Mosquitoes, Mommies, Miracles, And So Forth

Yesterday when Lily and the kids got to the river, Owen immediately said, "Do you want to hear about the horrible thing that happened last night?"
Well of course I did. Everyone appeared to still have all of their limbs so how horrible could it have been?
Turns out that there had been a little struggle over Baby Alive whose head had come off. I suppose it had been somewhat traumatic when it happened but Magnolia was beyond thrilled because she was going to get a new one! Her name is Lily! Turns out that each Baby Alive has her own name and the one Maggie had picked out was indeed a Lily. Lily was expected to arrive via Amazon today.

I got a text from Lily while I was walking this morning (only three miles, thank you very much) and they were going to the farmer's market in Monticello and would I like for them to drop off the dill she'd bought for me? I said yes, and if they had any peaches at the market that smelled good, to get me a few.
So awhile later here came Lily and the dill and the peaches as well as some chanterelle mushrooms that either she or Owen had picked and we all sat out in the back yard and Mr. Moon fired up some sort of battery-operated mosquito repellant thing which did finally start working which was good because despite spraying with the "natural" spray, we were all getting bit like crazy and between that and the heat I felt as if I might go insane. Before the device began to be effective, we all sat and slapped and scratched except for Mr. Moon who had prudently sprayed with the DEET spray hours earlier because he was working on the porch and outside. I really cannot describe the special torture of this heat combined with the humidity and mosquitoes. It's a sort of living hell right here on earth but we were soon not nearly as inundated by the bugs and it was almost tolerable sitting in the shade where we all talked and Magnolia kept running back to the chicken coop to see the baby. She tried her best to catch and hold the baby but Dottie wasn't having that.
But it was a sweet time, just being with Lily and the kids and Maggie kept talking about her Baby Alive when she wasn't trying to catch the living baby chick and Mr. Moon told her that things can sometimes come later than we'd wish but a few hours after they left, I got this picture.

Lily did indeed appear at the doorstep today and as you can see, Magnolia is happy. Lily (her mother, Lily, that is) told Maggie that she is a good mommy and Magnolia said, "Yea. I want to be a good mommy like you!"

Could anything be sweeter? 

I have a feeling that whatever Magnolia decides to do when she grows up, if being a mother is part of that, she will be a very good one. 

I got almost nothing done on August's dress this afternoon. I decided to rip out part of what I'd done yesterday and that took me forever. I had wanted to put French seams in the dress because...well, I don't know. It looks better and there are fewer raw edges inside to irritate a child's skin. But it just didn't work for this particular seam which had a slit at the top of it so that it will fit over August's head and what I'd tried to do to make it neat and tidy had only made it look sloppy. So. The seam ripper came out and the stitches came out and I finally fixed up that part and proceeded to sew on a button and make a loop to fasten the button with and now I hate the way the loop looks. 

Hate it. 

At this rate, the child will be lucky if he ever gets the dress, much less decorated with any sort of sequins or rick-rack. I don't even know if I have any rick-rack, much less sequins. I haven't looked. What is WRONG with me? 

Even supper looks abysmal. Last night's peppers were delicious and I decided to use the leftover mixture of venison and tomatoes and rice as a base for a chili but all it resembles now is a mushy mess. I made a loaf of sourdough, at least, and that looks good. I've been fooling around with how I make it and tonight's experiment has both milk and a tiny amount of sugar in it. I loved the way the dough felt and the way it rose but the proof will be in the tasting. 

Oh, it'll be fine. Almost anything with butter on it is fine. 

Meanwhile, Mr. Moon's work on the back porch is beautiful. He fixed the screens where they were out and replaced a few boards. The bad news is that I will no longer be getting visits from Liberace and his dame de jour but the good news is that I won't be cleaning up chicken poop on the porch. Also- the mosquitoes will have a much harder time gaining access to my blood. 

It's summer time in Florida and let's face it- it's pretty miserable here. But I will say that all of the rain we've gotten has made everything as green as it can be so at least there's that. 

I got to see three of my grandchildren and one of my children today and that of course is a fine thing. 

A cardinal couple just alit on two chairs in the back yard and the crickets are singing their sundown song, loud and sure of everything. The solo artists begin each verse, the rest of the choir joining in for the rhythmic chorus. If I just stop and pay attention, the swelling and fade of it is almost too much to bear. Like with so many things, the song of the crickets is such a part of my life that I barely hear them any more which does not make them one bit less miraculous. 

The miracle is all around me whether I pay attention or not. 

I want to try and pay more attention. Who wants to go through life missing the miracles? 

Not me. 

I guess I'll go make a salad or something. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Just A Teeny Bit Pissed Off Today

Y'all getting tired of seeing pictures of baskets full of beans?
Sorry. That's my life right now.
When I woke up it was raining and it rained most of the morning. I texted the kids and said, "Would be a great day to be at the island with cards and books and snoozes. Am I right?"
Hank and Rachel agreed. Mr. Moon said that he can't wait to get over there and fix it up nice so I can come visit. "Are you planning to move there?" I asked him.
"Maybe," he said. "But I'll carry you in my pocket."
He's a funny guy.

I decided that today would be perfect to work on August's dress but by the time I'd done my regular chores (cue theme song from Lassie and imagine me as June Lockhart) and picked those beans during a break in the rain and picked up and did a few of the little things I'd been putting off, it was getting on to afternoon. I sat down and started sewing, screwed up my very first seam and it went just about like that for the next few hours.

Oh well.

I'm a little bit angry today and I'll tell you why- if we stupid Americans had followed the lead of the more sensible countries and stayed on lock-down and followed the rules, we wouldn't be where we are right now. I wouldn't have to be afraid to kiss my grandchildren's backs.
Who would have ever thought we'd be living in a time where we had to make decisions like whether it was worth the risk to hug our loved ones?
I talked to Lis today and we discussed this for quite awhile. I don't know what I'd do without my Lis-chats. She keeps my spirits up and we laugh and compare pandemic stories and cooking ideas and garden news and current projects. She and Lon are celebrating their 41st wedding anniversary today. Remember last year when we went to St. Augustine to celebrate their fortieth? They played at Creekside and there was a cake and many, many people there to celebrate. It was joyous.
And now we can't begin to imagine attending a celebration like that. That was a different time, a different world.
So much has changed.
And change is okay. Change can be great. And except for the fact that my children and grandchildren all pose potential threats to me and their grandfather and vice versa, I'm good with this change. But that's a selfish way to look at it. How many people who own small businesses, who have spent their LIVES trying to make those businesses succeed and thrive are now being forced to shut down? Or have already been? And how many of their employees are out of work?
A hell of a lot.
Let's face it- Walmart ain't going nowhere.
And here we are with a president so butt-stupid that he thinks he's the smartest man on the planet who hasn't had the slightest idea how to deal with this disease and in fact, has ignored the advice of people who are experts to the point where he is personally responsible for the deaths of so many. And the crashing of the economy.
And our very own Florida education commissioner has announced that this fall all schools must reopen while cases are still increasing and there have been over 11,000 diagnosed cases of Covid in children here in the state.
I just looked at a chart which says that six of the top ten metro-areas in the country with the fastest growth of new cases are in Florida. Six!
Oh well. Trump has way too much to do defending confederate statues and the police state to have any time to worry about the corona virus.
You know what? He's such a sick fuck that it hardly seems fair to point the finger at him anymore. And to everyone who says that we should never say his name I say this- By not saying his name we are attributing some sort of magical powers to that action which is ridiculous. His name is Donald Trump. He and his name will go down in history as the worst president and one of the worst things (if not THE worst) that ever happened in US history. Given enough time he'll be one of the worst things ever to have happened in world history.

