This Is Florida (Trigger Warning- Spiders Ahead But They Are Not In Close-Up And Not Until The End Of The Post)

We are getting our regularly scheduled little thunderstorm right now. This is the way it always used to be in the summer but I do not think it was as hot twenty years ago as it is now. I could be wrong. I know that I lived without air conditioning in many different houses in Tallahassee with only a box fan in the window at night. Perhaps it was merely that I was younger and more able to tolerate the heat. But these late afternoon showers have always been a blessing. We do not get them every year now so we appreciate them even more when we do. They don't really give us a lot of rain. The plants are still droopy or have their fronds folded in on themselves, depending on what sort of plant they are. But they are alive. 

We had such a good time with Gibson. We had our chicken dinner and I even made biscuits because THAT IS WHAT MEEMAWS DO! Ask anyone. They'll tell you. After he took his shower and was ready for bed I asked if there was anything else he wanted or needed. 
"For you to read The Little Red Hen Makes A Pizza," he said. 

My heart swelled and leapt in my bosom. I swooned.

I don't think I've read that book to a grandchild in over a year. 

I have missed it so. What a sweet thing he did for his Mer, asking me to read that to him. And he did the voices for the Dog, the Duck, and the Cat and made up the things they said too. 

This tradition has evolved over the years. It started with me giving each of the animals different voices. The duck sounded like a duck, the dog sounded rather goofy, and the cat, of course, sounded cool, like a cat jazz musician should. And then the children began to do the voices, and slowly, they started adding dialogue of their own and last night, Gibson made me laugh so much with what he had them say. 

It was the sweetest. 

He and his Boppy got up at six this morning and I did not even register Glen leaving the bed. I slept until 8:30, got up and had a most leisurely morning. I had not one whit of FOMO about not going. I needed a day to myself. I started getting pictures from the adventurers early. 

I hear that the water was clear and visibility was great but that the scallops were scarce. They got some. Enough to be exciting, I guess. 

And back here at home I finally got moving and took the trash and watered the plants and then I decided that yes, I could definitely manage some time in the garden and I could. 
For about forty-five minutes and then I knew I was going to have heat-stroke if I didn't get out of the sun. When you start feeling a little nauseous, it's time to seek shade. 

You can quote me on that. 

So I left my weeding and didn't even pick the field peas I'd planned to pick and came back to the house thinking that I should probably go jump in the Wacissa to restore my body to a functioning core temperature. 
And I did. I put on my bathing costume and drove down to the river even though it is the last Sunday before school starts and I knew it was going to be ridiculously crowded. I was that hot. 

And it was crowded. People had parked on the road a good distance from the parking lot although I found a space right near the swimming area. I got out of my car with my towel and bag, walked through groups of people sunning and sitting and grilling and playing cards and doing all sorts of Sunday family things, and laid my stuff down on the ground right by the water, took off my hat and glasses and plunged on in. 
Unfortunately, I had forgotten to take out my AirPods. 
Oh. My. God. How did I do that? Don't know but I did. One stayed in my ear but I had to search for the other one and because the water, despite all the people swimming and playing, was clear, I found it. Still, it had been in the water for at least a minute or two. 
Oh well. I figured I'd either ruined them or they'd come back to life and what was done was done. 
I had thought about staying for a little while to take a couple of dips but there were just so many people there I could not. So I picked up my things and headed back to the car and backed out of the parking space, making someone very happy. 

But that little time in the water was all I needed and I felt like a completely restored human being. And I still do. It's amazing what even a short dip in that cold water can do for you. The year-round temperature of the Wacissa (and probably all of the springs in Florida) is a fairly constant 68 degrees and when the air temperature is at least twenty-five degrees higher than that, the water feels like it should have ice cubes floating around in it. 

Miracle water. Water of life. Restorative in all ways. 

And the rest of my day has been spent noodling around. More texts came in when the scallopers were back on land and eating lunch around four o'clock. No worries- they had plenty of snacks onboard. 

They ate in the very, very cool palapa at the Riverside Cafe in St. Marks. It's huge and a magnificent work of art in my opinion. 

And now Mr. Moon is home. Jason came to get Gibson a little while ago and I felt bad because the boy is definitely over-sun-exposed. I asked him, "Did you put on any sunscreen?" I knew Mr. Moon had taken it. 
"Did you put any on?" he asked his Boppy. 
Neither one of them did. 
Grandfathers. What can you say? 
Well, they are all alive and will sleep well tonight and had an adventure and that's what counts. They did not get many scallops but at least those kids know how to do it now. 

Jessie sent this picture. 

Levon seems to be expressing the same feelings I have when I shuck scallops. 

So it was a good day for all. A Florida day, for sure. 

Oh! I forgot to show you this!

Would you look at that web? And you can see Tiny Mr. Spider up there above Mama. 

Here's another. This one shows off the two tether lines (I have no idea if that's what they are really called) of this entire architectural wonder. 

 

We humans should be humbled. 

This human certainly is. 

Happy Sunday from the Church of the Batshit Crazy.

Love...Ms. Moon