Going On Vacation In Florida

And the mermaids were magic once again. I cried. Oh hell yes I did. It was so beautiful, watching the little ones just absolutely mesmerized by everything going on in front of them. There is a lot of use of bubbles in the show and yesterday was so bright and the water was so clear that when a curtain of them rose up from wherever the magical place the bubbles come forth from, it was almost blinding.

It is extremely hard to get a decent photo from the seats and there is no way that the camera can capture the grace and the seeming effortlessness of the mermaids (and the merman) but that was my attempt, right there. I was honestly too busy watching my grandchildren and their reactions and watching the show to take many pictures. Jessie took the first two above. 

August was absolutely captivated. He clapped so hard every time the bubbles rose, indicating a scene ending and I don't think he took his eyes off the water for a moment. Magnolia was a bit tired and not quite as enchanted but she did watch. Owen and Gibson seemed to be extremely attentive every time I looked at them and Gibson told me he liked it but Owen insisted that he didn't like the mermaids AT ALL but then again, he is being a bit pre-teeny (mostly around his parents) and when I said, "Well, okay, but wasn't the water beautiful?" he agreed with great enthusiasm that it was. 

Jason and Mr. Moon and Vergil all said they liked it and I believe they did. 

After the show we went to the wildlife demonstration which was, to be honest, pretty damn lame. A turtle, a tortoise, a corn snake, a baby alligator, and a wanna-be comedian were the entire offerings. The children grew bored. I was just so grateful it wasn't hot. 

The next thing we did was a lot more fun. We got plastic mermaids that we were able to see being made in an original Mold-A-Matic machine. 

It was truly fascinating, especially for August who held his mermaid tightly for a long time and who could not stop talking about how it was made in the machine. 

And then we did the photo ops and I will cherish these along with all of the others from all of the years past with the same props. 

Also? 

There were Dippin' Dots. 

And a constantly happy Levon.

That afternoon it had warmed up enough that the kids all got to swim in the water park attached to Weeki Wachee and I know they had a great deal of fun but Mr. Moon and I decided to take a nap. Somehow, for some reason, we were exhausted. 

And when everyone was finished swimming and sleeping, there was more shuffleboard and visiting in rooms and cocktails were consumed. If Vergil ever asks if you would like him to make a Dark and Stormy for you, just say YES!

Maggie in her monster slippers.
Last night we all went out to supper at a sports bar because there appears to be something happening called March Madness which involves basketball and some of us care about these things. Some of us do not but we all had a very, very good time except for possibly Magnolia and August who were both exhausted after a full, full day with no naps whatsoever.

It was fun. It was really, really fun. 

And then Owen spent the night in our room and I shared a bed with him which led to a less-than-stellar night of sleep but I woke up in a fairly cheerful mood and then we all went to breakfast at the same place we'd gone the day before which is just incredibly awesome because of the wait-staff. Those women are truly professionals. 

When we walked in again today, they immediately remembered what we'd ordered for drinks the day before right down to the orange juice for Magnolia and the milk for August. 

It was all such a good time and it was so sweet, watching the little cousins interacting. Gibson and Owen both are precious with the little ones and Gibson walked August into the restaurant, holding his hand carefully in the parking lot. 

Owen sat next to August when we ate and so generously let August eat half his french fries (Owen isn't that keen on breakfast foods) and softly blew on each one before August ate it to cool it down. 

"I feel like a dad," he said. And I could tell he was proud. 

The shuffleboard players had to finish up one more game before we left. Jessie and Vergil are staying another night so that they could go kayaking today. I have gotten a report of that trip and Jessie said that they had a truly scary experience where a pod of manatees almost tipped the kayak over and got the babies soaked and covered in eel weed. If you've never seen a manatee up close, you have no idea how large they are. Yes, they are gentle and slow moving but they are also huge and could easily tip over a small boat. Jessie thinks that perhaps they were mating and were frightened and disturbed which caused them to all try to get away very quickly. 

But they also saw monkeys and an eagle who swooped down and grabbed a fish from the water right in front of them. So, in some ways, it was magical too. 