Please- all the gods that be in heaven and on earth- let's not let that happen.

Okay! Time to go make stuffed peppers!

Y'all hang in there and stay safe. However long it takes. Stay safe.

Love...Ms. Moon

A Day At The River With Grandchildren Is Better Than Anything

And well, there went my things-to-get-accomplished goals for today.
What the hell? I'll do things tomorrow. Boy oh boy! Did Little Orphan Annie get it right when she sang that song about tomorrow!
I've gotten so bad about this. There are at least a hundred little tiny things that I need to do that because of the pandemic and isolating that I put off doing because I can do them tomorrow! Hell yes! There have been three jigsaw puzzles that August did on the floor in the library for at least a month because
1. I sort of like thinking about him every time I see them and,
2. Tomorrow!

But today we went to the river. We did not put that off until tomorrow even though the weather was quite sketchy. But Lily and Lauren had the day off and Jessie wanted to get the boys out of the house and so we all met down at the beautiful Wacissa. There were a few mamas and babies and a dad or two but there was no crowding or craziness. And oh, what a joy it was to sit and talk and watch the babies play. Jessie knew one of the moms and one of the dads who, it turns out, is the son of a guy I went to nursing school with. I knew his mom, too. She was a teacher at the high school that both May and Jessie went to and they both loved her. So it was friendly and sweet. There were babies and little kids and even a kid about Owen's age that he made friends with. The kids miss other kids so much.
I cheated big time today and hugged and kissed all of them from the back. It was heaven. And when we were leaving, Owen reached over and gave me a side hug and I sure did hug him back.

The water was clear today and cold as always.

That's the boat ramp part of the little park. 

The weather changed by the minute. From the sunniness you see in the top picture to this

and then this.

The children didn't mind- they were already as wet as they could be and there was no thunder or lightening. We kept moving our chairs and bags from sun to shade and finally under the little shelter where the kids could come for snacks. 

That little girl brought me a rock and a dead bug. She is not afraid of anything. Lily said that on the 4th she wasn't worried one bit about the sparklers throwing off sparks as Owen and Gibson had been. She just purely loved it. She brings her mama bugs all the time and says, "Will this sting me?"

They were at Wakulla Springs a few weeks ago and Maggie noticed a snake in the water and instead of freaking out she told a woman standing in the water, "Lady! There's a snake behind you!" 

She may become a naturalist. 

Or whatever she wants. 

Levon is getting so twinkly and friendly. He was always so shy and quiet around other people but now he's comfortable talking to people. He's quite a good conversationalist! While we were in the water he circled me with his little boat in his hand over and over. He knows I love him. They all do. Still, it's incredibly hard not to kiss their faces, hold their hands, stroke their hair. 

But I can make them laugh and kiss their backs and even bite their toes sometimes when the urge overtakes me. 

Which it does at times.

It finally started thundering off in the distance and we all gathered our gear and the children and said our good-byes. It had been a wonderful few hours and I'm so glad we all went. 

I had forgotten to take Levon's dress so Jessie stopped by on the way back and got it along with some field peas. Here's a picture I got from her later. 

August is NOT HAPPY that I haven't made his dress yet. In fact, he recorded a message to me on Jessie's phone that asked me if I could please put some sequins on his dress, maybe like a rainbow, and also some of that wavy stuff down at the bottom so it won't look like Levon's. I think he meant rick-rack. 

I will do my best. 

And I better get to it. 

I did manage to blanch and freeze some field peas after I got home. And pick some stuff for salad. And banana peppers. Glen had already picked cucumbers and a few tomatoes and more field peas and all I can say is- I'm going to need some more canning jars real soon. The bell peppers are coming on and I think I might stuff some of those tomorrow. Eggplants are making their beautiful fruits too. 

Honestly, with all of this garden abundance and the regular small things I do around here to maintain some semblance of order, it is difficult to find the time to sew or clean up puzzles. 

Although I do still seem to find time to do crosswords. 

Throw in a day at the river here and there and my days are as full as can be. Or at least as full as I want them to be. 

And of course there's always tomorrow. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Beans And Books, Etc.

I guess you can tell what I did today. For part of the day, anyway. First I picked and then I pickled. Six more pints. Forget a pantry, I need a whole damn root cellar. Or whatever you call one of those basements where the good wives stash their jars of preserved whatevers. After this year I may look into getting a pressure canner or I may just continue pickling what I can and freezing the rest. Thank goodness I have a family who does love pickles. I also looked up how to freeze field peas and it appears that they do need blanching and then plunging into an ice bath and then bagging. That's not hard work. None of this is hard work, really. It's just time consuming and once again, I did not get to my list of things that really need doing around here.

I finally threw out Darla's egg. Bless her heart. It wasn't even fertilized. She could have sat on that egg for the rest of her life and it would not have resulted in a baby. I took her off the nest and set her down on the ground where she just sat like she was still sitting on the egg. Finally she got up and started eating. I cleaned out the nests which was made more difficult by the fact that I have lost my nest-cleaning tool which is an old hoe-head blade that I found here somewhere that I've always used to scrape poop with. It was perfect. I know I used it to clean up the little coop where Dottie and Dearie are now staying and I set it down somewhere...
Either I'll find it or someone in the distant future will. Meanwhile I had to use a trowel and although it worked, I like my hoe blade better.

It hasn't been as hot today and while I was picking, a breeze would come up now and then and that felt like heaven. It rained this afternoon and has cooled off even a little more which gives us all reason to live another day. Not to say that it isn't still muggy as hell and buggy too. Mr. Moon and I ate breakfast on the porch this morning and he kept killing mosquitoes on me. I sometimes wonder if this isn't actually a ploy to smack me.
I don't think so. I hope not.

Good Lord but this is boring.

