Saturday, June 6, 2026

Frightening Revelation And So Much More!

I had a rather terrifying experience this morning. 
Oh, don't worry. I didn't step on a rattler or drive my car off a cliff by accident or anything. 
No. I simply caught sight of myself in a very strong beam of sunlight, almost naked, standing in front of my mirror. 
Damn. I knew the body was really looking old, especially after losing weight, but I did not realize the full extent. It was almost horror-movie level scary. 
DEAR GOD!
How could I not have realized this? I do look in mirrors but never in quite that bright a light and also, come to think of it, not entirely nude. Well, I wasn't entirely nude today but nekkid enough to get a far more accurate picture. 
It's quite a conundrum to feel so much younger in some ways and then to realize I actually look so much older. Given the choice though, I'll take feeling younger and looking older rather than the other way around. And in clothes I think I look pretty okay. Mostly. 
I could be very, very wrong about that, though.

So then I finished getting dressed and went to town to meet Maggie and Lily for pedicures. We went to a new establishment on the east side of town very near Lily's house and not so far from me either. Angel Nail Spa. Jessie had gone there and recommended it. They were so kind and professional and did a great job on all our feet. No one called me "Mama" like another place we went to fairly recently and I was a little sad about that but what're ya gonna do? 

Here is what our toes looked like after they were tended to so well.


Magnolia's. 


Lily's celebration of Pride toes. 


Sorry. I'd already visited the garden in flip flops when I took this but it's a realistic representation of my feet in summer. Just be grateful I didn't take a picture of my left foot which has numerous ant bites on it. 

Lily's toes took longer than Maggie's and mine and you can see why. Ms. Mags and I walked two doors down to Midtown Noodles where we met up with Owen, Gibson, and Boppy to have some lunch. Midtown Noodles serves delicious foods like Pho and ramen noodles and some curry things. Owen and I got Pho, Gibson and Maggie got ramen, Boppy got some chicken and rice dish which was probably the least exotic thing on the menu which is what he was going for, and we ordered Lily Katsu chicken with curry that had to be taken in a to-go box because Maggie had a birthday party to attend at two and she DID NOT WANT TO BE LATE! 
I understand.
It was a pool party. She was pretty excited. The party was for her best friend Mary's birthday. Big doin's. 

I have to tell you that the kids were great. Owen was absolutely the very best big brother and helpful grandson you can imagine. To the point where when he'd run out to his car to find Maggie a hair tie so she could keep her curls out of her ramen, I asked Gibson and Maggie if he was always that sweet.
"Yeah," Gibson said. "He is." 
Maggie, however said, "Not to me. Not when I'm trying to wake him up to do something." 
Well, who isn't cranky when they've just been woken up and expected to do something? 
Glen just commented on how sweet he was a few minutes ago and I told him that I had asked his siblings if he was always that sweet because I was hoping he wasn't Eddie Haskelling us. For those of you who don't know who Eddie Haskell was, don't worry. He was a major suck-up on the Leave it to Beaver show who, when he wasn't trying to impress and curry favor with adults, was a horrible person. Now I don't think Owen could possibly be a horrible person but then again, I find it hard to believe he's THAT sweet to his brother and sister. 
And yet, I think he really is. 

After lunch, Glen and I went over to Oak Tree Treasures which is about half a block away. He's looking for rugs and furnishings for his cabin. I suggested that Target or Walmart might have rugs that he could use but I get the feeling that no, they are not going to have things that are of the quality he wants. 
Ooh boy. 
We didn't find anything at Oak Tree so we went to the resale joint down the road. They'd approached him before Oak Tree moved in, wanting to rent space at Moon Plaza but had wanted more space than he had available. So he was curious as to how they'd ended up. Again, he found nothing but I found two things. One was the little fish plaque souvenir I did not buy the last time I was there.
Here it is on the shelf over the sink in my bathroom. 


I just realized I have another sort of art gallery there. Well, depending on your definition of art. 

The other thing I got just cracks me up and at the same time, is a very practical item.


Anyone know what this might be?

It is a foldable cake and bakery goods carrier. The strap thing there which looks like it might be something used in a fifties-themed bondage costume is actually the strap that goes around the foldable box and provides a handle. I just had to buy it. I bet I've baked a thousand cakes in my life and I have never had a cake carrier. 
Unless my memory has completely failed me and I have one sitting on a shelf right where I see it five times a day. However, I am quite sure I do not have one that looks like this. 
I'm excited. 

And that was pretty much my day. Why I didn't get a picture of the kids I have no idea. I do have a few pictures Jessie sent. They all got to walk in a Mermaid parade with Uncle Ben's marching band in Black Mountain today. 







You have to wonder what in the world is going on in western North Carolina. 
Pretty cool stuff is what I'd say. 
Is August rocking the mermaid theme or what? I have a feeling that's one of his cousin's costumes. I think he does it justice. 

When I first started visiting Jessie and Vergil when they lived in Asheville, I realized rather quickly that I was not nearly cool enough to be cool there. 
Very few of us are. 

Doesn't matter. Just like my old body. Take me or leave me. This is the way I am. Or, as Popeye so famously said, "I yam what I yam and that's all that I yam."

Going to go cook some fish.

Love...Ms. Moon


35 comments:

  1. Wow! Who knew there was a Mermaid Parade? I’m kind of jealous. Beautiful sky in NC.

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    1. Is that not the coolest? NC is gorgeous in so many ways.

