Florida Stuff And Other Things

The magnolias drop their spent leaves in spring and then come the new ones along with the blossoms. The lowering sun behind them shows the almost translucent baby ones so nicely. Eventually they'll thicken and turn their darker shade of green but for right now, they are pert and pretty and sassy in their showy newness. 
I think they are extra pretty today because we did get some rain last night, not long after I said we'd gotten none. It came down pretty hard for awhile and wasn't just a drive-by droplet situation. In fact, it was so nice that Mr. Moon and I sat out on the front porch for a few minutes to watch it, listen to it, smell it, take in that sweet blessing. I thought we got a decent amount of rain but the weather widget said it was only .3 inches and the rain gauge garden carts say about the same. Still, it was better than nothing and something to be glad for. 

Here's what the sun does to some palm fronds and the wild phlox that will be blooming soon. 

Soon that area will be a blur of pink. You can see a blooming salvia there in the front. I am afraid it doesn't get enough light and I don't feel like we're getting much bang for our buck with those plants. Which I didn't plant but you know what I mean. 

I picked my third basket of beans in as many days. Also another squash. Maurice was once again my faithful companion. 

Do you see the holes in some of the bean leaves? That is the damage done by the nymphs of the Georgia Thumper grasshopper or, as they are sometimes called, Lubbers. Whatever you call them, they are demons, each and every one. Here's what they looked like last week.

No, I did not take that picture but that's exactly what they looked like on my eggplant plants three days ago and honey, I smashed as many of them as I could with my bare hands. I am sorry, all you Buddhists, but these things are in no danger of extinction and if they have souls (and I'm sure they do), I'll just deal with that when I meet the Great Record Keeper Of Good And Bad Deeds In The Sky. 

They've gotten bigger than that in the past few days and are now about the size of normal grasshoppers. I've seen them on the beans and have smashed those too. As adults, they are about three inches long and I figure if we ate grasshoppers, it would only take about half a dozen of them to make a hearty meal. They are huge. 

So what else is there to talk about on this Sunday? I guess since the Rolling Stones are the official band of the Church of the Batshit Crazy, I will report that reviews of their performance in New Orleans at Jazz Fest were spectacular. It would appear that Jagger is in fine fettle and doing the job of a man half his age. Let's just call it the year for the octogenarians. If Mick can do a two-hour show, dancing, singing, and moving like Jagger in the heat and humidity of New Orleans, Louisiana, Joe Biden can still be president. 
I so proclaim it. 

Okay. Speaking of that situation- we all know that it is rumored that Trump wears adult diapers due to incontinence. Which look- I am making no judgements about. But his followers have not only decided that this is not a problem, they have embraced the whole issue in the way only Trump supporters can do. 

Remember back in 2016 when Herr Stinkin'Shit said that he could shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue in NY and he wouldn't lose any voters?
Well he was sure right about that. Any day now I'm expecting him to do just that to prove how beloved he is. THERE IS NOTHING THIS MAN CAN DO THAT HIS CULT FOLLOWERS WILL NOT CHEER! 

Sorry for ruining your Sunday. But since it's already ruined, let me point out that Florida's new abortion law went into effect last week. This law makes it illegal for a woman to get an abortion past six weeks of pregnancy. Now let me give you a little background on what this means. Women's pregnancies begin at conception, correct? 
Well, not in legal terms. Or medical. 
A woman's pregnancy is considered to have begun on the first day of her last period. This is how the "dates of confinement" are figured. In other words, due-dates. So technically, when you get pregnant, the very moment conception occurs, according to the law you are already two weeks pregnant. So, four weeks later, which is when the cut-off is to get an abortion in Florida, a woman is only two weeks past a missed period. And many women bleed a little bit at the time of implantation  of the fertilized egg which can be and often is, confused with a very light period. This occurs at the time a woman would normally get her period. 
Also, a pregnancy test is most valid after a period is missed. So there is a two-week span of time for a woman in Florida to figure out that she may be pregnant, take a pregnancy test, discover she's pregnant, find an abortion provider, and get an abortion. 

A safe, legal abortion, that is. 

And let me tell you as one who has been there, the first few weeks of any pregnancy are generally spent in denial. Especially when it was not a pregnancy that was planned. And many, many women have periods that are not in the least "regular." They may come once every four weeks, eight weeks, or six weeks. That's just the way it is. 

So all of these things and many more are why I am so focused on my yard and garden right now. I can't do a thing about Trump and I can't do a thing about the abortion law in Florida although I did sign a petition to get an amendment on a ballot so that women in Florida will not be denied the right to abortion before fetal viability which is around 24 weeks. We will be voting on that soon.

Hey! Here's a picture of what a hogwire tomato cage looks like. 

And here's a picture of a trellis made of posts and hogwire fencing that tomatoes can be tied to for support. 

And one more picture of the novelist Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings standing at the gate in her fence at her home in Cross Creek, Florida. 

I feel like part of a long line of Florida women. Trust me- MK Rawlings would have told Ron DeSantis to fuck straight off to hell. I will not even mention the fact that the woman had guns and knew how to use them. 

Love...Ms. Moon