Monday, April 11, 2022

A Day Of Events

Today has been an unusual day. Not greatly so, but there have been events a little out of the ordinary. 
The first was sorrowful. When I went to let the chickens out this morning I was afraid to go into the hen house and indeed, our little Barred Rock died in the night. When Mr. Moon went to bury her, he said that she had more wounds we had not seen that were deeper and longer than the one we saw. It was all more than she could have survived but I tell you what- the desire to live was so very strong in that one. The path of feathers went even farther than we thought it had and for her to go through that and then get back to the hen house was remarkable. We're now thinking that perhaps it was a coyote because a domestic canine would have gone on to bring down other chickens in gleeful massacre but if it was a wild creature, it may have been too afraid of us to come back. Mr. Moon has seen scat that looks canine in a corner of the yard near the back of the property where there are trees and bushes and that is also where the swath of feathers seems to begin. He's got a trail cam set up there now. We may never know what got her. 
Poor baby.
In good news though, Darla has found her rhythm in brooding and now has about ten eggs under her, three of which are Jessie's hen's eggs. Our ladies are adding to the collection and this time I am marking them so that when there's what I consider to be an adequate number of eggs for one hen to sit on, I'll start taking the unmarked ones  away from her. And honestly, ten is about enough. One never knows which eggs are absolutely fertilized and some, even if fertilized, just don't make it so I'll let her collect a few more. I put one of Violet's eggs under her myself just because I'd love to have a Violet baby. I'm not sure if she and Liberace are friendly or not but I guess we'll find out. 

I went on my walk today which was pleasant enough and then decided to keep walking to go down and get a closer look at where I suppose they are clearing for the Dollar General. This only served to make me angry because those are definitely wetlands. 



And sure as shit, they've cleared from Highway 59 to Main Street. There's standing water on that property right this second. 


The property to the south of it is ALL underwater which it quite frequently is. HOW did this get permitted? My texts to my usually extremely responsive city commissioner have gone unanswered. I'm really trying to not be all NIMBY about this because as I've said, this little piece of the world needs a place where people can buy food. That's just the truth. But in the wetlands? 
Here's what the road looks like when you're standing beside that property and looking south. 


If you enlarge that picture you may be able to see a flashing yellow light which is where you make the turn to get to our house which is only two houses down from the light. This is the road I take to get home when I've driven the interstate from town and I can always feel myself relax and breathe easier when I get to that part of the journey. 
Home. Where the trees are. Where it's peaceful. 
Yeah well, kiss that shit goodbye. 

It was, however, fortuitous that I walked that way. As I was heading home on that shady side of the road, I came upon a fifty dollar bill! I was seriously shocked and immediately disturbed- who lost that money? How could I figure it out and get it back to them? And then I began finding credit cards, debit cards, reward cards, etc. Then- another fifty dollar bill. When I got up to the corner where Old Lloyd Road meets Highway 59, I found the wallet and a driver's license. 
Ah-ha! I knew the wallet hadn't been stolen because a thief would have taken the money. As soon as I got home I looked up the name on the driver's license on FB and sure enough- found the guy immediately. Not only that but we have a lot of friends in common. I messaged him and he almost immediately messaged me back with a phone number. I called him and within half an hour he'd come by to collect his property. He'd left the wallet on his truck by accident and this morning it somehow made it all the way to that corner before being flung off. He was a nice guy and I was so happy I was of help. 

And that's about it except for me pulling the last of the lettuces. It had to be done. I'm so out of shape that my miles today have left me weary and sore. I've got to do better. This is absolutely the point where it's use it or lose it. 
God, how I hate cliches like that but let's be honest- there is at least a grain, if not a sizable chunk, of truth in many of them and that is one. 

I have no interest whatsoever in Eternal Life (I feel a sermon coming on here) but I'd like to be able to at least basically function as long as I can in this life. 

It's hard being human. 
Carry on.

Love...Ms. Moon

31 comments:

  1. I'm so sad your hen died. I know we all die but somehow it seems worse when it's an animal that doesn't understand what's going on, if that makes any sense.

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    1. Or perhaps animals just accept it for what it is- a part of life. That's what I hope.

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  2. So sorry about the little chicken.

    And it's do good, and so typical of you, to take the trouble to assemble all the bits from the wallet and establish whose it was. He must have been so happy to get it back. The documents are a pain to replace.

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    1. Well, as I told him, some of those cards were not going to go through a reader again but he said most of them needed replacing anyway. I was so happy to do it. Didn't take much effort on my part!

