Saturday, May 20, 2023

Evening Peace


Hey look! I changed the basket! I found that one on a pantry shelf yesterday when I was looking for batteries. I have GOT to get in there and create some order. But it is nice to find useful things you didn't know you had.

We had a good time with our Gibson. We did the same thing with him that we did with August and Levon a few weeks ago and invited him to join us on the front porch while we had martinis and he had ginger ale. He, like his younger cousins, seemed happy to come sit with us. 


We talked about stuff and just sat and enjoyed the magic hour. 
As much as I love that picture, here is my favorite one. 


I think that boy loves his Boppy. And his Boppy loves him. 

A large amount of spaghetti and meatballs were eaten for our supper along with salad, and bread out of the oven. Hard to beat a supper like that. By then it was time for for a purple cow, a shower, and bed and that's what happened. I had no purple cow but I sure was ready for bed. I think I was asleep by 10:30. 

This morning I made pancakes. Of course. It occurs to me that I could make these grandchild pancake breakfasts in my sleep by now. Today's pancakes were fairly pedestrian, containing only blueberries and grated apples along with the regular pancake batter which absolutely must include buttermilk. I do not really like pancakes that much. I mean, I like them in theory but sweet breakfasts no longer appeal to me. I make them out of love and I generally eat one without syrup. 

Mr. Moon took Gibson home around noon and then it was time for us to go back to the same auditorium where August's dance recital was last week to attend Maggie's recital. 
Ooh boy. 
Literally thousands of people come to this school's recitals. They have three different shows and the auditorium holds 3000 people and I bet you anything that at least 2800 folks attend each show. It's like this every year. I have to say that it's quite overwhelming for me. So many people and the music is quite loud and the screen behind the dancers is constantly changing as is the lighting, of course. It is very professionally done. This year a woman sat in front of me who had rather fluffy hair and I had to lean into Lily almost constantly to see what was going on onstage. It was somewhat frustrating. But of course the show was great from the tiny tutu-wearers to the far older and experienced dancers, some of them rather unbelievably good. An audience favorite was when five women who were probably dance moms did a number with their teacher, the hip-hop instructor. It looked like they were having a lot of fun. 

When it was all over, Lily got Maggie from the "holding room" and we took pictures. 


Maggie had been in a circus-themed dance and when we saw her after the show I said, "Maggie! You were magnificent!" and she smiled. She knows she's magnificent. 


Then there were hugs all around and we drove home. Our route took us through a part of Tallahassee that used to be nothing but old warehouses and businesses that did things like sell construction materials and do auto repairs. It's just a few blocks from FSU and it is now all apartments and coffee shops and restaurants and smoke shops and nail and hair places and I don't know what all. I used to live in that neighborhood in an old wooden house on a quiet street when I first moved to Tallahassee and the house I lived in and all of the houses around it have been torn down to make room for these new places and driving down that road makes me anxious. So much stuff clamoring for attention and everything that I knew gone and taken over by tall, windowed buildings that make the street feel closed in and it's too much for me. 
Just way too much. 
When we finally got to the east side of Tallahassee where there are still pastures and trees and old houses that have withstood time and weather, I started to calm down and by the time we approached Lloyd with its woods and lazy ways, I could only feel great gratitude that I am able to live here in this green world under the ancient live oaks, where instead of traffic noise there are bird calls and crickets and the croak of frogs when the rain is coming in a house set amongst it all that seems to breathe with us as it shelters us and so gracefully and graciously offers its space where we can go about our lives. 



This is where I find peace and sustenance. This is where my soul is at rest. And the older I get, the less I want to leave it. Oh, it's fine to go to the river although if there are too many people there, I can only stay for so long. And I do have to leave it at times to shop for food, to do things with and for the grandchildren and children. But again, the older I get, the fewer things I feel the need to do in a town and there are absolutely way fewer things I feel I need to see, to shop for, to do. 
I am happy at home from the moment I have my first cup of coffee on the back porch to the moment I crawl into my bed with my book and my cat, knowing that my husband will join me there soon. 

Once again, I did not set out to go from green beans to Gibson to a recital and home again and yet, that is exactly what I did. 

Sometimes you have to drive down quite a few roads to get to where you're going. 

Love...Ms. Moon




30 comments:

  1. lovely day. for you and so enjoyed hearing all the details thereof. You are just such a beautiful and loving family that it makes me smile always. And I just can't believe anyone can eat pancakes without syrup......really? I never make pancakes, but do have them when going out to breakfast with a friend every 3-4 months date....... MUST have warmed maple syrup! And yes.....home....the true comfort zone.....where we feel our best.
    Susan M

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    1. I get the organic maple syrup at Costco and it's good. Just- like I said- the sweetness.
      But I do love the sweetness of home.

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  2. Wow, Mr Moon really is tall! Such happy photos.
    I understand how you feel about home. We will be moving from suburbia to a country town which does get busy in the summer for about 6 weeks but that is when you stay home and enjoy the peace. Your piece of paradise is perfect.

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    1. Yes! He really is! And I'm not exceedingly short but he's just crazy tall.
      I'm glad you'll be living in a peaceful country town. I know you'll love it.