It was just such a good trip and I'm so glad we took it. Just having all of that time together being silly and happy and keeping up with the kids and watching the crows go to roost at night in their uncountable numbers, and observing the life at the Motel 6 which was, ummmm...interesting to say the least, and going out to eat and watching the children play No More Monkeys on the bed and simply all of it was tremendous. 

I have some excellent memories I hope not to forget, including this one:

Last night Gibson was so tired and wanted something, I can't even remember what, and he and his mama and Maggie were standing outside our room discussing this and Gibson finally, wailing, threw himself down on the pavement. August was in our room, watching something on TV (a huge treat for him) and he got off the bed, ran to the door and slammed it shut tight and then calmly got back on the bed and resumed his TV watching. 

Lily thought I'd done it which made it even funnier in a way. 

She told me she'd thought, "What the hell, Mom?" and I could not stop laughing and eventually, Gibson did stop crying and all was well. 

Owen rode with us on the way down and the way back and he was such pleasant company. We played Guess the Animal on both trips and this afternoon we actually found our boy a Chinese restaurant in Chiefland, Florida. It was not a buffet and it was not the kind of Chinese restaurant where you'd be offered chopsticks but the wontons in the soup were homemade and Owen's teriyaki chicken with lo mein noodles made him very, very happy. 

Yep. It was a good trip and it is good to be home where all of my chickens are still alive and so are our cats. I have unpacked, mostly, and started laundry and picked salad from the garden and turned on the sprinkler and the azalea blooms are insane and tonight I'll be in my own sweet bed with my own sweet husband. I'm so glad he went with us. I know that my kids and my grandkids love me but their grandfather is special to them all. He is the biggest and tallest and most gentle man they know and he can also be crazy funny and ridiculously silly and his lap is always available for babies, his arms always right there for holding close and hugging. 

Phew. That's enough! 

Leftovers and salad for supper tonight, followed, I am sure by some March Madness something-something and then bed and sweet dreams of mermaids swimming in water as clear as, well, water, and bubbles rising and bursting with almost preternatural light from above. Of a love of a baby, passed from arms to arms giving the toothiest and goofiest of grins. Of little boys thinking they are big boys, of big boys, taking good care of little boys, of a family no different from any other family, and yet unique in the way that each and every one of us is unique, whether happy or not, no matter what Tolstoy said. 

Happy Friday, y'all. 

Love...Ms. Moon

So Many Pictures

But it all started like this. 

More tomorrow. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Family Vacation

The mermaids will be swimming for us tomorrow. Meanwhile, here we are with shuffleboard, budget motel rooms, many murders of crows going to roost in a huge pine, and two boys who somehow talked their parents into letting them get into the pool even though it’s about 60 degrees. 

Pizza is about to be involved. 

Love...Ms. Moon 

Train Tracks And Mermaids

I woke up this morning in just as bad and blue a mood as I woke up in yesterday and made it through the morning as best I could and when I could put off the inevitable no longer, I changed into walking clothes and put on my shoes and headed out the door.

I have been thinking lately that I should try walking by the railroad track. It is literally in my back yard and the way is straight and rather flat and goes through woods and why I haven't done that before, I do not know.
And so that's what I did today.

It really was a lovely walk. I went two and a half miles west and the only part of it which was even a bit difficult was a few yards of bridge that I had to cross on the track itself. The rest of it is a fine byway and it goes past creeks and swamps and palmetto and pines and cypress. I saw a huge pileated woodpecker swoop and then land on a branch and two hawks floating on thermals high, high above my head. I saw deer prints and a few raccoon prints and I saw cows and horses in a field that backs up  to the track and I did not see one human being at all. The above picture is an attempt at panorama so click on it if you want the best effect.

Now isn't that just pretty? 

Fourteen years I've lived here and I've just figured this out. No dogs to worry about, no traffic. 

Okay, there is the occasional train passing. 

I stepped a few feet into the woods when this one came by. It was a rather boring train but not too long.

And then I walked the two and a half miles back and I did feel better, although my legs and my hips screamed at me that they are good and tired of taking responsibility for my endorphins and moods. They always pay me back, those hips and legs, but they never fail to take me where I want to go the next day.

