These Are The Times That Try My Soul

This picture came up in my iPhone photos memory yesterday and I had to send it to Jessie. That is little Levon when he was probably still in his fa-fa stage. Remember his fa-fa? That's what he called a shovel and he carried his plastic fa-fa with him everywhere like some children would carry a blanket or a stuffed animal. 

Isn't he a beautiful child? He looks so much like his mother at that age in this picture. She, too, was a little sprite, a tiny thing. I carried her in a side sling until she was at least two.

The thing I remember most about that day is that as tiny as he was, he INSISTED on pushing that child-cart around the nursery we were in and by god, the kid knew what he was doing. He didn't run into a thing or tump it over or hit anyone with it. He just drove it around as if he'd been doing the grocery shopping for thirty or forty years. I remember what he's wearing there too. The sort of tunic-top he has on is one of the dresses I made for August when he got so sad about me making dresses for Maggie and not for him. He loved his dresses. And Levon had no problem with them either. My darling boys. All of them. And my darling grandgirl, Maggie. 

I met Jessie for lunch today. We went to Japanica! which had signs up informing us that they're about to close for renovations and will hopefully reopen in early 2025 under a new name and with new menu options but with the same beloved crew.
Hmmmmm...
The place has been looking a bit dowdy lately and the number of customers seems to have dropped drastically. But I tell you- I could not love their green curry tofu Bento box lunch any more than I do. I never get tired of it and will miss it when they're closed for renovations and I hope that "closed for renovations" isn't code for "you ain't never eating here no more."

We went to Costco but neither of us needed much. We were in and out of there in less than twenty minutes which is sort of a record. It takes at least five minutes just to walk from the produce section to the cleaning products section. As we made our way through the store where shelves were piled wide and high with goods, and refrigerator cases were stocked with meat and cheese and fish and all the foods in the world you might want, I thought about how people are standing in line for hours and hours to get into a grocery store to buy whatever they can that's edible, I suppose. I felt at once guilty and grateful and overwhelmed and offended and amazed at what we take for granted until one thing happens- one thing- and our whole world stands on its head and everything we took for granted is gone. 

Vergil's family seems to be doing well. They can get up and down the mountain now although I think it's pretty perilous and it is a long hike. Of course even the youngest child in the family probably has more lung capacity and stronger legs than all of us Florida people put together excluding Vergil himself, and possibly Jessie, August, and Levon. Vergil has figured out how to get a generator up there so they can pump water which is the first concern. It turns out that Jessie and Vergil's RV that they keep parked there for their summer stays is bizarrely seemingly untouched and the generator could be put there to pump water from their well and take hot showers with the generator powered hot-water heater. I have still been obsessively watching videos from the affected areas and they are heartbreaking. 

Of course Trump is using the grief and loss and tragedy for campaign purposes, claiming that the federal government is doing nothing to help the areas hit so hard and that Biden isn't even responding to calls from governors. He was in Valdosta, Georgia, which is right up the road from here, to deliver these lies. The governor there immediately responded saying that this was not true at all, he'd been in touch with Joe Biden who was doing everything he could to get help to those who need it. And that is a Republican governor. 

I think this picture says it all. 

He's making a SPEECH at a PODIUM behind a...what is that fake wall thing? A symbol of rebuilding? A replica of the wall he's going to continue building on the border with Mexico if he's re-elected? The strength of his campaign? 

Dear god let it stop. 

I'm going to watch the debate tonight with Tim Walz and JD Vance. As I told Glen, I need to have a scale to base my hatred of Vance on. 

That's all for tonight except that I did buy a new broom today which is pretty exciting. 

Actually no. No it is not. Not even with the beautiful red dustpan it came with. Even I am not that old. 

Love...Ms. Moon