Yesterday when I took Jessie home, we went out to visit her chickens. She has gotten three eggs now and in my opinion, they are coming from three different hens. Once one lady in a flock starts laying, they all seem to join right in.
Jessie gave them some mealworms, which are manna for chickens and I was waiting to see if the rooster, who is now crowing and making sweet, sweet rooster-love to the hens (ha!) is tidbitting yet. Do you remember me talking about how my roosters tidbitted? That's what they do when they find something especially good to eat. A treat, a delicacy. Instead of eating it themselves, they make a very specific almost clicking/clucking noise and shake their heads, causing their combs to show to their best advantage, and their pretty neck feathers to flutter, which calls the hens to his side where they happily cluck and scratch at the what he is offering them.
I have seen this over and over again and it is one of the ten thousand reasons I love chickens so much.
The pretty little black and white spotted hen there has the sweetest, prettiest tune that she sings as she goes about her scratching and eating. All of the chickens have their own distinctive voices and songs which is another reason they have my heart.
I had a very, very hard time getting out of bed today. I am crying when I get up again these days. Or, more like just silent weeping. I thought the increase in one of my antidepressants had helped, and actually, it had. But I guess I'm that much farther down the road now that it's not getting the job done entirely. I wonder what I'd be like if I didn't take it at all.
I do not intend to find out.
Glen found a house on a river that he wanted us to go look at today and we had an appointment to meet the realtor at 1:30 to look it over. The house is in Georgia, up near Cairo, (pronounced Kay-Ro) which is between Thomasville and Bainbridge. Some acreage came with the house as well as a pond and all of these are part of Mr. Moon's dream. River, pond, land.
So we made a day of it, driving first to Cairo. Cairo is another very small old Georgia town, smaller than Thomasville, and with fewer signs of old and new wealth but it appears to be doing fairly well. The new, mixing in with the old. One thing that fascinated me is that they have the oldest single-screen movie theater in Georgia, which still shows new movies. Just family-friendly ones, I think.
I did not take this picture but having just driven by it today, I can attest that it is an accurate image.
Of course we wanted lunch. What's the point of going somewhere if you don't have a meal? We found a place called "Grits" and it promised a southern buffet and excellent service.
It was an interesting place.
And yes, I swear- everyone in there knew everyone else.
The only employees we saw were all Latino. That may not be the PC word. I don't know. But they were all people who looked like ICE would be interested in them and I could not help but wonder if they were safe. It appeared to both me and Glen that they were the owners of the restaurant and I would not be surprised if they were.
As I said to Glen, it was on the ass end of nowhere. Down a long state road, then a clay road, then a sand road and it all went on for miles. Or perhaps it just seemed like miles. It truly was quite a drive. The woods on either side of the road were beautiful, quiet, and filled with native plants. There were creeks and little streams, wending and winding through parts of it. It was beautiful. But it felt so far from shopping for groceries or getting medical attention or...well, anything except for being at home.
The realtor lady met us right on time and we both liked her. She just turned on lights, opened drapes, and stood back, answering any questions we had. No pushing or hard sells there.
I loved the cabin. It was small but seemed airy enough. Lovely pine paneling and floors.
There is a loft with a bed and a chest of drawers in it that grandchildren who are monkeys would love.
Not what Mr. Moon wants at all. It is shallow and obviously not navigable for fishing or small-craft use.
It is beautiful there. So very quiet, no near neighbors, and I am sure there are many birds and lots of wildlife that one could sit on a porch and watch.
But there are also places in the acreage that must be mowed and that would involve a tractor which, of course, Mr. Moon would sort of love, but still- a lot of work.
The pond?
But neither of us feel that it is ours.
And yet- see? I just said the word atrocity. And I mean atrocity.
Perhaps we should buy a cabin in the very deep Georgia woods where it is quiet and peaceful.
Too far to Publix, though. I guess that the real answer is to try and find the peace within us.
Yeah, Mary. Like that's always worked for you.
Love...Ms. Moon
It must be tricky for you - going along with Glen's dreams of a new property when the truth of it is that the house in Lloyd is pretty perfect and at almost seventy one - is it sensible to move to an isolated place quite far from your children and grandchildren? Or maybe Glen is just thinking about an occasional retreat - a second home?
ReplyDeleteYes. A retreat. Exactly.
DeleteAs far as retreats go, doesn't he already have them? Sheds, Garages (which are technically sheds for motor vehicles), fishing trips away, deer hunting trips away. Which makes me wonder what exactly is he looking for?