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  2. I like the ideas at that parade. And the theme.

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    1. Whimsy and serious whimsy! My cup of tea. Throw in mermaids and what could be better?

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  3. You bought the fish plaque! I'm so happy about that 😀. Owen has inherited your nurturing gene and Boppy's gentleness. I love the foldable cake carrier, I used to have a huge tupperware one, but gave it away many years ago now. I have no full length mirrors, I don't need to unexpectedly see the "apron" belly and the roll of fat over my hip bones, nor the creepy ("crepey"is correct spelling I know, but they are creepy) upper underarms which are not quite "bingo wings" but bad enough to keep me in sleeves.

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    1. I think I paid a dollar for the fish plaque. It was senior day or something.
      I think you may be right about Owen and where he got at least some of these genes. Owen's been a very nurturing soul since he was a tiny boy. When Magnolia was born he could not have been more thrilled.
      What I saw yesterday was not in a full length mirror! It was a dresser mirror. More's the horror!
      What I saw was creepy and crepey. I find myself trying to keep my arms covered up too but it's just too damn hot here now to care at all.

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  4. P.S. LOVE the parade and banners.

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  5. PPS. the tupperware was rigid, not foldable, I would have kept a foldable one.

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    1. I have not yet figured out how to fold it. I am not good at origami.

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  6. Why is it called a mermaid parade? Are people dressed like mermaids, or just in fanciful ways? Anyway, looks like a fun event. I love Lily's pride toes!

    Isn't it funny how Eddie Haskell is such a cultural fixture? For a character in a 60-plus-year-old TV show to become a synonym for a certain type of person is pretty remarkable. Eddie has even outlived the actor who played him.

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    1. I think it's just a mermaid/aquatic/pirate fun festival of whimsy. All sorts of goings-on occur.
      When I took the picture of Lily's toes she said, "And I'm wearing my lesbian shoes!"
      My family.
      Yes, on the Eddie Haskell thing. And the reference truly has outlived even the actor. How crazy is that? That was some excellent casting. Remember when he'd call Beaver "Theodore" around the parents?

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  7. August looks awfully cool. How wonderful to see the theme of that parade in Western North Carolina. And, by the way, it’s not you, it’s the lighting. It’s totally the lighting!

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    1. August IS awfully cool. I remember when he was a little guy and got jealous of the dresses I made for Maggie and when I asked him if he'd like me to make him dresses, he said he did, and he loved wearing them.
      Oh. It was definitely the lighting. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

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  8. I had no idea what that green thing was at all. Looks like something that could be used in a bondage session (not that I'd know)!

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    1. That's what I thought! And I've never participated in a bondage thing either but never say never, right?

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    2. I will say never. NEVER NEVER NEVER EVER!! the end.

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    3. Pretty sure not me either.

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  9. A blogger, Vicki Lane, lives in the little town where the mermaid parade was held. I noticed it on Facebook but had never heard of it before! So glad your family got to take part in it! I have no idea what it’s all about but those are some serious signs!

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    1. I think it's just a fun and whimsical celebration where people can express themselves in fun ways. At least that's the idea I get from it.

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  10. What a coincidence! My daughter texted me yesterday, did I want to go with her for a pedicure and then to the Peach Creek Market. So that's what I did. My toes are sparkly silver. That is one crazy outfit August has on and I love him for it.

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    1. Oh and I know what you mean looking at my aging body. It has most recently developed big bags under my eyes. Fucking crepey skin wasn't bad enough, now I have baggy eyes.

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    2. This was your first pedicure, wasn't it? I think that's what I remember. Sparkly toes are awesome.
      I imagine August designed his own outfit. His cousin may have helped him though.
      There is no end to the insults of age when it comes to our bodies, is there? Too bad neither one of us is the type of lady to get "work done." Oh, we get work done, just not that kind.

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    3. Not my first but only a very few previous, but the first with my daughter.

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  11. i love the mermaid parade photos <3 xxxalainaxx

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  12. I'm glad they are marching in NC - that gives me hope.

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    1. You'd be surprised at some of the things that go on in NC. Lots of old hippies live there and young ones too.

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  13. Feeling good is definitely the best outcome. I'm glad you feel good.
    Appearance is secondary in all cases.
    The Mermaid parade sounds like fun. Love the costumes and the signs.
    I've never seen a fancy cake carrying box. The Tupperware plastic cake carrying box is more common. Nice find MM.

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    1. Definitely. How I feel is a thousand times more important than how I look. However, I will admit to some vanity. So, maybe only five hundred times more important.
      I had no idea what that cake box was until I looked it up. I don't know what I'd do without Google Lens.

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  14. Those little Toes of Magnolia... Kids Feet are so damned Cute!!!

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  15. shoe doesn't love a a parade? august looks fabulous, as usual!
    Lilly wins the toe event! Stunning job!
    It is odd, having looked like oneselves for a few decades and then suddenly NOT! Gravity- I blame her!!

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    1. WHO not shoe WTF auto correct and bad vision?

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    2. To my mind, a good parade is one without stupid military bullshit. And if there are cops involved, they better be riding on horses. Motorcycles can be okay too. Sometimes.
      Mermaids are the best though.
      Gravity. She is not our friend as we age, is she? Not only does it make our bodies look bizarre, it also causes us to fall. So fuck gravity.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.