Saturday, January 14, 2023

More Thoughts



The little wild violets are starting to bloom. The white ones come first although I did notice two of the violet/blue ones today. This one came from the piece of our lot that heads out to the old barn or whatever that building is. Yes, it does look like a barn but barns don't usually have steps. 


Another stellar day but chilly and it's going to freeze tonight. I was going to stay in and be cozy but then I thought I might as well go trim a few more sego palms in different parts of the yard and I did that and then the next thing I knew, Mr. Moon and I were cutting the limbs on the fig tree that had drooped to the ground. We had no idea what we were doing and I suppose we either helped the old thing, stunted it, or killed it. At least this way we can keep the area around it mown and get rid of the cherry laurels and other trash trees that just do want to take root there and also, I can fertilize it. 
So there was that and some laundry and a little futile patching of a pair of Mr. Moon's jeans which always makes me feel like Cocaine Katy, the freaky old lady who embroidered on jeans in the classic song by Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show, "Cover of the Rolling Stone."
Except not. Of course. No cocaine around here, thank you very much. And to be honest, I am not very freaky. 

And of course, Maurice had to come and watch. 


She has spent much of the day sleeping on an air vent in the hallway. This is how you know it is cold. When it's just a little bit chilly, she sleeps in the chair right next to the air vent which, at the moment, has the beautiful shawl that Kathleen made me in it. So I think she probably enjoyed sitting outside in the sun and blinking at the world the way cats do as if they were always just waking up or perhaps, falling asleep. 

A not-much-of-anything day but I did spend some time answering comments on the post with the quote about perception and I was so gratified by how many of you did indeed give me your thoughts. And I was happily surprised at how many interpretations of those words I got. All of them valid and great. I even got an email from a reader who plans to use the quote in her Social Work classes as a way to introduce students to the different realities of the people they may come to work with. And I got another email from a cyber friend reader who does indeed believe in miracles and wrote me a beautiful response that I would quote here but I do not have his permission. It involves the way life is like a spider web and everything we do in it (on it?) affects all of it. 
Yes. 
A thing that occurs to me is that the mind-expanding drugs, be they the powerful LSD, the gentler psilocybin, or even the now-almost-legal cannabis, seem to be designed specifically to work with our brain chemistry to allow us to peek into the portal that leads to differing and yet, genuine realities. I do not regret my psychedelic journeys in the least. I am grateful for them. I would say that they have not hindered my ability to live in "this" world, but in some ways, they have. I cannot tolerate abject bullshit, the concept of boundaries and the defense of them with war, or the sort of blindness that seems to be so prevalent when it comes to the suffering or even feelings of others. But I consider these traits to be be worthy of having. And of course there is that universal experience of many psychedelics users of becoming aware that all IS one in a way that transcends language. Which is very much like the spider web. 
And although I really do NOT understand quantum mechanics or quantum theory, all of that also seems to be part of our inability to perceive other, quite genuine realities. 
And universes, perhaps. 
Probably. 

Well, as usual, this is not what I sat down to write. I never really sit down to write anything. It just comes out. 
But now I'm going to go cook some supper. The man has gone to a basketball game with Tom and will be home soon. 

Let me know any more thoughts you have. Or not. 



Stay warm and safe. 

Love....Ms. Moon



 

31 comments:

  1. I love that last picture. In subtle ways it speaks of homeliness, your home and life in an old house in one of America's southern states - not too far distant from the sea. How cool to have your own wooden barn even though it may not in fact be a barn. The spider's web metaphor is a good one to illustrate interconnection.

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    1. It is a good metaphor, isn't it? Perhaps even better than the ripples on the pond one.
      Thank you for your words about the picture.

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  2. ooh boy...... my long ago mind expanding drug experiences *did* open my mind up to possibilities (now) that I would not ordinarily have (IMO). I feel my mind is just open to more possibilities now, given that history.... less mental *boundaries*. Does that make sense? You have accomplished a lot today....and Maurice too, keeping watch. We've had a gray rainy dark day again...thankfully not the deluge of Monday (when hubby got stuck in town due to flooded highway)........so today is napping, fire in wood stove, and comfort food....and inside warmth. Always good
    Susan M

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    1. PS (always, LOL)....that white violet is exsquisite......as is Maurice sitting under the desk
      Susan M

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    2. I completely understand about the boundaries. We know that the possibilities are endless when it comes to realities. For whatever reason this is the one we are in now but there are certainly others.
      I'm glad the rain isn't as bad as it was and that you can stay in being cozy.

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  3. I wonder if that barn was once a guest house. Or a summer kitchen. Or a storage for crops. Or could be a guest house again.
    I love violets and we get mostly violet ones, if you follow me.

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    1. I have no idea what the barn was. There is a loft in it, like you'd have for hay. I don't think it was ever a house because there are no amenities in it at all. Basically just a big room of empty space. And we have another building right off the house that was the original kitchen. So? Who knows? I hear that the bad boys of the neighborhood used to congregate there and smoke and drink beer. A sort of miracle it never burned down.

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  4. Violets....i want to come to your house and just lay on the ground and admire their sweetness.