So, okay. I'll tell you something that happened in a dream of mine last night that had never happened before. We were in Cozumel but my dream-Cozumel which is quite, quite different from the one I've actually visited. Since I've traveled to the dream world one so many times however, it is familiar to me now and so much of it symbolizes my guilt about being a tourist there and my general guilt about being a privileged white person in any situation while at the same time loving the ability to stay right on the water and eat in any restaurant we want to.
It is, as they say, complicated.
Anyway, in this dream I was talking to my husband and I said, "I think this may just be a dream. No one here is wearing a mask and I know that they're requiring everyone to wear masks now."
Suddenly, in my dream, everyone WAS wearing a mask. It's like my brain was trying to fix the discrepancy by putting masks on everyone's faces and I said to Mr. Moon, "Yeah. Must be a dream. That doesn't happen in real life."
Oh, dream-world!

Still boring though, huh?

Well, my life is pretty boring now which is not to say that I'm not enjoying it. One of the best parts of my day lately has been reading in bed (which is not new) before I go to sleep and what I've been reading are Larry McMurtry books that I've already read many, many times. I tried and tried to get into new books and I did almost enjoy a few but something finally drove me to the bookshelf where Mr. McMurtry's books are kept and I plucked out Terms of Endearment and read that and now I'm reading the sequel which is The Evening Star and this story of a narcissistic and yet incredibly interesting woman named Aurora Greenway and her maid and true life partner Rosie and her daughter and her grandchildren and her suitors is soothing me and delighting me all over again. I am so grateful for Larry McMurtry. He has brought me more pleasure than he could ever know. I wrote him a letter once. I should write him another.

That's my story for today.

I hope all is well with you.
I'm going to go fry some green tomatoes now. I'm pretty excited about that.

Love...(The Incredibly Boring and yet Not Bored) Ms. Moon

Happy Stay Home And Stay Safe Day!

Mr. Moon has been shelling peas for hours. You can't imagine how long it takes to fill a bowl like that. Labor intensive, to say the least. Maurice is sitting beside him. She loves to sit with Glen in his chair as much as the grandchildren do and probably for much the same reason- she feels so safe there. She's probably safer sitting beside him than anywhere else in the world. As you can see from her poor nose, the feud between her and Jack is nowhere near over. And he's just so much bigger than she is. Every night when he comes and jumps on the bed with me (kaPLOMP!) and cuddles up I give him a stern lecture about hurting Maurice. And I feel guilty for letting him sleep with me because he is so mean to her. But I am a vastly imperfect person and I do love the weight of him beside me. When he wants more petting from me he gently, gently taps my arm, claws sheathed. He's gotten so large lately that I told my husband that one of these days he's going to jump off the bed or a chair or a table and just go right through the floor. When he runs in the house it truly does sound like a small horse galloping about. He's on the table in front of me right now.

You can see the evil in his eyes. He likes the new tablecloth. 

Gosh. It's the 4th of July, isn't it? Couldn't prove that by me. I haven't even left the yard so I haven't gotten into any trouble today. We haven't grilled anything or drunk a cooler full of beer or jumped off a high dive into a cold river or made or eaten a cake with blueberries and strawberries and whipped cream although I did finally make Mr. Moon's dessert and it is a thing of glory. We picked green beans together today and that took a good half hour or more in the hell-hot sun and every time I reached for another bean, my bowl already full, I would say, "This is ridiculous!" While Mr. Moon shelled peas I snapped beans and then I bagged them and put them in the freezer in the garage. There is still a huge plastic bag full of them. Maybe I'll pickle some more tomorrow. 

Every day I have so many things I need to get done and I'm just not getting any of it done. Simply doing the small things that I do seems to take up my entire day and suddenly, it's four-thirty in the afternoon. I have not yet gotten a handle on this slippery time thing and I'm becoming aware that I'm probably not going to. 

Oh well. 

I see that 45 appears to want to base his campaign on statues and their preservation. 

OUR HISTORY! OUR HERITAGE! OUR BIG HONKIN' WHITE RIGHTS! 

The man might as well stick a big fat swastika on his MAGA hats. He really does not care, does he? And the damn thing about it is- if he did stick a big fat swastika on his MAGA hats his drooling idiot followers would shout, "Take my money!" and order them by the truckload. 

Oh god. I could live for another hundred thousand years and not understand how that man got elected in the first place or how anyone could support him. I've said this so many times before but I'll say it again- I had no idea my country was filled with so many racist asshole below-average-intelligence shit heads. 

And honey, I was not happy to discover this nor will I ever be. 

The phrase "Putin's bitch" comes to mind but even if that's the truth, Putin didn't get the job of destroying our country done by himself. He had plenty of help on the inside. 

But hey! There's hope! Don Jr.'s girlfriend has tested positive for covid but then again, so have 11,458 Floridians today! 

Yeah, well, what more can I say? 

Little Dearie is still alive. Darla continues to sit on her nest but I'm about to throw that egg out. I hope that no one in the neighborhood feels compelled to set off fireworks (now legal in Florida!) after ten p.m. and I hope that all of you are well, safe, and as happy as is possible under the bizarre and difficult situation we are all living in now. 

Love...Ms. Moon

In Which Ms. Moon Loses Her Temper

Well, today was a bit different. I learned something about myself that I'm not too proud of.
Or else I am. I don't know. I suppose it just is what it is.

Everything started out fairly normally. I did a few things around here. Packed up some green beans for both May and Jessie and a few jars of pickles for May. Jessie already has some. I went to the Co-op where May's working these days and met Jessie there. When I saw my girl I said, "Turn around." She did and I patted her butt.
"Mama's can do that," she said.
I agreed it was true.
We did a little shopping and giggled and caught up on a few things. Finally we located May and I made her turn around and patted her butt too. I seriously doubt that anyone has gotten covid yet from a pat on a clothed butt. Especially not from a mother.
I know this is silly and maybe even a little creepy too but I can't tell you how wonderful it was, just for a second, to touch those girls, even through their clothes. To make contact with their living, being shapes that came from my own body.
You want to hear something really silly?
I'm tearing up right now, just thinking about it. Lord, how I miss touch.

I found bread flour in bulk and got that and some soybeans and two bags of real, true stone-ground grits. The kind that take an hour to cook and are the only grits worthy to join with shrimp in shrimp-and-grits as far as I'm concerned. I bought some fancy hippie lotion and some Dr. Bronner's citrus-scented hemp soap. Something new for me. I've never even seen that version. It smells delightful. I use diluted Dr. Bronner's in all my foaming soap dispensers. Works great. Cheap too, when you dilute it as much as I do. Says right on the label: "DILUTE, DILUTE, DILUTE!"
And so I do.