Mr. Moon has fixed a headlight on my car and cleaned it too, in preparation for tomorrow's little trip to Weeki Wachee Springs. It's going to be chilly there and the kids won't be able to swim in the water park or the motel pool which is probably always their favorite part of the whole deal but we'll just have to make do and for the first time ever, going there, I won't be sweating my ass off which is a cheerful thought. For those of you who are relatively new here and have no idea what this Weeki Wachee mess is all about, you can go HERE and read about our last visit there, five years ago.
And my Lord, if you want to read about a trip we took there eleven years ago you can go HERE where I said, "What kind of a world would it be for my grandchildren-to-be if I can't take them there when they are old enough?"

Goodness. A lot sure has happened in the past eleven years. Jason was a son-in-law to be, Jessie and Vergil had not yet met, there was no Owen, Gibson, August, Magnolia or Levon. And yet, the springs are still bubbling up from the deepest depths of the aquifer, there is still an underwater theater where mermaids and fishes and turtles swim and I can guarantee you that children are still being enchanted. 
Probably not as much as this old grandmother but I'm a little crazy on the subject of mermaids. 
Will there still be a gift shop? 
Oh, you bet. 
Will there still be Dippin' Dots? 
We'll see. 

I sure do wish that Hank and Rachel and May and Michael were coming but we'll be going back one of these days and they'll come too. As long as there's a Weeki Wachee Springs with live mermaids, we will keep going back. 

There's a hell of a lot more to Florida than a lot of people realize and some of it is in my back yard. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Sudden Sadness On A Very Happy Day

I woke up this morning in the depths of it all. Just purely puny in the spirit and the soul and I planned to spend the day in as quiet and reclusive a manner as possible and then I got a text from Jessie that she was taking Levon in for his four-month check-up and I was invited if I wanted to come.
I thought it about for a few minutes and then realized that if I was going I didn't have time to think about it so I just texted her back and said I'd come and we barely made it there on time but we did.
Here's the obligatory picture of August playing in the little play house.

The kids all adore that thing. They can close the door and the shutters and they are in a different world. And then they open them and there's Mama and Brudder and Mermer! Plus there's a kitchen in it where they can make every sort of pretend food they want. 

August made oatmeal and then informed us that he had to clean the kitchen. 

What a good boy!

Turns out that Levon is happy and healthy. 

The doctor kept saying, "Any questions? Any problems? Concerns?"

And Jessie just kept saying, "Nope, nope, nope."

I got to hold him for awhile before the doctor came in and I nuzzled that beautiful bare skin. I took August out before his brother got his booster shots though. We may have traumatized the poor child when we let him watch Boppy get his Vitamin B12 shot and we didn't feel the need to traumatize him further. 

And then of course we went to lunch because that is what we do and because I was in dire need of comfort food we went to the crazy stuffed animal decorated log cabin with the down home southern buffet. The best thing I ate was cornbread dressing and I'm not kidding. 

Of course eating, even the most comforting of comfort food, is really and truly no lasting remedy for the blues and they are still settled around me. I have no idea why. It's been a beautiful day and I stole this picture of Magnolia from Facebook. 

My Lord! She's like a grown woman already! We are going to have so much fun at Weeki Wachee.

And today is the second anniversary of May and Michael's wedding and it's been so sweet, going back through those pictures and reading my blog-account of it. You may read it too, if you want. It is to be found here. 

Here's a lagniappe picture from that day. 

So it is what it is and I'm going to make more comfort food for supper, albeit healthier comfort food. Our soup that we love with the dumplings and ginger and noodles and greens and tofu and so forth. 

Sometimes, for whatever reason, the memories and dreams of past lives just wash over you and threaten to drown you and that's why you cry- you gotta get some of that salt water out. It may leak out slowly, a sort of seeping weeping, or it may burst forth in huge gushing rushes of sobs and when this happens, I think it is probably best just to let it happen as it will. 

I'll try. 

Love...Ms. Moon

It Wasn't A Terrible Sunday But It Was Sunday

Well, I will say this about the time change- in a way, we get to go to bed an hour earlier. Now, don't get me wrong- I realize that we will be getting up an hour earlier as well but... one never knows. A comet could hit the earth tonight as we sleep, wiping out all known life forms and then we would never, ever have to get up early again for any purpose whatsoever.
Just call me the Pessimistic Optimist. Or would that be the Optimistic Pessimist?
I am not sure but we'd certainly never have to worry about getting another colonoscopy either.

