Friday, March 17, 2023

The Ever Present Everyday Miracles


The mulberries are coming along, some of them starting to purple up. It truly does look like a good year for them. I hope there's as many as there were two years ago when we had to lay a sheet down and shake the branches to get them. That tree has grown so tall so fast. I remember when I bought it and the person I bought it from told me that I needed to get two for cross pollination. 
I am no botanist but I remembered the mulberry tree in Roseland that I've spoken of so many times and as far as I know, it was the only tree in the area so I only planted one and so far, it seems to have had no problem with the lack of another pollinator. There isn't room for two! 

Mr. Moon and I seem to be in Part Two of this virus thing. He's still mostly coughing and I've moved on to sinus congestion, sneezing, and rivers of snot. I'm walking around with Kleenex in my pocket like the old lady I am. Of course it may not even be connected to the virus. It could be pollen or black mold or any number of the billions of things that people are allergic to and/or irritated by that surround us here in the funk of Florida's humidity and fecundity. It's definitely not like a hay-fever reaction. I had hay-fever terribly, well into my thirties but then it just seemed to disappear. I had no idea you can grow out of hay-fever but I am so glad that it's possible. I told Mr. Moon today that if it's black mold, we're just going to have to move because we have mildew everywhere. 
Is black mold the same as mildew? I have no idea. You'd think I'd know by now. I could look it up but I'd forget again by tomorrow. 

It's been gray here all day long and warmer, too. Definitely not hot but the humidity is back up and the air feels nine months' pregnant with the rain that's supposed to be coming for almost all of tonight and half of tomorrow. In anticipation of that I got my rattlesnake pole beans planted and I am pretty happy and excited about that. I did some more weeding in the garden today too, and later, when I was picking salad greens for our supper, I saw something on a purple lettuce that took me a moment to figure out. It looked like the lettuce was wearing gold jewelry and when I finally focused in on it, I realized that what I was seeing was a moth on the plant that matched the color exactly. 


As far as I can recall, I've never seen another moth like that. Google tells me that it is a Nessus Sphinx moth. They range throughout almost the entire continent of North America and one of the foods they like is nectar from phlox which I will soon have plenty of. Caterpillars pupate in "shallow underground chambers," according to butterfliesandmoths.org. 
What wonders and curiosities there are all around us! While humans have searched for mermaids and sea monsters, Yetis, Big Foots, and fire-breathing dragons, the real true amazements are right in front of us. Not that I have any problem with searching for mythical creatures. Who am I to say that there are no mermaids? 
And what do you suppose the first European to see a gorilla thought he was looking at? Surely some sort of man-beast monster, never suspecting that the creature was a very own cousin, once removed. 
I truly doubt that I will ever discover a previously unknown creature on land or sea but by golly, I have definitely discovered many that were unknown to me and I am sure that I will discover more. This of course will be made all the easier because forgetting things is what I do best these days. Every day a new adventure! 

The power in Lloyd has been out for over three hours now but because of our generator, we are not affected. Earlier today it was blowing pretty lustily and according to the power outage page, a tree or limb fell and damaged the power company equipment. 
Yes. I hardly needed to be told that. It must have been quite a large limb or tree because it hardly ever takes them this long to restore power. 

Jessie and the boys are home from the beach. She sent me some truly beautiful pictures. 



And here's a picture that came up in Rachel's Facebook memories today that I do not remember (are we surprised?) that makes me want to weep with the sweetness. 


That was Magnolia, reaching out to be held by her Uncle Hank. That was six years ago. 

Time is slipping through my fingers like the water in a rushing creek. 
I think the very best thing to do is to pay as close attention to every moment as I possibly can. To Be Here Now. 
Thank you, Ram Dass. 

Happy Friday, y'all. 

Love...Ms. Moon

22 comments:



  1. Today was a lovely day in Ohio, although cold. A fine day for St. Patrick and corned beef and cabbage fir dinner.

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  2. sorry you've got the snot *thing* going on.......ugh. I always keep tissue in my pocket...for just that reason.....whatever it is, always. That moth is spectacular! Hope your power restored soon....but you are up and running anyway! Yes......be here now is a good philosophy that I try my hardest to live by. Happy Martini Friday! Making it green tonight for St Pat's Day? LOL. I'm making a Margerita pizza.....and it has pesto so it will be green! Tomorrow is corned beef, yes!
    Susan M

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    1. PS. our Mulberry is blooming but it's a fruitless Mulberry.....still tissues needed in my pocket. That, the Willows, and the Acacias..........double ugh
      Susan M

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    2. The snot thing continues. I'm using paper towels now. They are sturdier.
      Isn't that moth something?
      I know your pizza was delicious and that your corned beef will be too.

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  3. Lovely picture of baby Magnolia and Hank. And the moth is amazing, good spotting on your part. That's some camouflage.

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    1. Doesn't that picture just melt your heart? Little Maggie wanting Hank to hold her.
      You are so right about that moth. I truly did not see it until I got in close. I was just amazed that the lettuce had jewelry on!

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  4. Oh, Baby Magnolia! Now I feel the need to go see my twins, who now say nan nan as well as dad dad and bub. The beach photos are glorious.

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  5. Mindfulness is a wonderful thing! Nice photos!

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    1. I need to get a tattoo on my hand that says, "Be Here Now". I swear.

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  6. I love everything about this post, Ms. Moon. Especially the photos! And thank you for the reassurance about your mulberry producing without a second tree to pollinate, as my Iraqi neighbor will be planting one (and only one) tomorrow in her backyard. Mulberries are her favorite fruit, so fingers crossed it'll be happy and productive in a few short years.

    Chris from Boise

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    1. Ooh! I hope that your neighbor's tree does well for her!
      Thank you for your kind words.

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  7. Not sure about mulberries but I can tell you about pumpkins!
    Children on a beach always make for happy snaps.
    As my 6 year old grand daughters says "Be present in the moment" and she does some sort of action with her hand in front of her face.

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    1. Ha! I would love to see your grand daughter do that!
      Yes. Kids on the beach are wonderfully photogenic.

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  8. It's cold here today but the sun is out so it could be worse. Hope you and Mr. Moon feel better soon.
    What a sweet photo of the boys on the beach, especially the one of August holding the sunset! Amazing!

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    1. Our boy!
      We've had no sun today. Well, I'm sure it's there but it isn't showing up from behind the clouds.

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  9. Be Here Now. one of my life guides. and mindfulness. and flexibility, not physical though that too but in being. anyway, it's cold, still in the 40s at noon, wet but not rainy, overcast icky day. I had horrible allergies growing up and somewhere around 19 or 20 I outgrew them and am not really bothered now. but whatever crud I had last year, I was amazed at the amount of snot my body produced.

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    1. I imagine you ARE pretty flexible physically, woman!
      It's cool that you outgrew your allergies too. I still have a few but nothing like when I was a child.
      There is no end to this snot.

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  10. I've never seen a moth like that either. Amazing how well it blends with the lettuce, which as far as I know isn't a native species! How does THAT work, I wonder?!

    Great photos -- that's quite a pit the boys have dug on the beach.

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  11. Those little boys are adorable. I am recovering from the Cold from Hell, so I sympathize with you and the mister. I've been going through hankies like nobody's business.

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    1. We've been using kleenex, paper towels, old napkins, bandannas, you name it! This is ridiculous!

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