We finished our shopping there and reluctantly said good-bye to May. Jessie went off one way, I went another. I had to go to Publix to pick up a prescription and I needed a few things I wasn't going to buy at the Co-op like aluminum foil and parchment paper. I noticed that my brand of coffee was on sale BOGO and while I was searching for bags of my favorite, which is the Italian roast and which must be the favorite of a lot of other people too because they always sell out of that first, I heard a woman behind me addressing a fairly elderly guy who's worked at that Publix forever. He stocks the shelves and Lily told me that he mostly works because his wife died and it gets him out of the house. I've always admired his ability to bend and kneel and get back up. But he's got to be way past seventy and this woman (white, probably in her early fifties, maybe a bit younger) was telling him that he needed to take that mask off every now and then so that he could BREATHE!
She herself must have been having trouble breathing because although she was wearing a mask, as per county order, she was wearing it below her chin.
"They can't force you to wear it," she told him. "You have to be able to breathe."
Not only was she not wearing her mask, she was right up in this man's space. No six-foot distancing for Ms. Breathe. I couldn't believe it. I turned around and said, "Lady! Lady! What are you telling him?"
"I'm just saying that it's his right to take his mask off and breathe. That people can't breathe properly when they're wearing a mask. That it's unhealthy. That they can't force him to wear it."
Now. Actually, Publix employees ARE required to wear masks. For their entire shifts. Does anyone like it? Not especially but the smart ones know why they're wearing it and the ones who aren't so smart still want their jobs.
I got ON this woman. I told her that it was ridiculous to believe you can't breathe wearing a mask and that you don't wear the mask to protect yourself, you wear it to protect others.
"You're wearing yours to protect YOU!" she said.
Stupid AND not psychic.
"How do you think surgeons do it?" I asked her.
"I don't know," she said. "They're a lot younger than us." Then she thought about that. "Well, not all of them."
"They manage just fine wearing masks," I said. "And why do you think they wear them?"
"Because they're forced to!" she sang out triumphantly.
"And why are they forced to?" I asked her and then answered my own damn question- "For their patients' safety."
She acknowledged that this was true but couldn't somehow link that fact to her own "facts" about needing to breathe and masks not really protecting anyone.
And here's where I learned something about myself. At this point I was on fire. This whole argument in the middle of Publix felt so fucking GOOD! My anger felt clean and hot and I wanted to slay her with my words. And I realized that I could easily get crazed enough in my (to me, anyway) righteous anger to actually smack her. And I stopped right there.
Except for yelling at her, "Get a clue! Get a clue!"
And I grabbed the two bags of Italian roast I could find, threw them in my cart and stalked off.
I really showed her, didn't I?
No. No I didn't. She's probably telling someone right now about the crazy old hippie in Publix trying to tell HER about masks. And about how stupid and what a sheep I am.
It reminded me of the time I went back to the dump depot and told off the old man who worked there for saying racist things to a young woman there who, unbeknownst to him, had an adopted African American father. My anger felt hot and clean then, too, even surrounded by the stink and flies of the rotting trash of Lloyd. I could have screamed at that old man. Again, I did not. But I sure got close.

And, like with the woman in Publix, I seriously doubt that the things I said to him that day changed his thinking or outlook one bit. I was doing it for my own sense of self-righteousness. To appease my own anger. The girl I was defending was nowhere around.

Here's another thing I keep thinking about- how that man in Publix whom the woman had been advising to take his mask off and breathe, just stood there, wordless as our words ricocheted around him. At the very least, I was rude to break into a conversation that did not involve me even though yes, I rationalized that it very much did involve me and everyone else in the store.
And I don't even know if that was the "right" way to think or not. Is there a right way? I don't know and I may never know but I sure didn't take a minute to think about it before I lit into the woman.
And honestly, I wish I'd given her hell for standing, maskless, so close to that man.

So that's my little story. Whoo-hoo! I had a small, old white woman tantrum in public, in Publix today. I'm glad Lily wasn't there.

Another day, another reason to hate Trump. I don't have one specifically in mind but I'm sure there are plenty. Another day to watch the covid numbers soar. Another day to think about all the people who are bound and determined to go out and celebrate their freedom in public places in completely unsafe ways. Another day to watch people completely ignore the experts, the doctors, the disease control specialists and to make up their minds about the situation from Fox news and QAnon websites.

When I looked for aluminum foil at Publix they had the short rolls, but not the long ones. I wonder if people bought them all up to make their tinfoil hats with. Because there sure are a lot of people who must be wearing them.
Wish they'd wear masks too.

Hey! Happy Friday, y'all!

Love...Ms. Moon

The Sweetest Gifts

Do you remember when Mr. Moon and I drove down to the coast to take his boat into the shop about two months ago? That's been a pain in his ass ever since. The shop was overwhelmed with boats as it's the only boat motor repair place in the area and that area has a lot of boats in it. Due to that fact or whatever, Mr. Moon was having a horrible time communicating with them about his repairs and today he finally just drove down there to get the boat.
Not a good experience.
Can we just say that a guy who works there offered to beat my husband's ass?
Unsettling, to say the least. And trust me, Glen is like the least prone to violence person I know. The offer was unprovoked. The guy obviously has some serious issues.
But anyway, he has the boat back and he did take it out on Apalachicola River for a little test run and he's home now. And he brought me some dill seeds that he went to two different stores to find. He got them at what we call The Pig in Apalachicola which is actually the Piggly Wiggly and no, I am not making that up.
He is the sweetest man. Lily has also ordered me some with her Walmart curbside pick-up order so I should be back in the dill pickle making business soon.
Just in time. Look what I picked today.

That is one hell of a lot of beans and I'm quite sure I left a lot on the vines. Some are quite obvious. 

and dangle politely from the trellis but many are not and hide themselves on top of the trellis and behind leaves and I could literally go back and forth, picking the vines several times and not find them all. It's sort of fun but not really in this heat. I only gave it a once-through and back picking because good Lord! That was enough beans for one day. Why anyone plants any type of beans besides rattlesnake beans I do not know. Not only are they the most prolific beans I've ever grown, their growing season is way longer than any other type I've ever planted AND they are as tender and sweet as any bean I've ever tasted. Forget your Kentucky Wonder, your Blue Lake varieties. Get you some rattlesnake beans and plant those. 

And next year, remind me to only plant one fence line of them. That is way more than enough. 

Another thing I need to be reminded of is NOT TO WALK FOUR MILES IN THIS HEAT! I set out this morning, determined to only do three and when I got to the 1.5 point I thought, "Oh hell. I feel fine," and kept on for another half mile and that was fine too but the last mile on my way home was hell on this planet. I passed a neighbor in about the last quarter of a mile and although I usually stop and chat with him I just couldn't today. 

"I'm sorry. I have to keep going," I flung at him as I passed him. "I gotta get home. I'm about to pass out." 

I am of the if-you're-dying-walk-faster school of thought. 

I felt so rude but I had to do what I had to do. 

"Okay," he said. "God bless you!"

"You too," I said over my shoulder. 

I have no doubt that the phrase "crazy old white woman" crossed his mind. It certainly crossed mine.

I had one real goal today and that was to straighten and tidy up the table on the back porch where I basically live. Good thing that was my only goal because although I did get that accomplished and a clean tablecloth thrown over the table, I sure didn't do much else. 

