and I to stay when we make our visit to North Carolina this summer to visit Jessie and Vergil and the boys who will be staying on their property up there in their new (to them) RV. 
God knows we can't make it an entire two months without seeing them. I am so glad they get to go, that they get to visit with Vergil's family, that they can work on the house that they are building. The boys have their mountain cousins, their mountain grandmother and grandfather who all love them. Their other grandmother is a musician and teaches them to play instruments and she is an amazing artist and a true master gardener. And how beautiful that they can hike around the mountains, go swimming in the cold rivers, stand under waterfalls and  visit the cool towns of Black Mountain and Asheville? 
Having said all of that, Mr. Moon and I are already pre-grieving. Thus, the need for a plan to visit. 
I still don't have a place for us to stay. There are literally hundreds of "cozy cabins" and "cozy cottages" to rent and my head is reeling. My main problem is that I am awful with maps. Is this seemingly perfect place ten miles from where Jessie and Vergil are or is it twenty-five? I have no idea. I need help. 

I did manage to pull the rest of the collards and kale. They were beyond bug-laced, giant and tough. Here's what I saved for our last meal of greens from our garden for the year. 


Such sorrow to see them all go. But soon, with some luck and a lot of work, we'll be eating tomatoes and cucumbers, peppers, and squash, field peas and okra. And the potatoes are definitely ready to dig. I think we're going to get quite a few of those. I need to pull the rest of the carrots. And celery? 
Oh, honey! It is getting big and is still tender so my hopes are high. 
But how much celery can one eat? That will be the question. 

The mulberry preserves I made yesterday are far from satisfactory. I think I really should have used more sugar. I've created mulberry syrup. Well, it will be good on pancakes. 

So here's a mystery- remember my foot that I self-diagnosed as being afflicted with plantar fasciitis? The bottom of my foot hurt then and it has been getting better and better. And now, all of a sudden, the TOP of that foot hurts like hell. It just suddenly started hurting last night and I've done nothing to injure it. In fact, a few days ago I was searching for Flonase in my bathroom and pulled out a drawer in the old wooden cabinet that holds my sink and all of my stuff 


(This drawer, to be specific)

and as I have done several times before, I yanked too hard and the whole thing pulled out and landed on my OTHER foot which is slightly swollen and appropriately tender but it's the seemingly uninjured foot that really hurts. 
WTF, people?!

So I'm limping around like an old nag ready to be delivered to the glue factory, feeling extremely elderly. Jessie was telling me the other day that she'd seen the man who had been our next door neighbor when she was very young and they'd talked and he kept saying how weird it was to be getting old and how so many people he knew were dying and I said, "You know why old people talk about all that so much? Because it IS weird and we never really expected it!"
We knew logically that old age is something none of us escape unless we die before we get there and we were aware that old people bitch about physical complaints all the time but somehow we all think that either 
A. It won't happen to us somehow, or 
B. If it does, we won't go on and on about it. Who wants to hear about the decrepitude of old age? 
HahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaHA!

It really is rather shocking, the changes that occur. Not to mention painful and embarrassing. Yes. Embarrassing. You think we'd wear these age spots and wrinkles and saggy skin if we had any choice? 
These are not things that our culture approves of. 

Well, that's enough of that. I do want to mention that the picture I posted yesterday of the stained-glass cloth hanging on the line was actually a napkin. It was one of the set I found AT THE DUMP that day I found the little Fiesta Ware pitcher and the beautiful cake stand. Which makes the picture even more of a good illustration of the small and prosaic miracles we encounter daily. 
I'd also like to say that Mr. Moon told me that Owen is a good boy which is high praise. And also that Owen thanked me for the cookies. He IS a good boy. 

All day long I've thought it was Sunday. It's going to be shocking for me tomorrow when I wake up and it's still Sunday. And oh yeah, Mother's Day. I've told my kids that I know they love me and to enjoy their lives and that would make their mother happy. 
And I mean it. 
I am quite aware that I am a mother. It's not something I'd forget. 

Love...Ms. Moon


32 comments:

  1. Another wonderful blog read! Such a joy to read about your days and what is going on with you!
    🌹❤ Happy Mother's Day ❤🌹

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  2. Owen looks like a good and happy boy in that delightful grandpa photo. So sorry they didn't have good fishing weather, but the fish will be there next time.

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  3. That island house is a place to build memories. Nice that Owen already has some, and is making more. A good boy indeed.

    I recall at our last family gathering several years ago when one of the next generation rolled her eyes in the middle of a fascinating conversation and said "I cannot believe you ALL have colonoscopy stories". Oops! That shut us up right quick! We have become our parents...!

    That foot is just having conniptions! So frustrating!

    Chris from Boise

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    1. I was going to mention colonoscopy stories but...I didn't. It's so true, though!

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  4. I am sorry to hear about your sore foot and hope it clears up soon.
    I had a blogger friend died suddenly a couple of days ago and her beloved husband had to post it on her blog. I will miss her.
    Getting old is rough.

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    1. I am so sorry, Ellen. It's incredibly painful when we lose a blogging love, even if we've never met them in real life. Doesn't matter. Through words and stories we become truly connected, don't we?