It's been a workday around here. Mr. Moon finished putting the ceiling in his bathroom and also almost shot himself through the hand with a nail gun but fortunately, he only grazed his hand and I am so grateful because I'm pretty sure that if you shoot a two-inch nail into your hand a trip to the ER is going to be involved and most likely some surgery.
Some things just cannot be taken care of at home even with wound glue and golden seal.

I worked in the garden almost all damn day long and really got nothing accomplished except being swarmed and bitten by red ants.
Fuck red ants.
And these were the big fuckers that can bite through gloves and fabric.
If a comet hit the earth, the red ants would probably survive but they wouldn't have any humans to bite which would really piss them off.
And no jokes about how Keith Richards would survive because he is a human being and he would not. Poor guy. He spent the first forty or so years of his life being #1 on the Rock Star Most Likely To Die list and now they make jokes about he and roaches being the only things that would survive a nuclear war.
Was that grammatically incorrect?
I have no idea.

Obviously I really don't have anything to write about tonight. It was just a regular day and I didn't find any eggs in the garden and I didn't discover how to lose weight without diet or exercise without involving serious illness and I didn't plant anything although I did pick some carrots and shallots. I need to start thinking about pickling some beets and carrots and onions and that prospect is a bit exciting. Here's a picture of a wisteria blossom.

I took that when I was out kicking bamboo. I'm trying to stay on top of that but I'm pretty sure I'm missing a lot of it which I will discover when it is suddenly eight feet tall. 

I'm going to go make a shepherd's pie now. 

Shepherd's pie is one of Keith Richards' favorite things to eat so you know it's not only good, it's good for you. 

I'll be back tomorrow unless the comet hits the earth in which case no one will know and no one will care. Don't you find that prospect just the least bit comforting? 

I do.

Love...Ms. Moon

P.S. I am glad that so many of you like the new header picture. It's the second picture I've used painted by the Mexican artist, German Rubio. His work is endearing, is it not? 

Once Again We Strive To Prove We Are Masters Of The Universe

I cried today when my lover held me in his arms and I am not sure why because we have held each other like that a thousand thousand times before and oh yes, that's why I cried- at the sudden and very clear realization that one day there will be no us, holding each other, there just won't be and that is the truth and there have been so many lovers holding each other a thousand thousand times or once, at least, and no longer can they.

I seem to be so easily tipped into tears these days. It's like the older I get, the less I want to fool around with that which isn't of the most profound and genuine and those things, my friends, are the things that make you cry.

Or at least me.

I found two eggs in my garden today. One very nice dark brown one at the end of the collard row and one lighter brown one under a mustard leaf, like a baby under a cabbage leaf if you look at it a certain way. A chicken way. My hens did not lay these eggs so the hens from next door must have left them as freely given gifts in exchange for the greens I'm sure they nipped, the small bugs they scratched from the soft black dirt. I gave both eggs the float test and they passed with flying colors and stayed firmly on the bottom of the bowl, indicating their freshness and we will eat them with great pleasure.

We set our clocks up an hour tonight and once again prove how incredibly bizarre human beings are. Never satisfied with time the way it is, or at least the way we say it is, and we must fiddle with it, pushing it forward and backward, pretending we are in charge, in control of that which we are not. Another meaningless, pointless ritual and we'll all be a mess for weeks although as I always point out, the chickens will have no confusion about it at all nor will the cardinals or hawks or pea plants or fishes, great and small in the vast blue seas.
But oh, I will.
Do you have conversations in your head like this?
"Let's see. The clock says it's eight thirty but really it's seven thirty and so it's dark later but tomorrow when I get up it will be light later or am I getting that wrong?"
And so forth.
As if life wasn't hard enough already.

Which is why we need things like good, clean sheets and flowers in the hallway and poached eggs on toast with a little butter and salt and pepper, and babies to kiss and Beethoven and really, really good books and poetry and art and a lover's hand to hold on to and an ocean to gaze upon to put it all into perspective and to soothe us like a mother's heartbeat, and friends we can tell our most secret hearts to and hot and cold running water and good soap and some of us need giant, poodley dogs and some of us need warm purring cats and all of us need love.
Every damn one of us. Even when it makes us cry.
Especially when it makes us cry.

