Sunday, May 8, 2022

A Very Sweet Mother's Day


Ta-da! 
How cute is that this little one? 


Still only one baby and that may well be it. She/he could be an only child. But that's okay. Violet shows no signs of wanting to get off the other eggs she's sitting on so I'll leave her be for now. They have food and water in their nest so they will be okay. Eventually, I'll move her down to the ground floor where Darla and her three are. 
Those kids are growing so fast. 


I saw one of them fly up about six inches today to perch on a board. It's so crazy, watching those feathers come in, almost right before my eyes. 

So it's been a lovely Mother's Day around here today. My kids had asked me what I wanted to do for today and I said that honestly, I know they love me and they know I love them and all I really wanted was a call or a text and that is exactly what I got and it has all been so relaxing. I feel loved. And I've seen all of my children within the last week. I don't ever want my children to think that they need to prove on one specific day of the year that they love me. To hell with that! I remember the guilt-flowers I sent my mother every year and the memory makes me cringe. Not that there's anything wrong with sending flowers but when I'd ordered the ones to send to my mother, I always felt such a relief that THAT chore could be crossed off the list. Isn't that awful? My feelings about my mother are so fucking complex and possibly unnatural that I don't even try to figure them out any more. They are what they are. 
She wasn't perfect. I wasn't perfect. I think the closest to resolution of my feelings will be to say that I try not to judge her just as I try not to judge myself. 
Being a vastly imperfect person that's not really quite possible but it's not a bad place shelf on which to store it all until enlightenment strikes and I become a Bodhisattva or something. 
Let's not hold our breaths. 

I woke up to a jar of garden roses by my coffee cup along with a love note. And then my sweetheart asked me if I'd like him to transplant my favorite camellia to a place where it could get enough light and have room to breathe. 
Oh yes! I would! 
And he did that which was a LOT of work and at one point I said, "I bet you're wishing you'd just gotten me a card now, don't you?" 
"Pretty much," he said. But oh, how happy that camellia looks, planted between the two blueberry bushes right near the clothesline. 


It's a little hard to see her but she is smiling. 

I made an apple and blackberry pie just because I wanted the pleasure of handling butter and flour and filling the kitchen with deliciousness in the air. Mr. Moon went to town to buy some steaks that he's going to grill along with some corn and I've got a loaf of bread rising and will make a salad. Jessie and her family stopped by on their way home from going to a local state park with a sinkhole and a river that I didn't even know about and just stayed for a few minutes, long enough to see the new babies and for August to build a quick Lincoln Log house. I told him that it was a beautiful house and that I'd let him build me a house any day. He said, "I can only build a little house," and I said, "Well, one day you'll know how to build a real one."
He thought about that for a second and said, "I'll need some buddies to help. Especially if it's a log house."
A man with a plan. I love it. 

When Glen was at Publix he ran into Lily and her brood and they gave him the present that Lily and Maggie had made for me. It is now hanging on the kitchen porch with the lowering sun shining through it. 


I have decided today that instead of Mother's Day, we should celebrate Badass Nurturer Day. And so here's to all of the people who tend to babies and gardens, dog-and-cat kids, and chickens. To all the people who are the responsible and/or fun aunts and uncles, the unconditionally loving grandparents, and the people who nurture the art, the music, the planet. The people who work with children who make a difference in those children's lives. The people who stand up for the children whose voices have been silenced or who never have had a voice. The people who, for whatever reason, had to give up a child to adoption and in doing so, have given someone else the opportunity to be a mother. The people who have known and loved those children as their own, even as they never forgot the gift they have been given. 
And to the women who are in labor right now, this second, as we speak- I recognize and respect and honor the travail you are going through. It is like nothing else you will ever experience. And although it is often said that women do not remember the pain of childbirth, I am here to tell you that we do. And yet, somehow, we choose to experience it again sometimes, because the reward of holding a life we've created in our own arms is also something else we never forget. 

As I told Hank today, it has been a joy being his mother. A joy and a trip. And so it has. 

Love...Ms. Moon

14 comments:

  1. You have had the Mother's Day you wanted to have! Me, too! Quiet until my d-i-l called ... she's just loud and full of crap! Luckily her and my son had a houseful of kids and friends and family, so the phone call was short!

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  2. The Lily/Maggie gift is lovely past description. As is the baby chick and the transplanted camellia. A very good and sweet day.

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  3. A lovely mother's day, yes. I had texts and wishes from friends and Handsome Son, and, like you, that was enough.
    Birds are amazing when they grow. When I had a couple of parakeets newborn, I couldn't believe how fast their tail feathers came in. One day just a couple of dots, next day half an inch of feathers, then a whole tail in no time. It's fabulous to watch.

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  4. We took Katie out for lunch, like we do every Sunday and it was nice. A&W. My middle daughter sent me flowers which surprised me and then we talked on the phone for almost an hour. Yesterday my hubby brought me home a small greenhouse which I love. I nice, low key day. No expectations.

    I can imagine that you have very complicated feelings for your mother. Shit happened that never should have happened. Sending hugs Mary.

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  5. your day sounds as perfect as it can be! Love all around....... what can be better? I am not a *mother* but I did get numerous *happy un-mother* well wishing texts today from friends.....which made me smile. I mother my husband (to a small degree) and my dog and other animals.......and nurture my friendships....that is enough. Your chicks are so beautiful. It makes me wish I had the energy to begin another flock here.......but don't think I've got it. happy evening! I hope a Martini is on tap! Mothers of all kinds rule the world and make things happen!
    Susan M

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  6. I love the chick pics. I got to visit with my three and it was so nice. It just felt like the world coming right. It is all I really wanted.

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  7. Happy (whatever) Day, Ms. Moon.

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  8. This was lovely to read and to see Violet's chick too. I love the bead hanger Maggie made for you. I've been trying to make bread, it hasn't gone well. Yet.

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  9. Glad you had such a good Mother's Day, and that Violet's chick is doing well! I can definitely appreciate your method of celebrating. That's how I like to handle Christmas -- low-key, no gifts, just togetherness!

    I do like Lily and Maggie's beaded suncatcher, though.

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  10. Your contentment shines through this post like the ripples in raspberry ripple ice cream.

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  11. What a beautiful and perfect gift. And this is how we do Mother's Day too, a text or a phone call, no gifts required.

    I don't think our feelings are unnatural for those of us who do not have/did not have close or even mediocre relationships with our mothers. Some mothers don't really want to be mothers and deal with children but they did because that's what society expected of them and also really, back when, they didn't have a lot of choice about. I do like Badass Nurturer Day!

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  12. Mother's Day in the UK is always in March and ours here in France is the last Sunday of May so I was forever scrambling thinking "oh shit I've missed it again", but I always managed somehow - and I'm so glad I did! I've been offline for a few days so just now catching up with those darling chicks too - how gorgeous! A belated happy Mother's Day to you!

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  13. Sounds like a fabulous badass nurturer day! So happy Violet finally got rewarded for all the nest sitting. I so understand complicated feelings about our mothers. Someday I’ll find the strength to write about it. That’s a beautiful gift from Lily and her family. Just the sort of colorful, eye catching thing I adore. Much love.
    Xoxo
    Barbara

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  14. Sounds like a lovely day! You deserved it!

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