I baked another loaf of sourdough, this time making up my own damn recipe and it came out very pretty. I also started a pot of our favorite black bean soup but the damn beans must be forty years old because despite the fact that I brought them to a boil, let them soak for a few hours, cooked them for more hours, and finally pressure cooked them for almost an hour, they're still not what I'd call soft but they're simmering as we speak. 

I also talked to a very, very dear friend this afternoon for quite awhile. He is one of the most precious people I know and although he is going through some very tough times he made me laugh because he's just so damn profane and funny. And honest. He's the kind of friend who I can go years without talking to but when we do connect, there's absolutely no disconnect. We are bonded throughout eternity. 

Once again I am reminded of how incredibly fortunate I am. 

One more thing- like Steve Reed and Linda Sue I woke up this morning from the most bizarre house dream I may have ever had. That would not be so shocking because I do have bizarre house dreams but to read that both Linda and Steve had such memorable house dreams too is quite strange. 

As we all know, I don't really believe in new age-y magic but I do indeed believe that we humans have senses and abilities that science can't explain because science just doesn't understand them yet. 

Yet. 

Whatever. 

Something was going on. 

And I do not dare to postulate what that might be. 

Love...Ms. Moon

In Which I Do Not Buy Dill

Well, harumph. I actually made the effort to go to the Winn Dixie in Monticello today to search for dill seeds. The Winn Dixie has always been my go-to place for dill seeds as Publix just doesn't carry them. I do not know why. There was a place for dill seeds at the Winn Dixie but it was bereft of any little jars. I used up my last jar when I made dills on Sunday. Or was it Saturday? I'd stashed a bunch of them in the freezer year before last, I think, and they were still fine but now they are gone. Not really gone, just used. One cannot drain the old seeds off new pickles and reuse them, so essentially, yes, gone.

I also went to the Tractor Supply store to buy more chicken feed and also some chick feed because once again, being human, I just could not leave Dottie alone up there in the nest with her child with no source of food and the little one is a sitting duck (or, sitting chick, as it were) for anything that might get into the hen house, be it snake or possum or coon. And I was getting worried. Generally, the eggs all hatch at about the same time so that Mama can take them all off foraging when they are just a day old. I'm not sure at all that Dottie's other egg is going to hatch but she won't get off it until it does or I throw it away so poor little Bebe was just hanging out and getting hungrier by the minute. I assume.
I filled up a waterer and put chick feed in a feeder and put those in the little chick cage and moved Dottie and the baby AND the egg in with them. I put fresh hay down for them. Dottie did not like being moved but once I set her down and she saw her baby and knew her egg was there she settled right in to eating and drinking and I'm sure that she taught her little one how to do it too so they are safe and Dottie can continue to sit on her egg and they won't die of starvation or dehydration.

I just went out to check on the mother and child and found the egg rolled off into the dirt but Dottie and her baby seem just fine.

I think we should just go ahead and name the little one Dearie because we do not at present have a Dearie and Gibson loves that name. So. There you go. Dottie and Dearie. It may well be that Dottie has given up on the egg. Again, I have to say that I have no more idea how these things are determined by the mother than I understand quarks but luckily, I don't have to. Darla is still sitting on her egg or eggs, patient and still as the Sphinx. 

I was surprised to see that most of the people in the Winn Dixie and the Tractor Supply were wearing masks. Pleasantly surprised. I was also surprised that the Tractor Supply still has chicks. I did not buy any although I will say that I was tempted, knowing that I could put them into Dottie's capable, uh, claws for raising. But there's always the chance she would not accept them and then I'd be stuck and besides that- I already have seventeen chickens and one chick. More than enough poultry riches for me. 

While I was outside I went and checked on my fig tree. As every year, it has made quite a few figs but they are so tiny! Some are growing ripe, though. 

If the squirrels and crows leave me enough I would love to make fig preserves. They are so good. 

We shall see. 

As with everything. Eventually. 

It rained this afternoon and it is nicely cooled down outside. Unfortunately, the mosquitoes are out in force. I bought some "all natural" bug spray at Costco yesterday, mainly because that's what they had and I didn't want to go to another store but I haven't really given it a big test yet. I did use it this morning before I went out to tend the chickens and I have to say I didn't get bit but I was moving fast and they were certainly still swarming me. At the very least, it smells nicely of citronella and other herbs and spices. The smell of the citronella takes me right back to my summers when we rented that tiny little apartment on St. George Island and I'd buy citronella candles at the Dollar Store to burn in our "yard" made of rocks and sandspurs. 

Oh, how magical those summers were. 

Off to make supper, as always. Tonight's menu is going to feature a ROASTED CHICKEN! Yes. I am the world's biggest hypocrite. At least I buy the ones who were supposedly treated right during their short lifetimes. 

I have my doubts about that but it's the least I can do. 

Meanwhile, my own chicks are getting ready for bed. I can see Pinto, Pecky, and Patty up on the fence, enjoying their last hour of sunlight.

So it goes. 

Love...Ms. Moon

P.S. Mr. Moon just told me that he sprayed himself with the new nicely scented bug spray and he (and I quote) "Feels like a pincushion." 

Time to buy more Deet. 

I Survive And The Pragmatic Miracle Of Birth

This is the sight that greeted me when I went into the hen house this morning to see if there were any eggs. One of Miss Dottie's two eggs has hatched and there's the little one looking as healthy and aware and darling as a baby peep should look. I checked under Dottie and there's still another egg and she's not getting off that nest yet. She's still in full broody-mode, tail spread and feathers fluffed and none of the other chickens would come through the hen house this morning to make their way outside which suggests that one of them may have gotten too close to the baby earlier and been soundly reprimanded by the new mother. Or something. Who knows? But when Mr. Moon opened the door to the coop letting them out directly without having to go through the hen house, they trouped out as usual so something happened. Darla is still sitting on her one egg but I know that she's only been on it for a few days because I threw the one that had spoiled out. I honestly did not think that any chicks would hatch because of the way the mothers have switched nests and how hot it's been but I admit freely that there is a great deal that I do not know about chickens.
Plus- life will find a way, won't it?

