These Are The Good Times

When I was heading out to the garden this morning to pick beans, I carried a few plants I'd dug up and wanted to put on the burn pile and for the first time in awhile, I really looked at this old tractor in the yard. Obviously, it's been there for some time. The plant you see growing all over it and which has the very large pink blossom by the rear tire is glory bower which is one of the horrible invasives in this yard. I have pulled it and pulled it and pulled it to no avail. As I just read, it spreads by both root suckers and seeds and if not controlled can outcompete the native plants which it is well on its way to doing here. 
Sigh. 
The tractor is one that Billy's grandpa left to Glen. Or maybe he left it to Billy and Billy gave it to Glen. I don't remember. But it was Billy's granddaddy's tractor. He has used it some and it gave the grandkids hours of fun, pretending to drive it when they were little. 

So the best thing happened today! Did I mention that Lon and Lis are in Monticello? They're house/cow/dog sitting for Lon's sister and her husband while they are in Greece. They have a lovely home they built years ago and in the last decade, I guess, they have begun raising grass-fed cows. Of course the house and cow pasture are not in the town of Monticello, but out in the country, a few miles from town. So we are close enough to see each other and they will be here for awhile.

Heaven.

Lis came over here today and I'm not sure how she feels about it, but I had one of the most pleasant times I could imagine with her. She helped me can beans and while we faced each other across the kitchen island, snapping the beans to get them ready for the jars, we talked and we talked, and we talked. 

She took this picture of me filling jars. 

I honestly think this was the first time in my life that I've ever had help with canning. I'm so used to doing it myself that it's no problem, but it went so fast with four hands, rather than two. My left hand didn't even go numb! 

We filled 6 quarts and pressure canned them and every one of the lids sealed. I just texted her and told her that two of those quarts had her name on them. 

We discussed everything from carving out time for ourselves after all these years without feeling guilty about the 244 things we absolutely need to do right that minute, and how we've grown less and less concerned with what others think of us, to how good it feels to get rid of stuff, and to husbands, of course. We did not talk about getting rid of those. She and Lon will have been married 46 years in July and Glen and I will have been married for 41 in October. We both agree that our boys are the sweetest boys, the best boys although sometimes they can drive us a little bit crazy. But we do like them a lot. 

My best boy showed up on a drive-by when he came to get the trailer or something. He came in and kissed us both but no hugs would he give because he was so sweaty. And then off he went and I said to Lis, "I have never seen him this happy in my life."
She agreed that he was indeed, a happy man. 

I made us a little lunch of salmon patties and leftover quinoa with cabbage and peppers and onions from last night. I hadn't cooked quinoa in forever and remembering that it is high in protein and in fiber, I thought it would be a good thing. And it was. 

The jars were ready to come out of the canner by the time she was leaving so she did get to see the fruits of our labor. It was a very wonderful visit or at least it was to me, as I said. 

After she left, I finished picking the beans I had not gotten to in the morning. I have been picking so many beans that the forefinger on my right hand is sore in the top joint because that's the finger I squeeze the stems with, along with my thumb, to pluck them from the vines. I switch off and use my left hand too but obviously, not as much. 

I also got enough cucumbers that I really do need to make some pickles, one squash, two okra, a few regular tomatoes and a lot of cherry tomatoes. I told Lis as I was washing beans, I still find great pleasure in growing food. And I do. 

We just got a little rain (of course, because I watered the garden today) which came with a lot of impressive thunder rolling and sky darkening. The temperature on the back porch has dropped seven degrees in the last forty-five minutes. 

I think I will remember today. Well, for as long as the sieve which my mind is becoming can still hold water. It felt so good to be two old friends, come together on such a country woman task, hands busy, hearts happy. There are so many things that a woman can only share with another woman and to be able to do that, and to ask, "Do you feel this way too?" "Is it like this for you now?" is far more important to our mental health and general well-being than almost anything I can think of. 

Lucky. That's how I feel right now. Very, very lucky. 

I do not have multitudes of friends. I have only a very few but they are the best anyone could have.

Love...Ms. Moon