Not Too Exciting

My little native azalea may not look that impressive to you but it looks gorgeous to me. It seems that the flowering plants this year are giving it their all. That azalea has been such a slow-grower but finally, you can really see it. Most of the plants around it there are phlox which will begin blooming soon. There are also a few fire spike. The rooster planter (which I have nothing planted in), the little blue tile with St. Francis (which I found outside here and which is slightly broken) and the Buddha are all there to mark the resting place of the best rooster ever in the world- Elvis. I buried him in the front yard so that he could keep watch over all of us the way he always kept watch over his hens so diligently. 

I know I have posted this picture of Elvis and Owen at least a dozen times but I never tire of it. My beautiful rooster, my beautiful boy. I believe that Elvis thought that Owen was one of his flock and needed protecting too. I did not mind that in the least. One can never have too much fierce protection in this world. 

I have felt better today and have felt more normal as the day has progressed. I even joined Mr. Moon outside to kick bamboo. He did not kick the bamboo today though. He got out a golf club (why he has golf clubs is beyond me) and started using that and I have to tell you- it worked very well. I just used my plain old foot as usual. Here are a few pictures of what we were up against.

Successful camouflage. 

This one hid underneath the leaves of a culm that got pulled over somehow. One of our storms? And I tell you- these dang sprouts are as big around as my wrist. 

I also watered my porch plants and I found something so heartening. 

The banyan tree lives! Look at that precious little sprout. I am so very pleased. And right next to it I found this.

This is the plant that Kathleen called a tropical gardenia but I don't think that is really its name. I forget what the real name is, though and the bloom on it does look somewhat like a gardenia. Kathleen gave me both of those plants which was yet another reason I did not want to lose them. For those of you who have not been here forever, Kathleen was a very dear friend of mine and absolutely one of the  most unique and wonderful people I've ever met. 
Also possibly in possession of magic powers but of course I don't believe in that sort of thing. I am far too pragmatic for that nonsense. 
However...

I miss her and I would hate to have lost two of the plants she gave me to tend and nurture. 

Here's something else I found while I was watering.

Such tiny little creatures. This one was barely as big as a fifty-cent piece. And speaking of camouflage- these guys know that if they remain perfectly still, the odds are good they will go unnoticed. In fact, I saw the shadow of it from the underside of the leaf before I saw its whole self. That's a bird's nest fern it's on which is a wonderful living and hiding place for a tiny tree frog. They hold water for a long time and provide shelter in the deep center part where the fronds emerge. I can think of worse places to live than in a cool, green fern on a porch with plenty of tasty bugs. 

And so another Sunday. Not so bad, not really. I found signs of life where I feared there were none, I watched my husband slay bamboo with a golf club, and we are going to eat red beans and rice again tonight because they were so good and since most dishes like that always taste even better on the second or third day, I am expecting...magic? 
Pragmatic culinary magic. 

It's supposed to storm tonight or tomorrow. Who knows? Not me. But we are going to get what is considered a cold front at this time of year and I will be more than grateful to have one more chance to be able to go outside without having heat stroke. 
While we were attacking the bamboo today, Mr. Moon asked me, "What are we going to do when it gets hot?" We were both sweating at the time.
"I don't know," I said. "Move to Michigan?"
But of course we can't. Our roots are now deeper and more persistent than those of the bamboo. Our babies are here, our lives are here. And the green beans are coming along so nicely, the potatoes and tomatoes are looking so good. We can't leave now and I'm pretty sure we never will. 

Love...Ms. Moon