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    2. We certainly do, Ms. Moon! xo

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  5. Great for Owen to spend special man time with his grandfather.

    Wise thoughts about getting old. My late mother was often wont to say, "It's no fun growing old Neil". But on the whole I haven't minded it... so far!

    Regarding your painful foot, have you considered gout? If it might be that then drink more water.

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    1. I'm glad that older age hasn't slowed you down much yet, Mr. P.! I hope it never, ever does.
      I had not thought about gout but as it is much better today, I do not think that was it.

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  6. Love the adventures your family have. I never expected to get old was of the live fast die young school of thought. So now I have advanced decrepitude and wretchedness in comparison to some friends who had a less crazy youth. But some of my fellow mad compatriots are in fine fettle. So maybe it's the luck of the draw. Decrepitude gets me down but have taken to jigsaw puzzles which help. Getting old is not for sissies. Glad you and Mr Moon are still out there rocking it Maggi UK xxx

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    1. Yes! Who among us thought we'd ever live to be this old? I mean, I didn't. I think that genetics plays a big role but I'm sure that lifestyle can surely affect how we age.
      I'm glad you're enjoying doing jigsaw puzzles. Who'd have thought that THAT would be rocking out for us one day?

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  7. I suppose some people see surgery as a choice. I'd love a magic wand, but I don't feel like surgery and injectables are that... It feels too great violence, but too mention a gamble to me.

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    1. Well, for me, the question of surgery or whatever depends on what the ailment or injury is. Sometimes there's just no way around it if all else has failed. So far, I've been lucky. Knock wood!

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  8. One a mother; always a mother - it is the same with fatherhood; transformatory and no going back. My wife suffers from plantar fasciitis - albeit somewhat randomly - it comes on most often if I mention a long walk!

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    1. No going back for sure!
      I miss my long walks so much! It is time to start slowly and continue.

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  9. Happy mother's day.

    Aging is not for wimps, that's for sure. My feet hurt so much. I didn't know that could happen. My skin was strange dry crusty spots, I snore, my skin is drying out and I'm devloping a moustache.

    I'm glad Owen and Glen had a good time.

    I was watching Alton Brown yesterday and they were talking about collard greens and kale. Those two are apparently among the oldest vegetables people have been eating. I had no idea.

    https://foodprint.org/real-food/collard-greens/

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    1. All of those that you listed- Me too! Same-same! Plus, so many more.
      I read that article! I had to laugh though at the part about southerners know that they are delicious and versatile both cooked and raw. I've never yet met a southerner who would eat raw collards. I do, and am the exception, but only when they are tiny, teeny and still tender. Collards need lots of cooking and anyone who says they don't, is just wrong! Of course, that's my opinion. They are truthfully very sturdy greens and do require quite a bit of cook time to be very tender.

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  10. I have a recurring pain in my right arm just below the shoulder. I have no idea what it's about. I'll wake up one day and it will be painful to move the arm in certain ways and it will hurt until one day I wake up and it's gone again. and the wrinkles. OMG. doing yoga looking at my arms and legs all wrinkled up it's like looking at some of those folded and striated canyon walls out west.

    yep, happy mother's day. I'm glad Owen and Mr. Moon got to get out on the water.

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    1. Ellen ... the shoulder pain could be a shredding rotator cuff problem and needs to be checked by an Orthopedic doctor. There are simple exercises you can do to ward off surgery for awhile.
      Salon Paz patches help, as well!
      Happy Mother's Day!

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    2. Yep. I, too, thought about your rotator cuff. Glen is finally going to get his follow-up appointment after his MRI for his own rotator cuff problem. He claims though that his shoulder has been getting much better since the MRI. We laughed about that- saying that perhaps magnets DO work for healing.
      I first noticed the way my skin was all wrinkled up when I was doing yoga too. Ugh. Really?
      Oh well. What can you do?

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    3. I've considered my rotator cuff and I did research it but the kind of pain and where it is didn't seem to match up. I should go get it checked out though. I'll mention it at my next PC visit since she has to provide a referral.

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  11. Lovely ramblings. I like that you don't need a fuss for mother's day. Me neither. As you say, it's not something that slips your mind.
    Amazing to have a place on an island!

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    1. I'm pretty sure that I think about my children approximately every waking moment. And then dream about them at night. We do not forget.
      It IS amazing to have a place on an island but all of the things that make it so magical also make it so difficult. But it's worth it, truly.

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  12. You're right - every child should have their own "Dog Island" - wherever that may be. You're only a child for so long but those memories stay forever!

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    1. Amen, Ms. T! Funny how the older I get, the more my childhood memories stand out in my mind. This too, is another cliche that I have found to be true.

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  13. Happy Mother's Day Ms Moon.

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  14. So sorry to hear about your foot! What a drag! I totally get what you're saying about getting older. I am continually surprised by the process, and as you said, we all live in a kind of emotional denial that it will happen to us. We know it in our brains, but not in our hearts.

    How long has it been since you've gone out to Dog Island? I'm sorry to hear things need work, but I guess that's the nature of a vacation cabin. Glad Owen had fun on the boat.

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  15. You're wonderful mother. I understand the ache and melancholy of pre grieving. And yes, Owen is a good boy and aging is shocking.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.