So. Annual doctor's appointment. Do you know that in the four years or so I've been seeing the sweet Dr. Zorn that I have not ONCE been to see him for a complaint? No illness, no infections, no anything whatsoever except for my exams.
That has nothing to do with anything but it probably is indicative of the fact that I am a fairly healthy woman who doesn't get sick very often.
But this morning I worked myself up into a right tizzy before I left to go into town. I just can't help it. I did some stern self-talking, I did a lot of deep breathing.
I caved and took half an Ativan.
I showered and washed my hair which is just about down to my waist now which is what hair WILL do if one doesn't cut it for several years. I combed it out and braided it back and put on my favorite blue dress and some blue earrings and drove to town in the growing heat.
I was the only person in the waiting room for awhile. Masks were required. I love the receptionist. She calls everyone "Sweetie." Remember when I hated that? Now I live for her endearments. Another lady came in and signed in. She, too, was called Sweetie.
She brought bags of snacks for the staff.
I am not kidding you. BAGS OF SNACKS FOR THE STAFF!
This is how beloved Dr. Zorn and his folks are.
I wished I'd brought snacks for the staff too. Dang it.
When I was called back a very young woman took my vitals. She told me she was a student nurse and she did a great job. My blood pressure was of course, high. But lower than it usually is when I get it taken in the doctor's office.
And then I waited, reading my New Yorker magazine until Dr. Z. knocked on the door and came in and he looked quite dashing in his black mask. We elbow-bumped. He's a talker and a toucher. Not a toucher in a creepy way. A toucher in a reassuring way. A toucher in a I-recognize-your-humanity way.
I asked him about his new baby. When I was there a year ago his wife was pregnant with their second child. This new one was born on New Year's Eve. Another son. He showed me pictures. I showed him the picture of MY new baby- the one above.
In exam news, my blood work was mostly quite fine. All of the major organs that blood work shows the functions of are terrific.
Phew.
He did his magic trick again of getting me up on the table and doing a short exam (I was still in my dress) before I knew he I was out of my chair. How does he DO that?
He asked me some questions and we talked about chickens some. He has chickens too, and he loves them. "They're very intelligent animals," he told me quite seriously. He had a whole long story about trying to get a specific breed of hens (he lives in town and can't keep roosters) which required a trip both to the Woodville Ace Hardware and the Monticello Tractor Supply and how he ended up with only three of the breed he wanted despite being assured that they were the ones he wanted and of those, only one was a hen.
"Do you want any roosters?" he asked me.
"No thank-you," I said.
We talked a little about the coronavirus but not much. I told him that I haven't been able to hug or kiss my grandkids since March 17 and he said, "Well, I always say you have to balance risk versus quality of life," so there is that to ponder...
And he told me that I am in excellent health and he'll see me next year.
He also gave me a new patient stack of forms for Lily to fill out because she wants to become one of his patients. She suffers from the same medical-anxiety that I do and knows several of his patients who all love him.

On my way home I stopped at Costco for a few things and then, at the request of my husband, went through a car wash so the outside of my car looks pretty good while the inside of it smells like Panacea at low tide due to a small bait bucket leakage incident yesterday.
Oh well.

Then I dropped off the new patient packet to Lily and came on home and did a few chores and then laid down to take a little nap but ended up sleeping for an hour. Nothing like the sudden release of sheer panic to wear a girl out. I'm cooking some of the beautiful field peas that Mr. Moon shelled the other day. It's going to be the simplest supper. The peas, some cornbread, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers. That's summer. Right there.

Because I'm a human I'm worried about the new chick not eating or drinking since she's up in the nest with her mama. I mean, chickens don't lactate. I cooked a scrambled egg and mixed it with yogurt and put it in front of Dottie and the baby who showed no interest in it but her mother ate it up like a beast. I have to trust that Dottie knows what to do.

I sure wish we humans knew what to do. I sure wish we humans were incredibly intelligent animals. I sure wish all doctors were as sweet as mine.
I sure wish we could grow fresh tomatoes all year long.

Can we chat tomorrow?
I hope so.

Love...Ms. Moon

I Think He Has Had A Good Birthday

There's a picture of Mr. Moon and August fishing down at Mashes Sands which is a beach on the Oclockonee Bay, about an hour from here. Jessie and Vergil have been taking their boys down there for awhile now and have found a place that is almost always deserted except for them. They asked us if we'd like to meet them there today for Boppy's birthday and we did.

Where they set up their little camp is on a tiny island created by a stream which feeds into and out of the marshland. The water between it and the land is not very deep at all and during a low tide, just a few inches deep in some places, perfect for the boys. 

Perfect for mamas, too, who can just lizard out in the water and watch the children and talk. There's a deeper part where August practiced his swimming with his daddy. 

It was so sweet. Jessie had picked up subs for us and a cake, too, because I didn't have time to make our dessert. It was a small cake, a delicious cake, a cake with a whole lot of icing. The boys especially loved the cake. 

Can you see how dark August is getting? The contrast between his butt and his back is crazy. I'd love to see a genetic study done on him because somewhere there was at least one darker-skinned ancestor. And Jessie keeps the boys covered in sun screen. 

Speaking of butts. 

Levon has one of the cutest butts in the world. 

As you can see, there was a little fishing going on. One small redfish was caught and released and Mr. Moon wants to go back at change of tide sometime soon. The tide was slack while we were there today which I hear is the worst time for fishing. But it was fun for those who fished and I doubt anything in the world could make Glen happier than fishing with a grandchild. And I got to visit with Jessie and Vergil safely outside where the wind was blowing and seagulls were bitching at us and I got to talk with the boys, too, and watched August swim and played with Levon who was dragging a fish-float around like a dog on a leash, being happy. 

He was splashing with his mother when Vergil came up and kissed Jessie and Levon said, "I want kiss too," and Vergil gave him a sweet kiss and then Jessie gave him one too and I teared up. I love the way they love. 

All right. I need to get in there and make our supper. Mr. Moon enjoyed the pizza so much the other night that I've decided to make it again. We have the tomatoes, the basil, and the arugula and they won't last forever. I want us to eat them while they're in their glory as much as we are able and as often. 

Tomorrow is my appointment with my doctor. By this time tomorrow it will all be over. 

I am looking forward to that. 

Meanwhile, I keep reminding myself that I do love this doctor, I feel quite healthy and well except for anxiety, and chances are good that I don't have any dire diseases. 

Or so I tell myself. 

Anxiety brain is singing a different song but as we all know, some songs are nothing but annoying bullshit which become earworms and they do eventually pass. 

Love...Ms. Moon

And The Flowers Still Bloom

I meant to post that picture last night. Those are hydrangea blossoms that Maggie handed me when she got out of the car yesterday. Lily's hydrangeas have been blooming and blooming and BLOOMING! They are the most exquisite color, to me.

I've spent most of the day making pickles. Eleven pints in all. Seven of dills and four of an experiment involving cucumbers, onions, a sweet brine and various spices. We shall see what those taste like. Every jar has sealed.

Tomorrow is Mr. Moon's birthday and I have done nothing to prepare for that nor do I have any plans. Well, I did buy the ingredients to make one of his favorite desserts. It is quite decadent with a chocolate custard layer and whipped cream with cream cheese and a pecan crust. I've talked about this before. How the recipe came out of his former mother-in-law's little self-published cookbook but I've never followed that recipe because it calls for things like Jello instant pudding and Cool Whip. To be quite honest, I have eaten and enjoyed Jello instant pudding and Cool Whip on more than one occasion but I will never make this dessert with such tacky products. Especially not for a birthday. 

Everything seems so weird today. Just so, so strange. 

