Oh God. From A Cat Tale To Tupperware To The Sacred, Undisturbed Places Of Florida. Plus- Clean Sheets

Maurice is sticking close to us since we got back. I know she likes Mark a lot because he spoils her and also, although she probably wouldn't admit it, because he is an imminently likable person with gentle ways and a kind voice. 

She spent hours on Glen's lap last night while he sat in his chair in the Glen Den. The Father Human! Or however she thinks of him. And she slept with us, cuddled next to me last night. At around seven this morning though, she jumped off the bed and began scratching the under-mattress or whatever you call the thing the mattress sits on, with great enthusiasm while crying loud enough to wake the dead and since we weren't dead, we woke up. It wasn't even really light yet. 
We tried to tell her to stop that nonsense and get back in the bed but she wasn't having it. 
"What's wrong, Maurice?" I asked. "Is Timmy in the well?"
Glen and I both laughed and he got up which I was not well-pleased about, pointing out that he was doing a cat's bidding rather than staying in the warm bed with his wife. 
Oh well. He was ready to get up. I wasn't. 
I think Mark gets out of bed very early and when he's here, he spends some time with Maurice, sitting beside her as she eats the treat he fixes her. This is what I meant when I said he spoiled her. 

But the biggest thing that happened, and I can still hardly believe this, a few minutes ago she came and stood by my laptop as she often does and where she's often fooled me by asking for petting only to then slash and bite my wrist and/or hand. But that's not what just happened today. She bumped my hand with her head, as a cat will do, and I almost unconsciously began to stroke her head and back when suddenly I heard something I really don't think I've ever heard before- the sound of purring coming from that cat. 
No, seriously. She does not purr. 
But today she did. And she didn't bite or scratch me! The whole thing only lasted about half a minute but it was an amazing thirty seconds. 

I got out the Goodwill cashmere this morning. It was that chilly. Forty-something. Cashmere sweaters make winter bearable in my opinion. Can you imagine how poorly I would cope in a place where it really gets cold? But it is a shock to the system to be in a place one minute wearing a sleeveless dress and then the next in a place where cashmere and a jacket are required for outdoor comfort. 

I needed to go to town to get a few things at Costco and at Publix but first I needed to get a few things done around here before I left. Of course those few things took me about four hours due to the number of but firsts that were required to get the things accomplished. 

Jessie had to go to Costco too and so we met there and it was mighty fine to see my youngest. I felt like I hadn't seen her in a month. Neither one of us needed a lot of anything so it didn't take us long. I did linger awhile at a display of Tupperware that excited me a bit inappropriately. A set of 32 containers and lids ranging from a giant one that would hold a LOT of soup to smaller ones, perfect for that little bit of coleslaw you have leftover from supper. And they came in two color combinations. 

They weren't cheap but they weren't exorbitant, either. I could just envision throwing away all my cottage cheese, yogurt, and feta cheese containers and replacing them with these handsome lovelies! 

Oh my. 

I finally decided that I would ponder this situation. And I am. Pondering.

I really do not know which set I would buy because although the blues and the greens are my favorite colors, those two shades of mauve, or whatever they are, were pretty magnificent looking. The orange though? 
Eh.

We went our separate ways after Costco and I went to Publix to get the rest and I was so proud of myself for getting everything I needed and not anything I just casually desired until I got home and realized that I had not gotten cottage cheese which was the main reason I went to Publix to begin with. I even got the cut-up pineapple to go with it! Oh well. I had some plain yogurt with the pineapple this afternoon and that was fine too. That is my regular between lunch and supper snack although the fruit may vary. 

Came home, unloaded and put everything away, made up the bed with the sheets I'd washed and dried, folded the other laundry that was done and put those away. I still have a load to fold in the dryer but I'll get around to it. 

It always happens that after Mr. Moon and I go away together for any length of time, I feel a ripping apart when we get home and go about our separate ways as we live our lives. He had his errands to run, I had mine. This is always especially true after a trip to Mexico where we are together every minute of every day and night which I would think might drive us crazy but instead, makes us realize how much we enjoy each other's company when we have that sort of opportunity. 
This coming week, he will be leaving for Canada. Yes. Again. And the same day he leaves, which is Thursday, I will be leaving to go to St. George Island with my nursing school friends. We have not been able to get together for a few years and I can't wait to be with these women. We are part of each other's bones at this point in our lives, even if we don't see each other often and when we come back together, we immediately fall into our places, our spaces and it feels like a sort of miracle and is always a joy, even though of course I am anxious as hell about it. I know, however, that I will be fine and far more than fine and this weekend will be one of the most deeply emotional and wonderful weekends of my life. That's just the way it is. 
One of us has a very serious medical diagnosis and has had for years. As time progresses, she is learning to cherish that which is the most important, and to let go of that which is not. I feel so very honored that I am part of what she deems worthy of her time and effort. She is without a doubt, one of the dearest loves of my life. 

So. That's what's going on. I keep thinking about the last full day Glen and I spent in Roseland. We saw signs for a state park I'd never heard of but the name itself was intriguing. St. Sebastian River Preserve. The St. Sebastian is my river, the one I've taken so many pictures of while watching the sun go down. And since we had the time and nowhere we had to be, we went there. We mostly drove through it but I would love to go back and hike some of the trails and explore it all a little more. At the end of the road we stopped and got out of the car. No one else was there. It was so peaceful and was, to my south Florida girl eyes, so beautiful. 

When I talk about palmetto scrub, this is what I mean. So very, very different from what I am sure people envision when they think of Florida. But a part of Florida I feel at home around. And there are so many different parts of that one rather small park. 

"Pine flatwood are the focal point of the preserve, serving as a backdrop to over 23 different distinct natural communities. Cypress domes, Strand Swamps, scrub ridges and the other natural features are home to over 70 listed species of threatened flora and fauna."

These are the places where "The Yearling" took place. These are the places that the goddamn "planned communities" are being built, the pines, the palmettos, the muhly grass, and all the other native plants which protect our very planet, not to mention Florida's delicate eco-system and wildlife, are being completely destroyed along with the fossils of mastodon, the shards of pottery made by some of the earliest inhabitants of the area, and everything else that means a fucking thing. 

Well. At least there is this one place so that our grandchildren will be able to see what it used to look like. What it looked like when I was a kid. 

For now, at least. 

I'm going to go cook some fish and grits which is certainly a meal that the families in "The Yearling" would have recognized. 

Happy Friday, y'all. 

Love...Ms. Moon