Love...Ms. Moon

What Can I Say? Plenty, It Would Appear

Well, if you came here today looking for wisdom and deep thoughts, you might as well just move along. However, if you came for azaleas and grandchildren and eggs, you are definitely in the right spot!

The azaleas are in the picture above. When I got up this morning and went out to get the paper those are what greeted me. Every year Mr. Moon says that he's going to trim those back and every year but one he has not which suits me fine.

I had all sorts of stuff I was going to do today but then Jessie texted and asked if I wanted to go to Costco with them and of course I did. She wanted to take August to a local preschool to check it out first and so I hung my sheets on the line and got myself ready to go. Jessie's thinking that next fall August might benefit from a little school time and I think she's right. Plus, she needs a break. Ironically, stay-at-home moms probably need a break more than anyone else in the world and yet, society seems to think that all they do is eat bonbons and watch TV all day long which is definitely a lie and Jessie doesn't even have a TV. Also, August needs some other-kid time. He's already one of those old-soul children who will correct you if you use a baby word like "covies" for covers. I did that the other night, asking if he wanted me to pull the covies up and he said, "CovERS," which is true, of course, and then he did the same thing the next morning when I asked if he was ready for his "waffies."
It's waffLES, by the way.
In case you're wondering.
Anyway, here I am already wandering and we had a good time at the Costco although August refused to go in the coldy room. I'm surprised he doesn't call it the refrigerated room.
"NO!" he said and so while his mama shopped for berries, he and I checked out the baked goods and we agreed that we would indeed like a cake or some muffins although we did not put any in our cart.

After Costco we went to the Indian buffet which was delicious and then I asked the boy if he wanted to go to the Goodwill bookstore and he threw his hands up in the air and shouted, "YES!!!!"
So we did.

Here's what he and Levon looked like as they were strapped into their car and about to leave.

I believe that child's eyelashes may be visible from outer space. 

Then I went to Publix where I got to see Lily which was a treat. 

And honestly, that's about all this old woman's done today. I did find three eggs, one of them laid by Miss Camellia who has been very lax in that department lately. 

Look where she laid it- right beside the door in a nice, tidy little nest which I suppose she wallowed out in the hay. 

And that's about it. I made up the bed with the line-dried sheets and Jack immediately laid down on the comforter covering them up and he'll probably be there when I go to bed in a few hours. 

In political news, wouldn't it be ironic and wonderful and terrific and fantastic if a porn star named Stormy Daniels brought down Trump? I sort of love this woman. I read that she's getting a lot of very angry, nasty Tweets and that she responded to one which had used the word "scank" in it by correcting the spelling of the word. My favorite one was the Tweet she got calling her a liar because why would Trump have anything to do with a disease-ridden whore (or something to that effect) when he already had Ivanka, who is, of course his daughter, but then again, we all know that if she wasn't his daughter, he'd be dating her which is so wrong on so many levels that we don't even need to go there. 

So I guess we've covered all of the hot topics of the day now and I need to go make my gourmet supper. The guys next door are starting band practice and the church should start up singing any moment. 

I get so confused. 

Heavy metalish stuff on one side of me and wailing hymns on the other. 

It's Friday. Do your Friday thing whether it's heavy or holy. Your choice. 

Love...Ms. Moon

I Believe Exhaustion May Have Overcome Me

I have felt a lot better today and since it's been clear and cool, I decided to get out in that garden and weed the rest of the swath that looked like a meadow and I did it and my left wrist is going to keep me awake half the night but I don't care. I now have a cleared-out spot to plant my tomatoes or whatever else it is I want to plant there as soon as it truly appears that we've had our last frost.
Speaking of which, we're getting one tonight, quite possibly.

I had quite a bit of company in the garden as I worked which I enjoyed, of course. Jack actually came out and joined me for a bit but he mostly just wanted me to scratch and pet him which is completely the opposite of what Maurice wants when she visits me in the garden. She prefers that I pretend she isn't there at all, which I do because I live to please that cat. 