Here we are, summer is well upon us, the heat presses down and the crickets sing that heat into being every day. There are chickens and this beautiful garden and we have electricity and running water and cars that we can jump into and drive places and the grocery stores have stocked shelves and life keeps going on and we have birthdays and we make special desserts and on the one hand it all seems so familiar, so ordinary, and then on the other hand, masks hang from our rear view mirrors and hand sanitizer is always with us and hospital ICU's are at capacity and George Floyd is dead and so are so many others and Trump reshared a video on Twitter with one of his supporters yelling, "White Power! White Power!" although I hear it's come down but Trump's original comment on the video was, "Thank you to the great people of The Villages. The Radical Left Do Nothing Democrats will Fall in the Fall. Corrupt Joe is shot! See you soon!"

The Villages, of course, is an "elite" retirement community in the great state of Florida where white people over the age of fifty-five move when they figure they've worked long enough and have the funds to support that decision. Here's a short and pleasant article about the place and its residents which mostly focuses on the amount of sexual shenanigans the white-haired, golf-cart-driving, fun-loving retirees are getting up to.  

I can hardly imagine a place that sounds more like a living hell to me but I take it that there are a lot of Trump supporters living there. I wonder how much they're going to be loving him when their IRA's and stock portfolios drop like a golf ball onto the rough. 

But the point of this is- we have a president who, in the middle of what might be one of the most powerful movements for the equality of black citizens ever to be seen posts a video of a an old white man shouting "White Power!"

And oh, hell. That's just the very tip of the giant steaming pile of excrement that Donald Trump has laid upon this country. 

He's so desperate right now that it's absolutely ridiculous to even try and predict what he'll come up with next. Everyone knows that there is nothing more dangerous than a wild animal which feels as if it is cornered

I have no idea if Trump actually understands how badly he's failed at the job of being president of the United States. He thought and believed with all of his heart that it was a job done with smoke and mirrors and he was smug in his belief that he was the master of those. 

Well. 

All I want is to be able to spend time with my grandchildren in my grandmother house sitting on the love couch in the library, reading books with them snuggled up to me and having the serious sort of  conversations that one can only have with children. I want to be able to kiss my babies, to hug and hold on to them. I want to go to the river and dive in and I want to be able to sit under the trees and listen to the conversations happening all around me. I want my country to be rid of the evil poison which has flooded it. 

I want us to be a country where everyone does the best they can to help stop this horrible sickness, as August called it, so that we can truly be free again instead of fighting distance and mask requirements in the name of liberty. 

I want to be able to go out with my family to El Patron to celebrate my husband's birthday. 

Meanwhile, we go on. I just pulled the densest loaf of sourdough bread I've ever baked out of the oven. I am so disappointed in myself. But I will say that my pizza last night had the best crust I've ever made. Or at least it was in Mr. Moon's eyes. He loves the thin and crispy crust and oh, my dears- it was. 

I apologize for my rambles. 

Be well. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Busy-Ness

How I love that picture. I took it while I was out picking field peas. You can't really tell but that little anole is tiny. See the bean hanging there at the top right? Such a darling little lizard.

The wind is kicking up, stirring the rest of that Saharan dust about, I guess. Wasn't quite as hazy today as it was yesterday although Mr. Moon said that when he drove into Tallahassee this morning the town was almost browned out.
I think we might be about to get some rain and that would be terrific. It's thundering as it has been every afternoon and the sky is getting darker and like I said- the wind is picking up, swishing the leaves about and making thin branches dance.

It's been so hot. Almost unbearable. Lily and the kids came over for a little afternoon visit and we all sat in the back yard in the shade after we'd sprayed ourselves and still the mosquitos swarmed us but as Mr. Moon said, they sort of just bumped into our skin and didn't actually poke their little proboscises into us for the most part. Just their presence sets me on edge though, seeing and hearing them buzz about my face.
Magnolia had to go get eggs when she first got here and she found two. I had seen one earlier when I checked but knowing she was coming over I left it for her to find. It thrills her so. Mr. Moon got home just about the same time they got here which was lovely. He said of his job at the duplex- I have done all I'm big enough to do. And sometimes more.
His daddy used to say that. And he was a big man too. Or, tall, to be more exact.

Magnolia brought her Baby Alive which is now set in Espanol mode, as Owen pointed out. She wanted the little wicker baby carriage so I came in the house and got it for her and also a jug of apple juice and cups for the kids. And of course a new jar of pickled beans. We sat and chatted for awhile. Owen had wanted his hair cut so his mama did that for him. It's still quite stylish. Lily said that it hurt her heart to cut it but they were both tired of having to brush it out and braid it.

I got Maggie to pose for me although she wasn't happy about it. 

She was so hot. She'd mostly been playing some pretend thing in her mind, wandering about the yard and holding her dolly. Lily tried to convince her to smile and this is what that looked like. 

She's simply beautiful no matter what the expression on her face. 

I didn't get a picture of Gibson until they were back in the car. 

He was most happy to be out of the yard and into an air-conditioned environment. Between the bugs which adore him and the heat, he is not an outside guy in summer. But he's a sweetie and I love him so. 

So of course all of that was the highpoint of my day although I did have a good time, snapping green beans to put in ziplock bags. I got four quarts of those put into the freezer out in the garage. Such an easy task. While I snapped I watched the last episode of the latest season of "After Life" on Netflix. I know that a lot of people don't like Ricky Gervais but I do. And he seems to use many of the same actors on his shows which I admire. Loyalty. One of the characters on "After Life" is played by the same woman who plays Isobel Crawley in "Downton Abbey" which Mr. Moon and I have become slightly sucked into. She's a fine actress. 

I am sad to report that yesterday I thew out the remains of what Dottie was sitting on. I couldn't even bear to look at it too closely but it appeared to be something like a chick embryo but definitely not alive. She had gotten off the nest to go eat and I threw it away. It did not smell good. 

Today I cleaned out the nests and put down fresh straw and moved both she and Darla into clean nest boxes. Dottie has a new egg and I slipped it back under her while Darla seems to be sitting on the same two eggs which I also put back into her care. 

I would think it's just really too hot to hatch chicks in such an enclosed space but the two sisters seem undeterred. You have to give them credit for persistence if not for common sense. 

Well. They can't help it. It's all hormones, I'm sure. And I can relate to that. 

It rained about fifty drops and then stopped. It still sounds and feels and looks and smells like it's going to rain but I think it's passing south of us again. 

Hank and Rachel are and have been in the process of moving all day which is one of the most miserable things one can do. But as May pointed out- the nesting afterwards is so wonderful. I know they'll be ecstatic to lay their heads down in their new place tonight. 

And that's all the news from my microscopic piece of the world today. I'm off to make pizza now. I tried a different crust recipe and I don't know why. It doesn't seem nearly as lovely as the usual one I make. But one does try to attempt new things. 

Stay cool. Stay safe. Stay in. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Don't We All Want To Go To Meximo City? Or Even CiCi's Pizza?

