It is Friday and you know what that means. Sheets and pillowcases on the line with whatever else needed washing. It's always a good Friday for me when the weather is conducive to line-drying. And it was today. Not conducive to human activity outside because of the heat, but good for drying laundry.
I tried to take a walk. And I did walk a little bit but it was too much for me today. I got a few pictures though.
A neighbor of mine cut down a large tree recently and I was secretly a little perturbed and upset but this is what she planted around the stump- beautiful sunflowers and black-eyed susans as well as some nice palms.
Here we have the autograph, written in cement, of No Man Lord. How I've never noticed this I do not know although it is in a newer part of the sidewalk which has fairly recently been repaired. He walks to the Dollar General or the other convenience store frequently to get supplies and I suppose he just could not resist the temptation to leave his mark.
When I got home, Mr. Moon had finished digging our sad crop of potatoes. Honestly- why did we bother?
"They will not last us through the winter," he said to me.
He is right. They will not even last us through the summer. We are potato-famine fated. Good thing we don't really have to depend on them. Of course the volunteer sweet potatoes are taking over the entire garden so we can supplement with those, should we feel the need. This is why southerners grow sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes. They just do better here.
He is right. They will not even last us through the summer. We are potato-famine fated. Good thing we don't really have to depend on them. Of course the volunteer sweet potatoes are taking over the entire garden so we can supplement with those, should we feel the need. This is why southerners grow sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes. They just do better here.
When I got back from my abbreviated walk, I was hot as hell and he was too, from doing the potato digging.
"Let's go to the river," I said.
And so we did.
I had a hundred things I could have done, had meant to do, but this is the joy of retirement- we can make our own schedule. Even after a few years of this, we tend to forget that we can let things go and and enjoy ourselves, even in the middle of a weekday. We need to work on this.
There were a whole lot of mamas and kids at the Wacissa today which was not unexpected. School is out. It seemed to me that many of the little ones were fascinated by Mr. Moon. Here's one of them, giving him the eye. He is waving to her. We took our new folding chairs which Mr. Moon won in a door prize situation. They are rocking chairs! They were quite comfortable and as I rocked in the shade I said, "Well, we really are a MawMaw and a PawPaw now."
We dunked our bodies several times in that cold, cold water and watched the kids jumping off the rope swing. It used to be that hardly any girls did the rope swing jumping but today it was mostly all girls. Tough little southern girls with grit and no fear. It was awesome.
We finally got hungry enough to fold up our chairs and come on back home. I had planned on picking green beans but I never did find the time. I brought in the laundry and then I did a bad, bad thing.
I roasted tomatoes and made pie pastry. I broke the one-tomato-pie-a-year law. Of course I made it for my darling husband.
And of course he will share it with me.
All is well here at the Moon house on a Friday night. It's been a very fine day and having had our first Wacissa baptisms for the summer, we feel good and as always, renewed. We are sipping our martinis with pickled green beans in them.
Lucky, lucky people we are.
Lucky, lucky people we are.
Forty-seven years ago right now I had been in labor with Hank for about ten hours and as I've gone about my day today, I have thought of that day and the following night so much. My labor with him was long and hard but ended with more joy than I knew I could experience. His birthday is tomorrow and he has invited friends and family to meet him at the state park on St. George Island to celebrate. Hank always makes his birthdays so special, as well he should. Rachel has made him a key lime pie and we may go tomorrow or we may not. We haven't made a final decision on that. But whether or not we go, I will be filled with the memories of how incredibly in love I was the instant I saw my very red-headed baby. I am so grateful that my maternal instincts have always kicked in so immediately when my babies were born. I know it's not the same for every woman and I consider myself lucky in this.
I do believe that Hank has taught me more than anyone else on this earth. And he is still teaching me.
Happy Friday, y'all.
Love...Ms. Moon
Mary I thank you so much for sharing your life with us. I look forward to your words every evening. Yes indeed, some women do not instantly fall in love with their babies. I know of one who gave her baby to her sister because she did not trust herself. I've only had one and she was a mystery to me.