Here she is in the mustard green jungle, stalking the neighbor chickens who, after my chickens left, came in to scratch about. See her twitching tail? 

And so that is what I did today and I am listening to yet another Outlander book; don't ask me which one because I can't count that high. But it's a pretty good one so far. I am enjoying the protagonists in their older life. They still have hot sex but not nearly as often and also, no one's been whipped in ages and ages. 

How's that for a book review? 

Okay. Let's talk about buying stuff. I am of the opinion that you do often get what you pay for and quality is something to consider in most cases. And let us not forget the pleasure factor. Not only does it feel better to sleep on good quality sheets but they will last a lot longer than crappy sheets that don't feel good to sleep on. Trying to use a cheap knife in the kitchen is a frustrating and messy experience whereas using a good knife that you can sharpen is a pleasure and actually safer and makes the preparation of meals far easier. Same for garden tools- buy a GOOD trowel if you use it a lot and no one wants a shovel whose handle and head are going to separate mid-thrust if you hit a root. 

This is not always an issue. Take the plates you eat off, for example. I myself love to find interesting dishes at thrift stores and I don't care if they match or not. And what you can buy cheap at a thrift store does not reflect the original price or quality. This is where a discerning eye comes in. 

The first espresso maker I ever bought came from a Goodwill. It looked practically brand new, was a Krups brand, and I brought it home and dang if that thing didn't work for years and years and years. I used it almost every day for my afternoon shot of caffeine. Turns out, according to Vergil, that that particular brand and model is highly sought after by home espresso-making people because it was a quality product which made a good cup of espresso as defined by people who know. I am not one of those people. I only want a shot of black stuff to drink at five o'clock to get me through the rest of the day when I am fading fast. 

Finally, however, my little Krups bit the dust and I could have bought the part I needed on eBay but it wouldn't have been new and it would have cost quite a bit and I decided just to go out and buy a new espresso maker which turned out to be far more difficult than I had thought it would be. Those suckers are expensive! And I don't need or want one that can make two shots at a time and quite frankly, the whole milk-steaming-wand thing doesn't impress me because if I want milk in mine I just heat up a little 2% in the microwave and pour that into the espresso. 

So, when I was at Publix the other day, I saw that they carried a fifty dollar Mr. Coffee espresso maker and in a weak and impulsive moment, I bought it. And as Jessie says, somehow we feel that we can rationalize anything that we can buy at Publix. 

And it works. I am not saying it doesn't. It makes a shot of the black stuff that tastes as good to me as what the Krups produced but it just feels so junky to use. And it smells weird. Like a toasting Barbie doll or something. 

Ah, whatever. 

I just wish I'd not spent the fifty bucks and waited until I found a used one at a thrift store of higher quality. 

So. Have you tried the newest ancient grain? (Oxymoron alert.)

Turns out that it is young green wheat which has been toasted and it has more protein and fiber than quinoa. I bought that box at Publix the same day I bought the Mr. Coffee machine and I am going to cook some tonight to go with our soybeans. I think I mostly wanted to get it so that I can say, "Hey! I got my freekeh on!" when I cook it. 

I'll let you know how it tastes. It is definitely the devil for those avoiding gluten because wheat pretty much IS gluten as far as I understand but I do not have Celiac disease and am of the belief that gluten is my friend so I'm not worried about that. 

All right. It seems like I had something else to talk about but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. I am in the market for a new (or used) four-quart cooking pot but that's not your problem. And of course, I want a good one. I still use my grandmother's set of Revere Ware almost every day and that stuff must be about the same age I am and again- I am proving my point. Fuck shitty cookware because you burn everything you cook in it and if it's nonstick it's going to peel eventually and it is probably poison and then you end up just throwing it out whereas with things like my iron skillets and my grandma's pans, they last so long and work so well you have to put them in your will. 

Well, Trump wasn't caught having sex with either a live goat or a dead trophy elephant in the oval office today so I guess we have to deal with him for at least one more day. Maybe tomorrow he will, though. 