I got this picture early this morning from Vergil. He said, "These boys just got out the luggage. I asked them where they are going and August said, 'Mexico!'"
Boys after my own heart.
That triggered two very specific memories for me. One was of Owen when he was little and how he'd dig out my old college-era red Samsonite from the closet under the stairs and he'd pack a few stuffed animals and a few books in it and we would go on a trip. Mostly we went to Cici's Pizza which is a place I've still never gone in reality.
The other memory was of Jessie when she was a young'un. She'd wrap scarves around her head and say, "This is what we wear in my ancient land."
It was almost one of those eerie child things, the way she said it with such confidence and certainty.
Finally one of us asked her, "Where IS your ancient land?" and she said, "MEXIMO CITY!"
I know we forget so many things that our children do and say that, when they happen, we think, "Oh, I shall remember this always."
But some things are never forgotten and traveling with Owen to CiCi's Pizza and hearing about Jessie's Ancient Land are two of them.

This is what the sky has looked like all damn day, due to the Saharan dust storm.

A sort of sickly gray-white but when I walked, it didn't seem to bother me in any sort of way and actually prevented the sun from beating down on me full force. I passed No Man Lord's place and he and a friend were sitting under a tree, talking. They waved. When I walked past the house where the little chihuahua comes and barks at me like a guard dog for the palace, two people were getting into their car and we waved and said, "Hey!" and the man held up a little bag and said, "Do you need a mask?" 

How sweet was that? 

"No thanks!" I said. "I have one. We wear them!"

I am so lucky to have such nice neighbors. 

After I got home I procrastinated for quite awhile, knowing I needed to go to town which I eventually did. I had a prescription ready for pick-up and I had a grocery list. I thought I'd go to the pharmacy and Publix and Costco but after the pick-up and Publix I had crossed everything off my list except for Vitamin D3 and I seriously doubt that we'll be dying of lack of Vitamin D anytime soon around here. The very fact that our past bloodwork has shown a deficit of it for both Mr. Moon and me makes me suspicious as hell about the recommended daily requirements but that's neither here nor there, point being that I didn't go to Costco. 

It was somewhat of a relief in Publix to see everyone wearing a mask. Without exception. There weren't many shoppers in the store, either, so it was a fairly easy trip. Still, I was so grateful to get home and unload the car and put everything away and get supper started. I've got a venison meatloaf and a homemade green bean and mushroom casserole ready to go into the oven. Mr. Moon called me a while back though and said that he's dealing with the plumbing problem at the duplex AND he has all of his tools to pack up to bring home so who knows when supper will actually be served? 

I went out to pick the garden and despite spraying myself the mosquitos were still a sort of exquisite torture. The tomatoes, quite sadly, are just about done. The green beans seem to be slowing down. With any luck though, the cucumbers and field peas will be rolling in like crazy now. I bought another dozen canning jars today, just in case the cukes are really, really prolific. 

And in pandemic news, Florida broke all the records reporting almost 9,000 new cases today. And we thought that the previous record of 5,508 new cases set on Wednesday was bad. 

Haha. 

The governor has decreed that all bars have to stop serving alcohol. That's a start, I suppose. 

Just got a text from the man. He's on his way home. Things are in the oven. His martini glass is chilling in the freezer. 

Happy Friday, y'all. Drink responsibly. Drink at home. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Trying To Maintain Balance In A Very Unbalanced World

What a strange day.
In some regards, at least.
This morning I just could NOT pull it together. I was late getting out for my walk because I needed to download a book to listen to and I just could not find one that seemed like anything I'd want to listen to and when I did finally find one that I thought I could tolerate I discovered very quickly that I could not and returned it.
But, I got dressed for my walk and had my gum and my sweat rag and my hat and my walking stick and my phone and my earbuds and I got out to the street and some kid was walking very slowly in the direction that I walk, talking or singing or something out loud to himself VERY loudly and I didn't have a great feeling about him so I decided to drive to Whitehouse Road and walk there but since I was going to be in the car I figured I'd take the trash and so I got my keys and bagged the trash and put it in the car and dropped the garbage off and drove to Whitehouse Road only to find a truck parked where I always park my own car and a guy sitting on the tailgate of another truck and I thought, "Fuck this," because I just didn't want to talk to anyone and then I thought about walking down Farm Road because there's a place I can park there near the railroad tracks but by the time I got  there I was frustrated as hell, it was eleven o'clock, already 84 degrees and again I said, "Fuck this," and drove home.
I've got to figure out a better place to walk that has shade and isn't quite as dangerous as Whitehouse. I love Whitehouse Road but it has stretches that aren't shady and the shoulders are so narrow that if I'm not very watchful and the drivers of cars look away for a second I could be smashed up against a clay bank like a lovebug on a windshield. There really isn't very much traffic on that road but of course that adds to my becoming complacent and not being as watchful as I should be.

Blah, blah, blah.

So I came home and got out of my walking clothes and did a few chores. I picked the garden again, getting enough cucumbers that I'm just about ready to make some pickles. I thought about doing that but then Lily texted and asked if they could come over for a little visit and that sounded wonderful so I didn't get out the canning kettle or the vinegar but then she called and said that due to laundry problems and Maggie's dance class, they weren't going to have enough time and we agreed to do it another day.
I then had the choice of either snapping and freezing more of the massive amounts of green beans I have in my refrigerator OR doing some cleaning OR sewing on August and Levon's dresses.
I chose the sewing.

I finished Levon's dress and it is quite, uh, comfortable-looking.

And it has pockets. Of course. 

Then I cut out part of August's dress and I have a feeling that Levon is going to be pissed off because August's dress is going to be made of material that is so fancy and Levon's is not. 

Remember when I made Magnolia a dress out of this sparkly butterfly fabric? What the boys aren't going to realize is that Levon's dress is made out of the softest cotton jersey while August's dress, due to its sparkly sparklings is not going to be nearly as soft and comfortable. 

It's all about the appearance for kids. 

And for a great many adults. Otherwise- why would women wear bras? 

But that's another subject for another day. 

So that's been about it. I did spend a few minutes outside picking up some downed branches that were pruned by the wind and rain we've been having. As I speak the thunder is booming to the south of us again. I just checked the radar and it looks like it might just pass right below us but I was reminded that we are about to get the Saharan dust cloud which could persist into the weekend. 

Say what you will about 2020 but it's certainly served to keep us all on our toes! I mean really- Saharan dust cloud? 

I've got my supper prepped. This is what we are having. 

Green beans! I've got the shrimp peeled and in the chili marinade, the green beans snapped and ready for the pan, the garlic peeled and thinly sliced. I've picked the arugula and three different types of basils I'm going to use in the salad with some absolutely stunningly gorgeous tomatoes, and the rice and water are in a pot, ready to start cooking. 

The frogs are starting their evening concert, it's so humid out that one wonders if humans can grow mold on their bodies, and I have nothing more to say. 

Please stay safe. We need all of us. 

Love...Ms. Moon