Monday, February 6, 2023

This Is Where I Live


I took a pretty good walk today and did a different route. I walked south on Highway 98 which is a fairly heavily traveled road as it is the link between Highway 27 and Highway 90, with an entrance and exit to I-10 in there too. Lots of big trucks so I don't really enjoy walking on that road but I wanted to walk down a little dirt road that is an oasis of shade and peace and to get there, I have to walk on the highway. There's a good wide shoulder on both sides so it's not too dangerous. Also, the highway crosses over Lloyd Creek and I love to look at that. I often see turtles sunning themselves on a log and today was no exception there. I did not, however, see an alligator. 
Dang it. 

Here's the little dirt road.


There are palmettos and magnolias, pines and oaks on either side and I hardly ever see a vehicle on it but today a truck pulled out of what I now know is a future driveway because the truck stopped and I had a little chat with the man driving it and an even better chat with the two boys in the backseat, aged 3 and 5. 
"That's our driveway!" one of the boys said. 
"Do you live there?"
"Not yet! We're building a house!"
"That's the plan, anyway," said the daddy. 
The boys proceeded to tell me about their baby. He is seven months old and he can walk! 
"He can walk?" I asked. 
"Yes! He can walk everywhere!" said the five-year old. 
Their poor mother, I thought. But what I said was, "He must be a genius!" 
The boys agreed that he was and I asked them if they loved their baby brother and they assured me they did. 
"Well, you guys take care of him!" I said, and they drove on their way. 

Here's what the railroad tracks that border our property look like. 


See all that bamboo? Yeah. That's from our yard. 

The post office is just a lot away from the crossing. 


And a closer view.


The old train station, built when Lloyd was bustling enough to have one. There was a hotel that served fried chicken dinners and people would get off the train just to eat. Now, though, it is where we get our mail. 


There's another wall with more boxes but my box is in that area. If there is something that's too big to go into the box, the post-person leaves me a slip in the box and I hand it to her and she goes and fetches whatever it is for me. The clerk is only there until noon. 

I have lived in Lloyd in this house now for nineteen years and I am still charmed by so much of what is around me. Especially this time of year when everything is filled with a sort of spring-coming promise. 


The mulberries are coming along. Last week the branches held barely visible leaf buds and now leaves are opening and fruit is forming. Last year we didn't even get enough of the berries to put into a bowl of pancake batter, much less a pie. I have high hopes for this year. 

I worked in the garden this afternoon, weeding and getting ready for the next planting. I need to go buy my peas and seed potatoes and onion sets. 

So that's what Lloyd looked like today from one perspective, at least. The daddy in the truck with the darling boys asked me where I lived and I told him (making air quotation marks) that I live in Down Town Lloyd. He knew exactly what I was talking about. 
This reminded me of a time when we had a visitor who, when sitting on our front porch asked me, "So, where is Lloyd, actually?"
"You're looking at it," I said. And she was. 

Love...Ms. Moon

36 comments:

  1. Lovely conversation with the boys. And the seven month old walking, oh dear. The day handsome son was five months old, that's how I remember it so clearly, I went to pick him up in the morning out of the crib.

    And found him standing sturdily beside a chair, having climbed over the side of the crib and dropped silently to the floor before making his way somehow to the chair. Before he was much older, long before his first birthday, he was running at top speed. Everywhere. I took to sleeping with jeans and sneakers by the bed ready for rapid pursuit!

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    1. By the bed? I'd be wearing them!

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    2. Jessie started walking at eight months and she was tiny and looked just like a doll walking around. I wish I had video. But oh- I would have loved seeing your five month old son having escaped from his crib. I bet you were pretty darn freaked out.

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  2. I love all your local photos. Do you have a blog post in the archives about finding and moving into your house? I'd love to know that story.

    The conversation with the family sounds just wonderful and how sweet that the boys love their baby brother so much!

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    1. I know I must have many posts about finding, buying, and moving into this house but after a quick search, I can't seem to find any. It is a pretty good story. I'll look some more.
      I just fell in love with those two little boys. They wanted to tell me EVERYTHING and I was ready to hear it.

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  3. FRESCA here. Oh, oh, oh! maybe you could take the red-hair orphan (does she have a name?) from Linda Sue to that creek on an Alligator Scouting Expedition!!! 😀

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    1. I could do that. But what if I dropped her in the creek? I would not jump off that bridge, even for her! I should let her sit on the porch for a day though, so she can at least see what it looks like outside under the trees.

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  4. Where you live is just right. Charming, wild and your house is divine. No reason to go anywhere else, except the grocery and cost co...Alligator dreams, magnolia nights.

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    1. The first dream I ever remember having had alligators (or perhaps they were crocodiles) in it. I was on a pogo stick and alligators were thick on the ground. Phew! Anxiety at age what? Four? Maybe.
      But you're right. No need for me to go anywhere but a few places. I did go to a nursery today.

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  5. My youngest daughter walked at nine months. And ran like the wind. I finally had to put a child harness and leash on her. I had so many rude comments from women, and too bad. They weren't chasing her down while holding to another one.

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    1. Hank walked at eleven months, May at ten months, Lily at nine months, and Jessie at eight months. I always say it's a good thing I didn't keep having babies or eventually one would be born walking.

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  6. where you live seems idyllic and rather untouched by huge development.......like stepping back in time. You are so fortunate to be where you are, and enjoying nature and its bounties
    Susan M

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    1. I AM fortunate but development is coming from all directions, especially from the west where Tallahassee is. It's inevitable.

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  7. Yes, my oldest son walked at 8 months; my youngest at 9 months old! I was young and skinny then!
    I use to get out and walk like you do ... just can't do it like that anymore and I do miss it!

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    1. Children have NO idea where they're going when they're that young and walking. It's so crazy.

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  8. Always good to see an old railway depot continue to be useful to the citizens of a community. Thanks for sharing.

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  9. How lovely that you have new neighbours. Does that mean Lloyd is experiencing a population boom?
    Your walk is beautiful.
    I shall miss you while I'm away. Behave and remember to breathe.

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    1. Well, that lot is about two miles away so they won't exactly be my neighbors. I don't know that Lloyd is having a population boom but there is development happening all around us.

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  10. "You're looking at it" That made me smile. And now Lloyd is getting a new house and family :)

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  11. I just love where you live - "downtown Lloyd"! Long may it last! I remember years ago my nephew asking if he could come out and I said yes but the first week he'd probably need to hire a car because I had meetings that week and couldn't take off. So he told me he'd just catch the buses. Ha, I told him he'd have a better chance of catching a donkey. Living in a big city he just couldn't fathom it!

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    1. I heard a guy from Atlanta tell a friend that they could just get an Uber home to where they were staying which was even deeper and farther into the land of nowhere than I live. He was oblivious.

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  12. Such a beautiful place to live.

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  13. Those skies! So blue and beautiful. What's the story behind moving to your house that seems to suit you so well 19 years ago? I confess I thought you raised you family there and had lived there even longer.

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    1. I know I've written the story about moving here at some point. I'll have to see if I can find it.

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  14. Today we all seem tuned in to that coming-spring energy!

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  15. That was a lovely tour of your neighborhood, Mary. I sure enjoyed seeing where you live. It is so very different from where I live. But I like how you look at the little details around you. There are sweet details even in a built-up subdivision like mine - just have to look harder!!

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    1. That is true. For the most part, beauty can be found if you look closely enough.

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  16. Good things come in small packages:) Love the photos. It's so nice seeing people's neighborhoods

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  17. You live in such a beautiful place! Shhhh, or everyone will want to move there!

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.