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    1. They will be coming up thick and fast here soon.

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  5. I want to see inside the barn if that is possible, Ms Moon.

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    1. I will take pictures at some point. Promise.

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  6. I appear to have missed the party but will take myself back through the posts and comments I've missed. I have nothing to say other than I am always relieved in a gentle way when I come here. There's an almost magic to your blog and your writing, your voice -- whether funny or angry or grateful -- it's all nourishing and beautiful.

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  7. Maurice is a beautiful colour out there in the sun. It's possible the fig tree feels relieved now that he/she has been trimmed and tidied. The "barn" looks like a meeting house to me. I cleaned my house today, so I've had a productive day as well.

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    1. It feels good to get things done, doesn't it?
      Maurice looks her best in the sunshine. You are right.
      A meeting house? Hmmm...
      Don't know about that. There's no apparent water to it and certainly no electricity. I just do not know.

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  8. Sweet Maurice...and my mind is altered enough without adding a substance substitute to the mix...lol
    hugs
    Donna

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    1. Some of us need more altering than others, I suppose.

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  9. I am curious about your barn. What do you keep in there, Mary?

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    1. Mr. Moon stores stuff in there because he doesn't have enough room in the house and GARAGE MAHAL!

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  10. I did a lot of LSD and psilocybin back in the day. It changed me. At risk of being cliche, it opened my mind but I can't think of any other way to put it. I lost a lot of fear. I don't think I'd ever do LSD again but I wouldn't mind a little psilocybin on a pretty day in a beautiful spot.

    That old barn looks to be in good shape, what do you use it for? If she's outside, Cat comes and hangs out with me when I'm doing stuff out there. Did some digging and turning of the earth yesterday.

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    1. There is no other way to put it. Those substances do open our minds. And I think I was able to do a lot of healing when I used them. I, too, would do a little psilocybin.
      We use the old barn for storage. Mr. Moon does, at least.
      Good for you for digging in the dirt! Did Cat help? Probably not. They just want to watch and judge.

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  11. Fresca here. Have you read Oliver Sacks, Ms Moon? His first book-- The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (1985) had a mind-opening affect on me. If you've read him you know Sacks, a neurologist, writes about the absolutely wild effects a simple shift in brain chemistry (injury or LSD or neurological differences, or whatever) has on perception.

    One brain glitch that amazes me is people who CANNOT perceive something on one side of their body---things to their left, say, or right, simply cannot be taken in, even though the eyes function perfectly.
    A different neurologist writes:
    "We don't really appreciate how the world looks to ourselves. We think it's just a nice screen and you can see everything, but that's something that your brain is computing and telling you you're seeing.
    "In fact you're attending to specific things at specific times. Your eyes are darting all over the place, but you have a sensation of a static world."
    --www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2012/nov/23/man-brain-ignores-half-world

    Temple Grandin--have you read her?–is another scientist (animal behaviorist) and writer who opened my mind to how different perception is for different neurotypes.
    I love this topic and both these writers! Thanks for raising the topic.
    --Fresca

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    1. I have read some Oliver Sacks but I think his autobiography may have affected me the most. Now THAT man did some serious experimentation with psychedelics! Which probably helped him as a neurologist to understand some of his patients whose realities were not what we might consider "normal."
      That's a great quote. Funny how our brain directs our reality to conform with our expectation of it, isn't it?
      I don't think I've read Temple Grandin but of course I know who she is and I may have seen a documentary with her. I admire her and am love how her work has affected the very world we live in in some ways.

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  12. I love the shells on that desk above your gorgeous cat.

    I cannot remember much of my tripping days, I didn't do too much drugs and stuff but it's all a blur. I am keeping the real experience, or so I tell myself, to when it counts. I am looking for one of those guided trips in the name of science at a time when I am most likely looking death into the eye.

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    1. I think that is an excellent idea. From what I've read, people who are facing death do it with much less fear after one of those guided trips. I would not mind doing it myself.
      I love shells. As you can tell. And my cat, of course.

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    1. I think she feels safe from her nemesis, Jack, under there.

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  14. I love the image of you and your man tackling that tree together on a clear blue and sunny day. I was late to the party with that quote, but I did get there, and it said more about you to me than about anything else. I did leave my thoughts there, too.

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    1. Thank you, sweetie. We got that tree trimmed. Of course Mr. Moon used a power tool. I am thinking about getting one of those small chain saws. I think that might be awesome.

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  15. I think I was one of the few folks of my (our) generation that didn't experiment with drugs back in the day. But after reading Michael Pollan's "How To Change Your Mind", it's much more intriguing. Our book club discussed his book last year, and innocent I was amazed (yet again) that ,most of our members had tried psychedelics in their younger days (and some continue to experiment). Each one reported the same realization, that 'all is one'. This is so intriguing! There certainly is much, much more than we can apprehend in/beyond our normal lives.

    Chris from Boise

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  16. OK, this is weird. I am sure I commented on this post, and now I have no memory of what I said. I guess the Internet ate my words of wisdom. (Ha!) Oh well.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.