Now And Then

 Porch Monstera

Mr. Moon and Vergil did deer processing today which means they did whatever it is you do to venison to get it ready for use and freezing. This involves knives. I am sure of that. And also, a meat grinder. That I am certain of as well. And after it's all done, the bones are buried beside the garage in the back yard by the railroad tracks.

Jessie brought the boys out to visit when the men were working on the deer and the first thing they did when they busted through the door was say, "Mom said we could watch TV!" And then, "Do you have any chips? Not like tortilla chips. Like Doritos." 
I told them that no, I had no Doritos. 
"Sun chips?" they asked. 
"No chips at all," I said. I did have some Ritz crackers. I'm pretty sure there's a law which states that grandparents must have Ritz crackers on hand at all times. 
"Okay!" They said. I gave them each four Ritz crackers and they were quite pleased. 
When they ran into the Glen Den they were giggling about something. When I came in they said, "It smells like Boppy's farts in here." 
"What? Really?" Personally, I had never noticed that. 
"Yeah!" August walked over to the TV and pointed behind it. "That's where the oldest one is." 
"The oldest fart?"
"YES!" 
Which made made us all laugh and then their mama came in and they told her all about the fart smells and oh, to be the mother of two little boys.

And just for the record- the Glen Den does not smell like anyone's farts. 

The boys settled into TV watching and Jessie and I sat on the porch and talked for awhile. I asked her if she thought we should get lunch at the Hilltop and bring it back for everyone. 
"I was just going to ask you the same thing," she said. There was certainly too much going on the kitchen to make lunch. So that's what we did. There were only two ladies working in the front so it took some time today to get our order. We walked around while we were waiting as the waiting bench (an old church pew) was pretty crowded. The other side of the place from the ordering area and kitchen is a "store." That's in parentheses because it looks like this. 

I mean, that's only one area but the other areas look about the same. This is not the type of country store where you go to get locally made sausage or cane syrup or local honey or fig preserves. Those are the canned goods, of most of them, anyway. You can also buy chips of all descriptions, cold drinks and beer, and Little Debby products and if you don't know what those are, bless your heart. 

Really, the whole place is geared towards the deli part. Or whatever you call it. They do make sandwiches, but as I have said so many times before, they do a lot more than that. 

Family run operation. 

We got everything today from shrimp po'boys to hamburgers to a fish sandwich to fried okra to a chicken-salad salad. Also onion rings and french fries. Top quality, all! Ah well. 
Can you see all the different menus? 

They are hiring, just in case you want to move to this area and need a job. It's not an easy job, the folks working behind that counter never stop for a breath. 

We brought all the food home and we'd bought the boys some Fritos because they had wanted chips and also some pretty nasty queso dip and August was so, so happy. 

Sophie came out today too. She loves coming here because there is so much to smell and so many places to explore and so much room to run! Sophie actually loves just about everything. She is a dog after all, and dogs are generally enchanted by all that life has to offer in the way of good times. She found a skull today and none of us knew what it was. It almost looked like a very large tortoise's skull, or, as Jessie said, a baby dragon skull. Whatever it was, she loved it to pieces. 
Literally. 

So that was a good time and when everything was finished up, they took off for home as they were going to make a fire in the fire pit tonight and have some friends over. Here's a picture of Sophie and Levon in Vergil's truck. 

Off to more fun and exciting adventures! 

I got a picture of August too.

He's showing off his swollen lip which is obviously not bothering him. We think it was an allergic reaction to some Bert's Bees lip balm but who knows? He took an antihistamine and I'm pretty sure he's still alive. 

And that was the big part of my day. 
I've spent some time going through pictures from a history of Roseland and Sebastian FB group that I love so much. I remember so many of the places and even some of the people represented there. Here's one picture that stole my heart right away. 

I did not know those people but the picture somehow sums up something about the area and the residents of it that speaks to me. The description of the photo was written by the son of the little guy in his dad's arms. It goes like this:

No one loved each other more than these two people. Papa was a commercial fisherman, a duck hunter, and a homesteader. They had a beautiful piece of property with two giant mulberry trees, orange trees, grapefruit, tangerine, guava, papaya, avocado trees, and pecan(how could i forget that pecan tree?!) etc. Papa was such a good man. Grandma would sew the nets for him, I remember that vividly. She was a homemaker, a mother, a teacher, and eventually worked at Sennes Hardware Store in Grant. She was extremely good with money, brutally honest, and very disciplined. It is said that she was a tomboy, Grampy’s favorite child. She kept the books for my grampy Charles Sembler, the patriarch of the family. He trusted her implicitly. I miss them all.

I know that this all sounds rather Edenic before the fall but trust me when I say that these people did not have an easy life and it's a miracle that they survived, much less thrived. 

Here's some pictures that go back much farther. 

The one on the bottom left is of the Sebastian river which is MY river. Don't let anyone tell you different. The Indian river is beautiful too, but the Sebastian river is the body of water that sustained my soul when I was a child and has done the same for me many times in my adulthood. 

I guess I better go make us some supper. Mr. Moon is still at Moon Plaza, doing repairs and dealing with a small rodent problem. I have taken to calling him the Rat Man. He could have just called in a pest control company but that is not how he does things. As you know by now. 

Shall we talk tomorrow too? 

I hope so.

Love...Ms. Moon