We Dwell On The Ground, We Can Look Up At The Heavens

I'm running very late this evening because I had a full day in town and then when I got home, I had a few catch-up chores to do and groceries to put away and my afternoon cottage cheese and fruit to eat which is very important. But mostly I had to catch Mr. Moon up on the things that happened today. 
One of those things was about my appointment with the nurse practitioner at the urology clinic, of course. 
That went pretty well. I did learn a few things and now have a little more basis on which to determine whether I want to pursue a retrieval procedure for the two (count 'em!) large stones in my right kidney which are too big to pass on their own. I knew I had one, I did not know I had two. 
Before I get any further with this, let me just say how impressed I am with the speed and efficiency in that clinic. I don't think I've ever waited as long as two minutes in the initial period after check-in before my name is being called and I'm led back to get a urine sample. After that, I wait in another area but never even as long as ten minutes at which time I'm led to a room where the doctor (for the first appointment) and the NP (for this one) make an almost immediate appearance. And then you get right to it. 
I liked the NP. She was knowledgable and forthright, and patiently listened to all my questions and gave the answers she had. One thing she said that I did not and do not believe is that it is highly unlikely that one of those very large stones is causing the discomfort and symptoms I experience sometimes, especially after exercise. "Well, then, what could it be?" I asked. 
"Musculoskeletal?" she asked. 
"Nope. That is definitely not it," I told her. I still think it's the stones. Or at least a stone although she says they are pretty well settled in there. So that was a bit disconcerting. 
I asked her if there was any real danger to having a "wait and see" attitude and she said that was an option however, the larger stone is so big that it should probably be attended to. 
Mmmmmm...
She recommended I get an X-ray in order to see if they show up on X-ray to have a better idea of their movement. I guess you can only get so many CT scans before your kidneys get burned up or something. I have no idea. I said that was fine, but could she please promise to call me when they got the X-ray back? She said that if I wanted, we could go over them right after they took them and within five minutes I'd had the X-ray and was back in the room with her. The stones did show up on the X-ray which I understand is a good thing. 
So now it's up to me to determine what I want to do here. And I have the additional decision to make which is that if I decide I DO want to go for the procedure, do I chose the doctor at the new clinic or my old urologist? Throw in the fact that the new clinic is not associated with the main hospital in Tallahassee which has a brand new surgical center which is where I got my first stone laser-blasted, and I don't know what the fuck to think.

BUT, all of that wasn't the first thing I told Glen about. That would be the phone call I got from a neighbor who was distressed about a situation in front of our houses involving a deceased cat and I am still not sure about the details but someone's cat had died and they found the cat and were carrying it down the sidewalk and crying. 
The sequence of events and clarity of the details was a bit murky so I had to keep asking questions. But then, she said, "And since Harvey's in jail..."

What? 
Hold on. Harvey's in jail? 

I am NOT going into details here because again, the sequence of events was not clear and the details I received were murky. I do believe that Harvey probably is in jail and I do believe that he is having, uh, challenges. 
I noticed awhile back that his property had become a complete mess with stuff scattered and strewn all over the place. This was not like Harvey. He kept his yard tidy or at least tidy-ish, and although he often changed things around and added or subtracted one sort of religious folk art thing or another, it was not a scene of chaos until recently. 
A few weeks ago I noticed two men who were doing something with a shovel in front of one of the trailers that I suppose Harvey was using for shelter although I have no idea what but I think that possibly they were relatives trying to help. Soon after that, the yard was tidied and neat. These details I saw for myself and so feel okay to post them. Nor do they cast any aspersions on Harvey. 
So I really do not know what is going on but the chaos in his yard may have been reflecting chaos in his mind. I say "may have" because I just don't know. It was just so out of character for him. 
In a way, I'm almost glad he's in jail because at least there he's sleeping warm and getting three meals a day, even if they're not great. He has no electricity or plumbing on his property and that, too, is a fact. If he is going through some sort of mental crisis, he does not need to be in jail though, but in some sort of mental health facility. 
The county we live in is very poor and I don't even know if there is such a facility. I've never heard of one if there is. 

Life is so fucking complicated and the truth is, sometimes there is just no easy answer or even completely definitive answer, whether we are talking about kidney stones or the extreme difficulties of the impoverished and possibly not-quite-mentally healthy. 

So I related all of this to my husband and we discussed it and there are other considerations I have not mentioned. Of course. But basically that is it. 

The picture at the top is one I took at the seafood restaurant Jessie and I went to today for lunch. The woman behind the counter told us that yes, they'd put up the "Please do not eat our display" because people were indeed eating their display. 
Excuse me? 
Well, fried green tomatoes are mighty delicious and when they come with cheese and other tasty things, I am sure they are even more so. 
Still...

I knew I was going to be with Jessie tomorrow for pottery and then probably again for lunch but I just really needed to be able to discuss things with another human and Jessie being a nurse, that helped with the kidney stone thing. I am sure I talked TOO MUCH but she is kind and patient with me and we did a lot of laughing and sat at the table for a long time after we'd eaten. 

And then, (OH MY GOD!) I went to Costco, got gas and groceries, went by my bank to make a payment, and on to Publix. 
I went to "my" Publix instead of Lily's because we had a prescription ready to pick up at their pharmacy which is the pharmacy we use and in a shocking development, I discovered that since last week they have put in new, more energy-efficient refrigerated spaces which changes the location of some things although things in the aisles seemed to be about the same. I was shocked, mostly at how fast all of this has been accomplished. And the pharmacy section, which I think I mentioned last week, is being expanded and rebuilt and yet, is very much still functioning. It is a bit disconcerting but change is inevitable and I'll get used to it all within a few weeks or months, I'm sure. I just texted Owen because that's the Publix he works at. He said they've been working after closing every night to get the work done. 

Oh, the excitement in my life! 

To top it all off, I used my garden sink for the first time today. I rinsed out my compost bucket as I said I would and it is far easier and more convenient than rinsing it out in the spigot. 
Today Glen hauled more pine straw for me to mulch the camellia bed as I get things cleared and he asked me if I would like him to pull out all the monkey grass growing in it. Would it make me really, really happy?
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? 
That is one hell of a job. 
Should I be worried? 
I hope not. 

Going to be very cold here tomorrow and the whole next week is not going to be what we might call balmy. 

I do very much realize that for many of you, these temperatures would be absolutely balmy and I will not complain. But- HOW DO YOU DO IT? 

Pottery tomorrow. Look what arrived today. 

Stroke and coat, baby! I won't be using it tomorrow because I have no glazing to be done but it's there when I need it, and for Ms. Jessie, too. 

There was a moment today when I looked up, as I try to remember to do so frequently and there was the pale more than half a moon but less than full, ghostly white against the impossibly blue sky and although of course this is something I've seen thousands of times in my life, for whatever reason, today it gave my soul something it needed. It sustained me. It reminded me that despite all of the evil and cruelty and insanity going on here right now, some things are eternal and not in the least affected. Or at least as eternal as we can imagine. A heavenly body that pulls our tides, that calls forth our babies, that illuminates our nighttimes, that shines silver against a velvet sky, from the tiniest cutting of a baby's fingernail to that full-bellied globe that rises orange and gold and then hangs above us. 

There is beauty. There is order. There is a rhythm and reason to be found in our natural world which cannot be destroyed by mere humans. 

I felt this today as I looked up at that pale moon, bright enough to be seen in the blue, daytime sky. And it's all there for you, too. 

Love...Ms. Moon