Chit Chat

 I have been a little sick today and I guess I've been a little sick for a few days which would explain a lot. Sometimes it's hard to determine if you're just having "one of those days" or if the body is indeed going through a viral thing or something like that. But when I woke up I felt truly shitty. I have felt better and better as the day has gone on but I haven't done much to speak of. So let's just have a little chat, okay? 

First, shall we discuss the gator at the Wacissa the other day? I didn't answer comments on that post so let me address the topic now. There have always and will forever be, I think, alligators and sometimes crocodiles, in rivers and in lakes and in ponds in Florida. And guess what? Sometimes they take it upon themselves to swim in the ocean! And no, I am not kidding. 
This is something I have never seen nor do I ever want to. 
But, I have seen many, many alligators in rivers and lakes and ponds and once even in the woods on a trail I was walking on, and I've never seen a gator attack man nor beast nor child either but I know that it does happen. Hell, a child was taken by a gator at Disney World at the beach of the Grand Floridian Hotel seven years ago. Which is shocking, even to me. 
However, I have never once heard of a gator menacing a human at the Wacissa. I have no doubt that over the ages, it has happened but not since I've lived in this area. They do occasionally remove a nuisance gator if it is making a habit of hanging out too close to the swimmers. I saw that this happened just a few weeks ago. I am of mixed emotions about this. Yes. We are in their habitat. However, so many people swim and play there at the headwaters of the river, many of them very small children, and if a child got taken or injured, it would be a tragedy and that's all there is to it. Not to mention the fact that Jefferson County would be sued out the wazoo and good luck with that because Jefferson County is probably one of the poorest counties in the state. 

There are a jillion alligators in the Wakulla River and it is forbidden to swim in most of that river although probably tens of thousands of visitors a year swim at the swimming area at the headwaters. The rangers do a good job of keeping that area clear of gators. Some years ago a guy who was snorkeling refused to listen to the rangers who instructed him not to swim down the river away from the swimming area and sure enough, he was eaten. He was a fool. I've seen a passel of alligators dining on a deer on the banks of the Wakulla River when I was on the Jungle Boat tour there and it was not a joke or a tourist attraction. It was nature, bloody in tooth and claw. 

And having said all of this, we are rather used to alligators here. They are part of our lives and we respect them mightily. They are ancient apex predators. On the other hand, we know that humans are not really on the alligator diet plan although I'm not sure how good their eyesight is. They are especially notorious for snatching small dogs walking by lakes or rivers or ponds. There are no dogs allowed at the Wacissa swimming beach although some idiots disregard that rule and in doing so, risk their pets' lives and probably the lives of small children. 

On to another subject. 

Do you know what this is? 
It's a bowl of super-fresh tiny shrimps that were bought for bait and not used. They were kept on ice the entire afternoon yesterday and when Mr. Moon bought them, they'd been swimming. I just hate to waste shrimp, even if they are classified as bait. So last night, when I cooked the regular, large, eating-sized shrimp we'd bought on the way home, I threw those tiny ones in at the last moment because a few seconds in the boiling seasoned water is all they need. 

Can you see them in there with their big brothers and sisters? They are easily deheaded and peeled and about four of them make a decent bite of deliciousness. I'm about to make a shrimp salad with the leftover shrimps and they will be part of it. 

In more fresh food news, Mr. Moon offered to go pick green beans for me this morning, knowing that I was not feeling well. I was about three days behind, picking them. Here's what he brought in from the garden. 

That was enough beans to fill a 2.5 gallon ziplock and aren't those tomatoes lovely? He got four cucumbers too. 
Now I had a feeling that he did not get all the beans, despite the great number of them that he did get. So later on I went out myself and this is what I came in with. 

It may not look like it, but that's probably almost another gallon of beans plus a few more regular sized tomatoes plus the cherries. Don't they look like gorgeously plump little orbs of deliciousness? Well, they are. There are also some fine looking peppers out there too of different varieties. 

Let's see. What else is there to talk about? Not much. I haven't seen Sheba around in the last few days. Not since I saw both Jack and Maurice chasing her across the back yard. I am not sure why they suddenly got all concerned about her. They've been lying here on the back porch watching her lounge and eat ten feet away for months. 

Cats. 

I finally finished the state park stamps puzzle. It's missing about three pieces and there's an extra piece that sure as shit looks like it belongs in it but absolutely does not. I bet I spent at least a half hour of my life trying to figure out where that little sucker fit in. It fits in the trash can, that's where it fits in. And now I can start my chicken and pottery and lavender and butterfly puzzle. I'm sort of excited. 
My Lord but I lead a tame life. 

And here's the thing. I just want to keep living a tame life. I'm not going to say a boring life because it isn't boring to me. But yes, it is tame. It is sweet and it is full and at this point it is just what I want. If we could only stay right here in this sweet spot of being healthy enough and sharp enough and strong enough, I think it would be sort of a heaven on earth. 
I know that we will not be able to maintain this level of ability forever but while it lasts, I intend to soak up every goddam drop of sweet syrup of it and sop up the very dregs of it with a hot, buttered, buttermilk biscuit. 

I guess that's about it for me. Anybody have anything they'd like to discuss? Or like me to discuss? 
Let me know. 

Love...Ms. Moon