Sunday, September 29, 2024

Just A Little Bit


Today the birthday boy is August. His mama made him a crown-like head piece announcing that fact. I talked to him a little while ago and he is having a good day. He wanted to go to breakfast at a cafe down the street from where they live and so it was.


Our darling boy. I can't really take in the fact that it was nine years ago that Jessie so powerfully and gracefully gave birth to that sweet boy. She was, and is, a goddess. How that boy has been loved! 
Besides breakfast out, he had two friends over to jump on the trampoline and watch videos and eat truly yummy party food like pigs-in-the-blanket, Cheetos, and cake and ice cream. I asked Jessie if she'd gotten Juicy Juice which is what I always got for my kids' parties. She said had not. 
"Did you learn nothing from me?" I asked her. She laughed and said that she had and she had considered it but decided not to. 
Oh well. Other than that, she's the perfect mother. 

The update on the mountain family is that they are all safe and sound but have no power and no real way to get down the mountain for supplies like, oh- food.
I know that Vergil's mother puts up a lot of food that she grows and so does his sister but with four adults and three kids, they're going to need more than that pretty soon. Like I said yesterday, they are strong and resourceful and smart and I'm sure they will be fine but it's like they've been kicked back a hundred years but without the resources of that lifestyle. I know they can cook on the fire and I'm not sure about water. Their water source is the creek that runs beside the house but I'm sure there must be some sort of system to pipe it in and filter it. Vergil's stepfather was hiking down the mountain the last I heard, to check and see how things are going and to hopefully bring supplies back. 

Meanwhile, Vergil is doing all he can to organize help and to arrange communication from here in Florida. 
It's going to take relief services quite awhile to make and execute plans to help all the people who need it. 

Y'all, I'm doing about five things at once as I am writing this and I need to concentrate on a few other things so I'm going to cut this short. We are fine although Lloyd still doesn't have power and as our generator-powered air conditioner is keeping my house cool and I have internet and lights I am feeling massive guilt. 
Also? Extreme gratefulness but I sure do wish the power would come back on for my neighbors. 

And that's enough. Here's a flower.


Love...Ms. Moon

37 comments:

  1. when i was 5 one of the east coast hurricanes came up and tore up my part of NW mass. i will never forget seeing the corpses of horses that drowned from the CT river going over the banks and flooding the fields. our road flooded out and i'm not sure how long power was out bc we didn't always have electricity anyways..... xxalainaxx

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    1. Oh honey. Your last sentence makes me so sad. Floods can create so much death and destruction, can't they?

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  2. Happy birthday to your beautiful August! And all your other family members!- so glad to hear you’re fine after the storm, and I’m sending best wishes to Vergil’s family!! Xo, Rigmor

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  4. thankful that all of you OK, minus inconvenience of no power.....but Vergil's family is concerning.. I'm sure he is SO worried but it does not sound safe for him to travel there at this point in time. this definitely was one of the most severe storms I can recall....... may they all be well
    Susan M

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    1. PS hard to believe August is 9! A belated B Day wish to the sweet tall boy!
      Susan M

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    2. Yes. It is definitely Vergil's family that we are all so very worried about right now and of course, by knowing them and Vergil being from that area, our eyes have been opened to the tragedies going on there.
      Thanks for the birthday wishes for our dear August.

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  5. Birthday greetings to August! One thing is for sure - we will never be nine again. I wonder why Jessie and Vergil called him August and not September - his birthday month.

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    1. Nope. We'll never be nine again. Or nearly as smart as we were at nine when we were still bright shiny pennies!
      I forget why they named him August. I think they just liked the name. His middle name is Glinden which is Glen's real name.

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  6. I remember feeling guilty about the generator, too. And the fireplaces when power went out for three weeks one winter. And the gas stove and the camp coffee percolator, and the down comforter. But not past the first day.
    Is it safe to assume Mr. Moon's friend Tom and his little house made it through OK?

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    1. "But not past the first day." Haha! I love you, Joanne.
      Yes. Tom and his little house made it through just fine!

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  7. Happy birthday to August. And I'm glad the Black Mountain family is okay, though needing all the resources they can assemble. No point in guilt over what you have and others haven't right now. Unless you switch off the generator in solidarity!!