We can always dream. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Brudders

Jessie and her little guys packed up their clothes and toothbrushes and toys and went home but before they left, we had a good time playing and we read a few books.
Got our last licks in as you might say.
August said that he would like to just stay here and of course he would if he had his mama and his daddy and his Mer and his Bop to take care of him and play with him and fix his snacks and read his books and go check for eggs and dig in the garden and why wouldn't that be heaven?
Levon does not care where he is as long as he has his mother whom he adores as a baby should do.

After they left I laid down on my bed and slept and slept.
I do not feel well.
I don't know if I'm getting sick or if I'm having withdrawal from Paxil. I got off it once before and that went okay although I eventually went back on it, but this time, I did not go as slowly in the weaning and it's been rather vile.
Last night I looked up the symptoms of withdrawal and I have almost every one of them and they range from flu-like symptoms to brain flashes to confusion to...
Well.
Vile.
I took a half a dose today because life is just too short and after I woke up I thought that perhaps really, I was just getting sick but I made myself move around a bit, doing a few chores here and there and actually felt a bit better so who knows?
I do know that I don't feel like doing much and have just spent a few hours working on Gibson's Monkey Man sock doll and watching ancient reruns of the Real Housewives of New York City which is just about the level of intellectual stimulation I can take at the moment. Maurice and Jack have been taking turns sitting on my lap, keeping me warm which is good because I am so cold. It's actually supposed to get down into the thirties tonight.

It's strangely quiet here this evening without these two.

I  miss them and their mama too but I don't feel as if I'd be of much use to them tonight. We sure had some good times and I sure have some funny and sweet memories. 

And next week, they and their parents and Lily and Jason and their boys and I and maybe Mr. Moon are all going down to Weeki Wachee Springs to see the mermaids and stay in the motel and oh! you know how happy that idea makes me. I so wish that Hank and Rachel and May and Michael could come too but they can't make this trip. 

We'll go back though, when they can. We always go back to Weeki Wachee. 

I can't wait to see those magical mermaids swimming in that beautiful spring through the eyes of August and Maggie. My heart is pretty dang excited, just thinking about it. 

The sun has set and the sky is all in streaks of blue and rose and the last birds at the feeder are making snapping noises as they crack the seeds of their supper before they go and settle in their nests for the night. 

Stay warm, be cozy, feel better, love your brother, hold hands crossing the street, keep books in every room for convenient reading purposes. 

Kiss, kiss, kiss. 

Hug. 

Love...Ms. Moon

My Loves

Oh, gosh, y'all. It seems to me that my days lately have just been a blur.
Probably because they have been.
I wake up and Jessie and the boys are already at it, having eaten breakfast and are playing and reading books and I try to catch up and get a few things done around here and zoom, zoom, zoom!
Today August went with me to the dump and the post office where we saw Miss Shelly. Both places, because that's what you do in Lloyd. Take your trash and then run into the PO.
And then I finished Rachel's cake which ended up looking like this.

August helped me pick the flowers and do the taste tests on the glaze. 

Then I took a shower and raced to town, Jessie and the boys having gone before me, and was late at El Patron but that was okay. It was a sweet little gathering with Jerry and Lucia, who are Hank and May's other parents, and Mr. Moon and Lily and Maggie and of course, Jessie and the boys. 

And the birthday girl and her boyfriend. I sure do love those two. 

El Patron came through like champs and because we are such regular customers they brought Rachel three shots of tequila for her birthday enjoyment during the course of lunch. 

Three shots!

Babies!!!

And cake was eaten and shared with our server and we sang Happy Birthday two times, once with the staff and once with just us, and there may have been a sombrero involved at one point. 

And when we got home, I had to take a nap because that was all there was to it. 

Now supper must be made and baths must be taken and stories must be read and, and, and...

Here's Levon.

I think he's enjoying being at Mer and Bop's.
And August calls me "Merm" sometimes.
And all is well and yes, I do still have thoughts and opinions but right now, for this brief window in time, it's mostly all about these precious people in my life.

Arugula pesto and scallops with pasta tonight!!!!

Love and kisses...Ms. Moon

P.S. I haven't read this article yet but heard most of an interview with the author about it on Fresh Air on my way to town and am now SO FUCKING MAD I WANT TO TEAR DOWN THE GOVERNMENT WITH MY BARE HANDS!
If you don't get the New Yorker magazine, you should go to the link and read it.
And then you have my permission to weep.