DeleteI am prepared to help buy groceries if the Snap benefits are turned off, but I can't fund Head Start or the free school lunches. It's going to hurt a lot of families and I know that's the point. The cruelty and the power. Also who is with us? Who will fight for us? Scary times.
ReplyDeleteI guess my biggest hope right now is that by midterms, people will have some idea about how little Republicans care about them or their needs and will vote enough Democrats in to sway the votes.
DeleteThe fireplace looks like the one in my old house. Split rocks. Maybe a fossil in one. But not a place you would like to wait for an ambulance to come to.
ReplyDeleteNo. That was what I was thinking. I mentioned this to Glen and he obviously had never even thought of that. But then again, I think he halfway believes he is immortal. Not really, but...maybe?
ReplyDeleteI find that as this shitshow unfolds I am having trouble focusing on the things that I have on my to-do list, and I need to move past that. But I have to tell you it's damn hard not to wake up every morning & say " What freaking atrocity has he done now?" Maybe tomorrow I will make some progress on my list, wish me luck. On a bright note, we actually got some rain here in Tucson this afternoon, not enough, but the desert will appreciate anything it can get at this point.
ReplyDeleteI do wish you luck. We are all going to have to learn new coping skills.
DeleteI imagine that rain in the desert is indeed a rare sight.
Another trip in search of Mr Moon's dream! A bit remote for medical purposes, as you noted. Beautiful but oh well, minuses.
ReplyDeleteThe little cabin smelled so good! All that pine. And it was bright and airy. I did love that.
DeleteI read Mr. Pudding's comment and your reply, because I was thinking the same thing. None of us are getting younger. The cabin looks lovely but so isolated. Are turning into a prepper? LOL.
ReplyDeleteMe turning into a prepper? Haha!
DeleteIs this to replace the house at Dog Island?
ReplyDeleteIt's a long-held dream of Glen's to have a little get away place with land and water.
DeleteToo bad. The preliminary description did sound great. What I can see looks charming. Just not enough of it. And not convenient. So nice to think about the chickens and not the worms in government.
ReplyDeleteNot convenient at all. I kept wondering how far the nearest Publix was. There sure isn't one in Cairo.
DeleteThe whole world would be better off if more people owned chickens.
Well, at least it was a nice day out. I wouldn't want to buy it either - too remote.
ReplyDeleteIt was a nice day. And I enjoyed looking at the cabin. Most of the houses we've looked at have been barely acceptable at best.
DeleteOn paper real estate sounds perfect. Some folks buy sight unseen- oops. Depending on the price that little cbin looks wonderful. Away from other folks would be my ideal...if I had less mileage that is. At this point I need to be within walking distance of grocery. PO and trails.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Jesse's chickens! YOU should get some- Figure out how to keep the foxes out of the hen house...no elections.
The closest neighbors bought their house, according to the realtor who sold that house too, because they were sick and tired of people. Which leads me to wonder- what kind of people? Trumpers? Liberals? Religious people? Non-Religious people? Loud people?
DeleteThey don't have to worry about it now.
We probably could keep the fox out of the hen house (although we did have chickens snatched at night when they were shut up) but my joy is watching them free-range around the yard. That is what chickens are meant to do.
Maybe it's the world we've been thrown into, but honestly, I would not want to think of you living so far from anywhere and anyone, I would want to know your loved ones could reach you at a moment's notice, or you could reach them, and so I was holding my breath, hoping that charming cabin was not The One. As if I even get a say, the presumption of me! But it sounds like it was lovely day outing at least. I'm glad the assumed owners of that eating place you stopped at are operating in peace.
ReplyDeleteYeah. I think we are too old for that sort of isolation. As I keep saying though- it sure was peaceful.
DeleteThe people whom I think owned that restaurant all looked quite cheerful to me. Unlike the employees at the Mexican restaurant where Jessie and I ate on Tuesday in Tallahassee when ICE was around.
That plate of food reminded me of a cafe I used to frequent - no matter what you ordered, you got a plate of everything Larry thought would be good - and it was!
ReplyDeleteEvery restaurant needs a Larry!
DeleteThat looks like a great little cabin, but it does seem awfully far from everything, based on what you've said. I guess slightly easier to reach than Dog Island, but still not particularly convenient. And as you said, there are downsides to the landscape. So yeah, I can see how it's not quite what you want.
ReplyDelete