The Second Day Of Winter, 2024

Another Stab-Your-Heart blue sky day and what it looked like behind pecan branches that have lost their leaves, although the Spanish moss hangs on faithfully through the year. 

Today has been a sweet day. I did something I haven't done in awhile and have missed and that was doing some easy weeding in the garden. This is one of my favorite things to do this time of year. The weather is perfect for doing a little work outside, the weeds are spare and sparse but enough to make me feel like I'm doing something, and I can listen to an audio book as I go. It really is almost a perfect activity for me. 

I planted that red cabbage just for fun this year and I have no idea if it will head up or not but it seems happy where it is. 

And look what I found growing right inside the fence.

The first little wild violet. Isn't it sweet? 

Obviously, I am a woman who is not afraid to get her hands dirty. It makes me happy to get my hands dirty. 

It froze here again last night despite the forecast which said it would only get down to 35 degrees. I didn't cover up any plants but I did bring my baby mangoes and sea grape in and thank goodness. Turns out that we were a little late bringing in my old, big mango plant because in a few days, its leaves began to show me in no uncertain terms that the cold had gotten to it, despite covering it. But I've cut it back and I am pretty sure it will put out new growth. I have made Glen promise me that this spring he will help me repot it in a bigger pot with more dirt because the poor thing has been cramped and crowded for years. 

I don't really have much to say this evening. I feel calm and at peace. Things with my sweetheart and me are easy and sweet. Yesterday when we were at the Waffle House, we were holding hands across the table and an older gentleman stopped on his way to pay his bill and said he loved seeing that. "We're still newlyweds," said Mr. Moon. "We've only been married forty years." 
And the crazy thing is, sometimes we do remember that time when we were so young and in that new kind of love that takes over everything. And we marvel at that. How we can still feel that way. We are the lucky ones. 

"Well, Merry Christmas!" said the old guy before he stepped up to pay his bill. 
"Thank you," we said, "And Merry Christmas to you." 

And he'd been so sweet I couldn't help but mean it. 

Glen's got the gas logs going in the fireplace in the Glen Den. It makes the room so very cozy. And warm. There's just a little bit of light left in the sky and I can hear at least three different kinds of birds twittering about going to bed. 

I always know how lucky I am but once in awhile, I truly feel it to my bones and those are the best days of all. 

Love...Ms. Moon