ReplyDeletewhat a day you have had......and are still having. Clean line dried sheets..... a Martini (on tap)...a second tomato pie...a dip in the river........ and seeing Mr No Man Lord's marking in cement......... as it probably should be. And my best wishes to Hank for a wonderful birthday....and to you, for birthing and loving and learning......... each and every day. We are all SO lucky, are we not? Each in our own ways
ReplyDeleteSusan M
PS. (as usual) your clothesline lifts my soul. It is always a thing of beauty!
DeleteSusan M
What a lovely day! The tomato pie looks beyond. That's the stuff of dreams as far as I'm concerned! I think about food a lot! LOL! Has there every been any alligator attacks on humans at Wacissa? Between snakes and alligators, I think I'd just have to be an 'observer'. I used to snorkel in the Keys when I lived in Miami. I was getting ready to get my scuba certification when the movie Jaws came out. Honestly, I was afraid to sit on a toilet after that, let alone go in a body of water. Even pools freaked me out. I'm glad you can enjoy that river. It certainly is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteParanormal John
I am fascinated by the need of some full grown men and most small children to write some name in the concrete, and their very own if they are very brave. M brother-in-law usually went with his nickname.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I have always been a bit leery of swimming in a river. Now you mention alligators and I am convinced I was right!
ReplyDeleteTWO tomato pies in less than a month? You must be giddy with it all.
I didn't feel any real bonding with my first until he was about 10 weeks. PND sucks.
A wonderful day! Happy birthday Hank!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday to Hank! An alligator. A smallish one. Someone splashed water on him and he retreated to the duckweed. But I have a question. What if he had eleventy-four relatives in the duckweed? How would you even know? I am a big northern candy ass I guess. I would not be in that water.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly Debby!
DeleteI looked up Saint George island- looks like an hours drive from Lloyd? But a whole lot of hours from here- good thing i was not invited. Happy Birthday To your Hank! Mothering can be complicated- made my life worth while but I know that it is not for all women folk. When I see a mother and baby in the outside world , the mother not liking her baby very much- I am always tempted to say "hand over that. child, please" My heart breaks, my arms ache to hold that baby close. You know how it is...I understand some kidnapper's motivation.
ReplyDeleteThe pie rule was meant to be broken- it is not a rule that should stand for any made-up reason. Looks delish!
DeleteIn my tiny patch those potatoes would be a bumper crop. the river looks glorious :) Happy Birthday Hank.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday to Hank! I hope you make it to St. George Island. I remember using rope swings on the Alafia and Suwannee rivers when I was a kid. As I recall there were just as many girls on them as boys, and they were all way more athletic than I was!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday to Hank. And that tomato pie looks wonderful. I'm more about the shore than rivers, when it comes to water. But then I've always lived near one shore or another.
ReplyDeleteOh what a day. A good good day. Cooling water and rocking chairs and clothesline drying and martinis. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a lovely day, except for the alligator of course. WTF! Very different kind of wild life in Florida, and I suppose if you've grown up with them, you know when to worry and when not to worry.
ReplyDeleteI slept in until 0830 this morning. Luxury, sheer luxury, to be able to lie in bed, awake and doing nothing is luxurious for me. I slept in the basement last night too because it's so damned hot here.
What a beautiful tribute to your son. I hope you do go for the party. I was in the south for a long time but I never had tomato pie. Wonder if they don't make that in Louisiana. The weather here in Colorado has been so weird that one of my tomato transplants is already dead and the heirloom one is on its way out. Greens from seeds weeks ago only about 1/2 inch high. Weeds doing well in all this rain, however! (Yes, those of us in the high desert never, never should complain about rain!). Wish I could have been at the "watering hole" with you guys! (Minus the alligator, of course.)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you broke the Pie Rule as that Food Porn Image of it is Ahhhmazing and I've never had a Tomato Pie so now it has made me curious of how it might taste when it looks so incredible? As for swimming in any body of Water with Alligators... nope. *LOL* But, you are Right, Retirement brings with it incredible liberation and freedom.
ReplyDelete37paddington: I think I need to make a tomato pie! Yours looks absolutely divine. And I’m with the folks here wondering about the alligator under the lilies. I loved imagining those tough little rope swinging girls. Hank is a blessing to us too. I remember you said it was he who first encouraged you to blog.
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