More Flowers

Are these not exquisite? Look at that color. I want a silk velvet dress in that color. I want to lick that color. I want to paint all the walls in my house that color and the floors too. They're the blossoms of a Japanese Magnolia or, as we sometimes call them, a tulip tree. They are generally pale pink-blossomed but this tree is of a much more dramatic colored variety. 

The azaleas really are coming along. I love their stamens and anthers.

To me they look like they're boldly but gracefully beckoning to pollinators saying, "Come on over, big girl! Come sip my nectar." 

Don't you think? 

I haven't done a whole lot today. I haven't really felt at the top of my game, quite possibly due to yesterday's grand Valentine's celebration preparation. And the celebration itself, of course. Besides all the food I'd mentioned, there were also steaks that Mr. Moon grilled AND artichokes. Oh, and martinis were involved. But we weren't crazy or anything. There was no hanging from the chandeliers. 

Mr. Moon has been gardening mostly today, getting the dirt ready for spring planting and putting compost and soil in the potato growing bags. He did a lot of weeding and I did some too. That garden is looking so good. I picked some collards and kale and mustards and turnip greens to go into a stir fry I'll make tonight with the leftover steak of which there is a great deal. There will be other vegetables. We need to eat a little more mindfully around here. The last Valentine's Day present Glen gave me was a box of Godiva's. The man has obviously lost his mind. So now we have Godiva's and truffles. I made a quick trip to the GDDG this afternoon for celery and milk and a few other things and before I left the house, I told Glen in all seriousness that while I was there I would pick up some chocolate because WE JUST DON'T HAVE ENOUGH IN THIS HOUSE! 
The GDDG is always a trip. It smells like cheap dryer softener sheets and there are about enough horrible fluorescent lights to light up a closet. It is grim. They might as well put a sign on the front door which says, "Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here." At least that's the vibe I get. But hey! They sell celery! 

There's never anyone at the check-out. You could probably yell for someone to come and help you or you can do self-check-out which is what I did. I'd brought my own bags and when I was paying with my debit card, an employee came up, looked at my purchases and said, "Are you going to just walk out with those things?" I think he was talking about the fact that I had not put them in the crime-scene-tape colored plastic bags they provide. I'd brought my own canvas bags and hadn't yet loaded them up yet. I showed him my bags and said, "I'm going to put the things in these." 
He looked like I was going to tie them to the back of a camel. 
"Okay. Well, do you need any help?"
"No thanks."

And that was that. 

Something big is about to happen here. 

That is the view of the backyard from my porch where I spend a great deal of time. Those trees without leaves are Bradford pears. There are actually eight of them, two lines of four. Every year we say we're going to cut those fuckers down. Bradford pears are yet another invasive species that was originally planted because they are fast-growers and have nice white blossoms in the spring. HOWEVER, they dominate native species when it comes to resources and actually poison the dirt around them and those white flowers smell like...how do I say this delicately? 
Male human life essence? 
Although some people describe the odor as being "fishy." 

I listened to a podcast about them last week and told Glen about it and I guess that triggered him into calling some tree guys and by the end of next week, those trees are gonna be gone. It's wise to do it now when they're not leafed out. 

So my back porch view is going to radically change and we won't have nearly as much shade. I am worried about that. We've talked about planting fruit trees in their place. Real fruit trees that bear real fruit, unlike the Bradford pear. But as we all know, you don't plant trees at our age and expect to get shade out of them. 

My suggestion is that we put in a pool but it would have to be screened in due to wildlife and other surrounding trees. The magnolia tree alone would keep a pool's surface covered in their giant, seemingly never-decaying leaves. 

And there's the first miniature bouquet of the year. Wild violets, both purple and white, and two varieties of oxalis. Now that just makes my heart happy. 

As does the fact that the covid people are doing better. May took the family some pizza and salad from where she works on her way home tonight and Jessie reports that the boys ate a lot and are feeling fine although they are tired. Levon hasn't eaten much for two days so that's good news.

Time to get out the wok and chop vegetables. God knows we might starve to death if I don't get supper on in a timely manner. 

Love...Ms. Moon