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    1. I've had fleeting thoughts about turning off the generator but they were so fleeting as to be not under the least consideration.

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  8. August is looking mighty fine! As well as the flower!Generators are a must have I reckon! No matter where one lives these days . Who knows when the system will be messed with- by foe or weather.

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    1. I believe the sales and installation and servicing of generators is going to be one of the top money-makers from here on out. Honestly.

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  9. Aren't generators great? Both my children have them at their country homes here in Michigan because we have horrendous power outages quite frequently from ice damage to the electric wires and poles. That infrasystem is grossly past due for upgrading. A recent investigation proved some of the wiring and poles were installed in 1929! Heavy tree growth causes problems when ice forms on the branches which then fall on the wires and oops! No electricity again - sometimes for days because just as one area gets repaired, another branch breaks and there we go again. Son had no power for 12 days last year.
    They heat with wood, and generator did all the rest. So here in Michigan it is the winter ice and summer wind storms. I am SO glad you escaped unscathed. I almost emailed you to check on you and then decided you had far too much on your plate to have to deal with random emails.

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    1. We don't have ice but we have SO many trees here. And they can fall in a breeze sometimes. Branches are constantly falling on the lines. So when we get storms...it's inevitable that we're going to lose power.
      Thanks for thinking about checking on me. I really appreciate that.

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  10. Happy birthday August! Glad that Vergil's family is safe though stranded. I hope the power comes back on soon for you all.

    Chris from Boise

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  11. I'm glad Vergil's family are ok and have some supplies at least. As you say, water is probably the biggest worry. My friend's family in the north of England used to get snowed in every year (not so much now) and always had supplies just in case. Having visited that old fortress last week it made me realize how much harder their lives were than ours are today. It sure makes me appreciate my daily comforts. I hope they get help soon - oh and happy birthday to August!

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    1. Just the keeping up with the needs we are able to take for granted back in the days before running water and plumbing and refrigeration and stoves that didn't rely on wood must have required most all the hours of the day!

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  12. Happy birthday to August! I’m thinking about Virgil, his family and all those suffering.

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  13. I wouldn't be feeling massive guilt, or any guilt at all. I'd be happy I'd thought ahead and had a generator and of course glad that I'd been able to afford one. I would feel sorry for those without, though I'm not sure what I could do about it, certainly I wouldn't be cramming my house with strangers.
    I wonder now how many people are able to get supplies and how many stores are left that actually have supplies. I hope there are arrangements being made for helicopter drops of food parcels and other essentials.
    Happy Birthday August! Nine already!

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    1. I wasn't cramming my house with strangers either! Or, for that matter, people I know.
      I think that getting supplies to the folks stranded by all the washouts in the states north of here is a real problem. I just read something about them using planes AND mules. Can you imagine?
      How can August be nine?

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  14. How is it possible that August is NINE already?? He’s growing beautifully. All your grands are. I adore how August wears his crown.

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    1. August is absolutely the least-concerned about his apparel than anyone I've ever met. He obviously loved that crown and wore it with pride. His mama made it!

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  15. Happy Birthday, August!
    It must be so frustrating for Virgil to be away from his family when he wants to be helping. Hope they get assistance soon.

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    1. I am sure that his mind is 90% in North Carolina with his family there.

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  16. August is so happily himself. my little camillia is once again consumed with white fly, has no buds again and doesn't seem to have grown one whit again. I got some stronger stuff than insecticidal soap and plan to dig it up and put it in a pot to see if I can't get it healthy. it obviously does not like where it's planted.

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    1. August is just the coolest kid ever. His mind is a rare and beautiful thing.
      I am so sorry to hear about your camellia. I've got one I planted a few years ago that is not dead nor even very unhealthy looking but it sure isn't growing.

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  17. Happy birthday to August. Love the birthday crown! Don't feel guilt -- you prepared, and there's nothing wrong with that.

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    1. Well, we were so lucky that when the bank that was at Moon Plaza moved out they left the generator. I mean, just flat left it. Glen asked if they wanted it and they said no. And Glen Moon is not stupid.

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  18. Oh those boys! What a blessing! Good to know Vergil’s in contact with his family and that they’re plugging along (without power). If it weren’t for Juicy Juice, Jessie would be perfect. Oh well.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.