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  3. I didn't comment on the illegal wetlands building. Here your feet wouldn't touch the ground before you'd be stopped dead. You'd never get the paperwork. On the other hand, there will be endless flooding problems in any new building, headaches galore. You can't drain one little section of wetlands. they don't work that way.

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    1. I KNOW! But here, especially in poor old Jefferson County, the local government can be pretty shady. I'm going to try and call some people tomorrow if for no other reason than to just see what the hell is going on.

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  4. Poor little hen. But that is the way of life. How wonderful that you found the guy's money et al. Good deed for the day. And yeah, definitely use it or lose it. I've been saying that since I was 60, keep doing everything you ever did because once you stop you won't be able to. I started that when I turned 60 because when my mother turned 60 she made the announcement that she was old now and didn't have to do anything and before too long, she couldn't do anything. Not the way I want my life to be. Now I'm going to turn 72 this month and it really is hitting home.

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    1. One of the things that really slows me down from wanting to be active is quite honestly pain. The more active I am, the more pain I have. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? I don't know, Ellen. I get very discouraged.

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  5. So very sad to hear your hen was too injured to survive. I know that heavy heart feeling of going to the coop.....so afraid of what you will find....joy, or sorrow. I'm very sorry, Ms. Moon. But....you must have been somewhat cheered at finding the person who lost his wallet and contents! That rarely happens and I'm sure he was SO grateful. The wetlands *development*..... don't know HOW that can even happen. As my brother always says....follow the money trail and you'll get to the bottom of it. Damn shame. Shame on them all. I do hope you get a response from the texts you sent..... don't hold your breath, though
    Susan M

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    1. Oh yeah- follow the damn money. Exactly. Dollar General comes into Jefferson County, says JUMP and they go get their pogo sticks. I'd say it in another, cruder way but you know I'm a lady.
      Ha.
      I was very glad to help the wallet guy. He was so nice about it, too.

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  6. The good and the bad of a satisfying day. It's the telling of it all where you excel. The Dollar General store business makes me sad.

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    1. It makes me sad and furious at the same time.

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  7. Poor little hen but what a mitzvah you did for that man in finding his wallet.

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    1. Anyone would have done it! I mean, maybe if the finder really needed the money they might have taken that but I didn't need it. I was so worried that someone like No Man Lord had dropped it which would be devastating to him.

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  8. Poor little barred rock! May the rest be safe.
    Are you going to make any more fuss about the Dollar General. Call your representative. Write a letter to the editor of a local paper?

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    1. I am going to try and make some calls tomorrow. As to the local paper- it is such a joke. You really would not believe it.

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  9. Those stories are wonderful, Mary -- and the way you tell them even more so. The "use it or lose it" thing -- my god. I need to get started because I am already losing it. My father didn't really start exercising until he retired at age 65, but he's incredibly fit now at age 86.

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    1. Well, your dad is most unusual! But good for him!

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  10. How deep does the wet go in those wetlands? Will the new building slowly sink into the mire over the years? You'd think someone would have more sense and build on the dry side of the road, if there is a dry side.
    I need to take more heed of use it or lose it myself.

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    1. Both sides of the road are underwater half the time. It's just a very low place. Some asshole has owned that property forever and I know he's (or his daughter, more likely) has been trying to sell it for years.

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  11. I agree with Rebecca. I hope you can enjoy this beautiful day.

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  12. Sorry about your hen. What can you do?
    Congrats on finding the wallet - sure was a happy day for that guy.
    Seems like a bad site to build on if it is always wet. Strange.
    Glad you got out for a walk - I did too!

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  13. Sorry about your hen. And about the wetlands. It's good though that there are people like you who will go out of your way to return that guy's cash.

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  14. So sorry about your Loss of the Dear Little Hen being attacked and then dying in her Henhouse, Bless her, she was tough enough not to be a meal, but not a nice way to go into the Chicken Afterlife. As for WHERE they are building that Dollar General and destroying Wetlands and a lovely Nature Area, now I completely understand the Community outrage! Why do they do that, can't they find a plot less invasive to put up something needed in the Community? Like the Old Song Yellow Taxi, they paved Paradise and put up a Parking Lot.

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  15. I'm sorry about your little hen. How weird to find bills and credit cards like a scavenger hunt to the wallet, and then save that man so much trouble in having to replace everything. Lucky for him, Mary Moon was his angel.

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  16. I'm so glad you were able to return that wallet and cards to the owner. I think more than the money, just losing my cards (and my French "green card") would make me lose it!

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  17. That's so sad about your little hen. As you said in a later post, at least it was a hungry wild thing that attacked her, and not a domestic animal doing it for sport. Good job tracking down the owner of the wallet! He must have been SO relieved.

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