Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Ups And Downs And All Arounds


I took another walk this morning. Knowing that I'm only going to be out for a little while makes it a lot easier than thinking I have to push myself to do many miles. Harvey and I crossed paths and he was in one of his more somber moods. I said "Good morning," and he nodded but didn't give me one of his blessing greetings. I doubt he was in the mood. He was not walking for pleasure or exercise but to get to the GDDG or the old convenience store to get what he needed. 
We got some rain last night and it was a little cooler this morning. Still hot and humid enough to snatch your breath. I've actually been breaking my routine to get out earlier which means basically that I don't try to finish the crossword, Wordle, and Connections before I go. This sounds so ridiculously small but my routine has been set in stone for quite awhile now and it's sort of a big thing for me to deviate from it. 
I walked up to the fally down house and slowly, slowly, it is sinking. 



There are bottles and cans and other detritus around the house and I can't imagine anyone going there seeking shelter. This puzzles me. Someone is obviously spending time there. But why? 

Just as my Map My Walk app alerted me to the fact that I had walked two miles, it began to rain. I knew it was going to but I figured I had time to get home first and even if I didn't, so what? I was already drenched with sweat, why not get rinsed with sweet rain? 
And so it was. And I am here to tell you that you can sweat IN the rain. But still, it felt wonderful and when I got home I felt a tiny thrill of exhilaration. The knee that's been bothering me for over a month felt so much better and the foot that's been painful and a little swollen for the past few weeks felt better too and the swelling was almost gone. Hurray for exercise! The walking, the activity! They've been paying off! 

I needed to go to town to feed Lily's kitties and stop by Costco and Publix and so when I'd gotten cooled off I did that and by the end of that trip, I was cursing walking and activity. All my leg parts hurt and I felt exhausted. I did no bamboo cutting or eggplant staking. I did no weed-pulling. But look!


I found my beloved little mending pincushion that Liz Sparks made for me a long time ago. 

I did manage to take my basket out and pick a few things and to add to the buzz kill, in the past 24 hours it would appear that the bugs have found the tomatoes and by the time the pest-control manager (Mr. Moon) gets home, my dreams of a great harvest of tomatoes will be in ashes. He has his sprayer and his "natural" potions and I don't even want to get involved with that. 
Sigh.
Let us not even discuss how the black aphids are back after their last spraying, gunking up my field peas with their bodies and the sap they drain from the plants. 
Sigh again. 

This is summer in Florida.  

And tomorrow I have to go to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned. I hope I get the same hygienist I got last time- the sweet little Christian girl who just married her high school sweetheart with whom she loves to hunt. Look- I'm not joking. She was precious. She may, however, have given me over to someone else because although we bonded like crazy I did tell her that I don't believe in god. 
"You don't?" she asked me, aghast. 
"No," I said. "I don't." 
But I really hope she's still going to be my girl because she let me hold the sucking thing to use when I felt the need and I could love her forever, just for that. 

Stay hydrated, my friends and whenever possible, be in control of the fluids in your own mouth. 

Love...Ms. Moon


27 comments:

  1. Good and yay you for the walking!

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  2. Your pin cushion is a real treasure, so adorable. I am glad you found it. Walking in the morning before the high heat is the ideal. Garden pests are discouraging. Despite the pests, you've gotten an incredible harvest.

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    1. I am not complaining about the harvest I've had but it may all come to a crashing end here soon. Sigh.

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  3. I have routines, too, that I hate to forego, In addition, I'm still a "working woman" with a job I do. Recently one of the women in my Monday/Thursday exercise class decided it would be convenient for her to move the class from ten to ten thirty, and so they did. I voiced my displeasure and was informed I should be OK with it because I took the Wednesday class held at ten thirty. I replied that is only one day disrupted, not three. But it was like I spoke another language.
    So. good on you for disrupting your routine to walk, which is helping your foot and leg.

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    1. Entitle lady much? Is her name Karen? Good Lord. I'm sorry. A half hour can make a big difference when you're trying to accomplish something every day.

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  4. Routines get to be comfortable. Then they get deeper, and it's, shock, horror, a rut!

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    1. Oh, I have long-since recognized that I am definitely in a rut. Deep and narrow.

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  5. I know my day is headed in the wrong direction if I don't get my Connections, Wordle, Quordle, and Duotrigordle done to start my day.

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    1. WHAT???! Duotrigordle? I have never heard of this.

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  6. We've had over two weeks of high humidity and temps in the 80's and 90's and believe me when I say. we're just not used to this shit up here in NH. I don't know how you endure it Mary and admire your resilience. I was in the garden for 45 minutes today and thought I was about to die. The good news is I've lost about five pounds, I'm sure just from sweating my guts out.

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    1. On the other hand- how do you stand those cold winters? I
      absolutely could not.
      When Glen was doing all that work at Tom's he lost a lot of weight. He was so happy which is insane. He's not fat at all.

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  7. I have never had an appointment with a hygienist, it wasn't a normal thing here, but it seems to be catching on and I've had several reminders to make an appointment, so now I have one. Wonder what she will make of a mouth that has 80% false teeth? Up until recently cleanings were done by dentists.

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    1. Really? Our dentists just do the things like fillings and extractions and putting in crowns and so forth and the hygienists do all the cleaning. I'm sure yours has seen a mouth with a lot of false teeth.

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  8. I understand the pleasure in that morning routine. It takes all my effort to get out before doing my usual things. I find sweating in the rain pleasant, or at least more pleasant than sweating with no rain.

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    1. Sweating in the rain is more fun than sweating in the shower, too, which happens around here frequently.

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  9. Some walking is good, but in this heat, only some!

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  10. I do understand the pleasure of a morning routine. There is something luxurious about having a large cup of coffee and a tomato sandwich on wheat toast and just wandering the internet and peeking into lives so different from my own. I hate for it to be interrupted.

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  11. My daughter has been having pests eat her lovely tomatoes too. I just told her yesterday that she should pick them before they are red and she can let them ripen on the kitchen counter because I learned that from your blog the other day! She was wondering how to know when it is okay to pick the green ones. I told her maybe when they are the size you want but before the pests get them? Is that right, Mary? Thanks for your advice!

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    1. Optimally, I think that tomatoes should be starting to show a little color before you pick them. But if the bugs are already on them, best to pick them before they do damage, I guess.

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  12. I finally have flowers on my tomato plants, lol. Still hot as hell here, I'll have to walk the dogs shortly, before it gets too hot for them. Last night poor Charlie couldn't stop panting, I put a cool, wet towel on him. Tonight I might just soak him with some water.

    Stay cool.

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    1. I think that Charlie would probably appreciate the hose. Or a little dip in the kiddy pool.

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  13. A famous Canadian writer died in May and in this month, her youngest daughter published an essay, telling the world that she had been sexually assaulted by her stepfather, and that her mother knew and didn't leave.

    Here's an interview about what happened, it reminded me of you and your family.

    https://www.cbc.ca/arts/commotion/the-literary-world-s-response-to-alice-munro-s-daughter-s-disclosure-1.7257489

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    1. Alice Munro is well known here, too. I read the article. How tragic. I never liked her books and I guess now I know why.

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    2. I knew nothing about the writer, but have always found her writing creepy, made me shudder. Maybe I intuited something.

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