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  3. I love good pancakes, made with buttermilk, but I'm not a huge fan of putting fruit in the batter. Maybe with the occasional exception of blueberries. Yum! And real maple syrup, not that horrid corn syrup with maple flavoring crap. Now I want pancakes! Haha.

    Gibson looks like a such a sweet boy. And that picture with his Bop is precious! Your whole family is precious. You are so lucky!

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    1. When I was a kid, I had no idea that Aunt Jemima's wasn't real maple syrup! And I used to eat brown sugar on my pancakes. Crazy, right?
      I know how lucky I am. Just so, so lucky.

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  4. I wish I could remember good facts when I read them. Very recently I read something good about Tallahassee and damned if I can remember. And I never will. But, it was good. Your blog today was very good, except for the first bit of the trip home. Good facts.

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    1. Something GOOD about Tallahassee? It's generally the butt of a joke. I can't remember shit these days. Sometimes I'm not sure whether I dreamed something or it really happened.

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  5. My grand niece graduated from FSU in Tallahassee this week. In Philosophy. I so miss my mountain home and all the peace and joy it brought me. From the well water to the balcony off our bedroom, that was my safe place. But, time and age sometimes dictate where you can be and what you can do. As I was planting out my little garden today here in the suburbs, I kept thinking of my wonderful greenhouse in the mountains where I grew all kinds of veggies and had beautiful flowers and strawberries hanging from the roof. Memories! I am so lucky to have those beautiful memories!

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    1. Wow! I had no idea you had a relative here.
      Time and age do very much dictate where we live. I think about this a lot. If I could, I think I would just die here of a sudden heart attack like in the garden, which would eliminate a whole lot of problems.
      I am glad you have good memories and that you cherish them.

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  6. Loving all of the family photos. Especially little you with Maggie and Mr. Grand dad, so handsome is he!

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    1. I tell you what- the Moon side of the family is TALL! I am very much a little mama to Jessie and Lily. Hank and May are about my height. Gibson is just about as tall as I am now.
      I think that Glen is so handsome. He doesn't believe me when I tell him that.

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  7. More wonderful grandkid fun! How nice that you are always there for them with your many fun traditions!
    Yesterday and today, I played a lot of Legos with my 2 grandsons who will be moving to my city in about 6 weeks and were here for the closing of their new home with their Mom and Dad (My son and daughter-in-law). So I am imagining lots more time together and soccer games and school shows to watch! Hooray!

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    1. That's so cool that you're going to be able to see your grands so much more often.
      I will never forget Levon telling me, "You really don't know anything about Legos, do you?" when I tried to play with him. He's right. I do not.

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  8. My comment has vanished. Is it in Spam?

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    1. No! I checked! I've gotten in the habit of checking my spam folder every morning and it's not there.

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  9. Beautiful photos of Gibson and Maggie and then the peaceful green of your yard. I would love to live away from traffic noises as long as there was just one small shop nearby where I could duck out to and get milk and a newspaper.

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    1. Well- now that we have the Dollar General, Lloyd could be your perfect home!

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    2. As long as you could move Lloyd to Australia (*~*)

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  10. Some people would die in the countryside as they love the hussle and bussle of the city, but I'm like you, I love the country. I grew up in a very big city and appreciated what it had to offer but now, just leave me with my cowbells!

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    1. Exactly. Perhaps when we are younger the excitement of a city is more appealing. I've never really lived in a big city though, so I don't know.

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  11. I feel more and more like that about my home. I haven't been anywhere at all this weekend (well, except walking the dog) and I haven't missed it.

    I love Gibson's "cats in space" shirt. That's an excellent picture of him with his Boppy. Congrats to Maggie on the successful recital!

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    1. Seriously- what's out there that I need to see? Okay, plenty, to be honest but at this age I have seen a lot and done a lot and now I love being home.
      Maggie did very well.

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  12. I cannot drive through my old neighborhood and stomping grounds on the rare occasions I go into the city. everything I knew is gone. and like you (again!), I am content to stay in my little country neighborhood and putter around my yard or in the shop (if I ever get back in there).

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    1. That is one of the things I love about Roseland. Even though everything around it has changed vastly, tiny little Roseland is still the same.

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  13. Sounds like a lovely day. Man, you can grow beans, or you plant a lot of beans:) I have lettuce, pumpkins and green onions coming up in planters. My tomatoes are doing well, on is flowering already, and one, lone green pepper plants.
    I was going to take Katie to Fort Edmonton today but it's closed due to the smoke. It's supposed to rain next week, so hopefully that will help with the fires and the smoke.

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    1. I don't think I plant that many beans but the variety that I plant is just amazingly prolific. They're an heirloom bean called Rattlesnake beans and I wouldn't grow any other kind. They are so good.
      Whoa! I hope you get that rain.

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  14. Reading about love is what we do around here. Witnessing all of that everyday love. Calming like your arrival home.

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  15. 37paddington: That photo of Boppy and Gibson speaks right to my heart. Such love visible there. Another photo that will be so precious to Gibson. He looks so happy and protected.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.