Saturday, December 20, 2008

And Goodwill To All


Mr. Moon and I took the convertible up to Thomasville today, driving down the back roads through Medart and Miccosukee and it was a gray day but when we stopped for coffee, the guy at the convenience store was so nice, as he always is, and he made fresh coffee for us.

I had one of those moments on the drive where I felt perfectly and utterly at peace. No niggling or nagging of my soul was going on, or if it was, it was under the radar-type niggling and I couldn't detect it. I reached over and rubbed Mr. Moon's neck very softly with just my fingertips and he smiled at me and my prayer was this:
Don't ever die. Do not ever die.

I was perfectly content and perfectly happy with no schedule, no expectations, just traveling down a country road with my man in a noisy blue car with the top down.

We got to Thomasville and started a bit of downtown shopping in the fancy stores but we were suddenly hit with hunger, and despite the fact that we'd decided not to go back to the All-you-can-eat-'til-you-bust-good-Southern-cooking restaurant, we did anyway.

And we didn't eat until we busted but we ate too much, as always when we go there. After I ate, I ended up spilling all my change on the ground and hitting myself with the door and I just felt drunk on something- carbohydrates? Animal fat? Whatever.

Let's GO, I said, I need to get out of here and we did and we are not going back for awhile. I promise you.

Mr. Moon took me to the Thomasville Goodwill which used to be a font of finds for me. It's an indication of the downward slide of the economy in that I can't find the fine labels I used to there and I suspect that the well-off ladies of Thomasville are taking their clothing to the consignment shops, rather than donating them to Goodwill because there were an awful lot of Walmart brand clothes on the racks and hell, the way the prices are at Goodwill now, it's almost as cheap to buy Walmart clothes at Walmart.
But I did find a picture I like and I bought it. Mr. Moon doesn't care for it but I told him that wasn't the point. I did. It has magnolia blossoms in a bowl. How can you not like a picture of magnolia blossoms in a bowl?

We went back downtown where all the fancy stores are and all I can say is although Goodwill definitely is showing signs of the recession, the downtown area is all What recession?

All sorts of SUVs were represented there such as the Mercedes SUV, the Range Rover and Land Rover SUV's, etc. And people were appearing to buy the lovely and expensive merchandise that Mr. Moon and I were only looking at. I tried to talk him into a set of Spode hunting-themed dinner ware for our hunting camp but he just looked at me and said, "What hunting camp?"
Then he got it and said, "Oh, the Georgia hunting camp at the plantation. Right." And man, that Spode would have looked damn good with grilled quail and cheese grits on it. And angel biscuits. Uh-huh.

But we didn't even buy a tureen for soup or collard greens and not even so much as a gravy boat but passed it all up and we did buy coffee. Mr. Moon and I love the coffee.

We drove home and I did air-tricks with my hand and arm out the window as we rushed down the highway and now we're home and the sun is setting and the rooster is crowing next door to tell us that fact. I suppose. Roosters just love to crow. That's what they do.

Just like Mr. Moon and I love to get in the convertible and drive the back roads and look at the old houses and pine trees and let the wind rush around us and smile at each other. We saw this other old middle-aged couple on two trike bikes (I forget what they're really called) when we stopped for gas and Mr. Moon said, "They think they look cool."
"We think we look cool, too," I pointed out, and we laughed.

Pretty soon I'll heat up some leftovers and we'll eat them on our old Goodwill china which is NOT Spode but pretty, nonetheless, and we'll be happy. Spaghetti is always better on the third day than it was on the first.

We didn't get one damn thing accomplished today but we didn't give a damn, either. It's December 20th and I'm wearing a tank top and I'm not chilly at all. I have to remind myself that Christmas is in five days. I guess I'll go plug in the Christmas tree and we'll play some cards on the porch, being glad to have had this easy day, smiling at each other and making each other laugh. The owls are doing that pant-hoot thing which sort of makes you feel like you're in Africa instead of rural North Florida and I guess they have love on their minds.

It's not Mexico where we are tonight, but it ain't bad being right where we are.

Not bad at all.

12 comments:

  1. I wish it were warm enough here to wear shorts! I giggled at the hunting trip bit. You tell a fine story, Ms. Moon.

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  2. Sometimes you seem so happy, I wish I were as happy as you - sounds like tonight was one of those times :)

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  3. That was a lovely story. I'm really glad that you and Papa had a nice day.
    By the way, I think the part about spilling your change on the way out of the farmer's market restaurant was just perfect in describing what that place does to a person. Haha.

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  4. Thank-you, Ms. Magnolia. You could definitely wear shorts here although it's supposed to get chilly this evening and then back to very warm by Christmas. Which is fine by me.

    SJ- Yep. I have my moments. I appreciate them, too.

    HoneyLuna- I wouldn't call that restaurant EVIL but I would call it a bit much. They had cinnamon rolls yesterday. Need I say more?

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  5. I just happened to mention cutting Magnolia for Christmas decorations in the office the other day. The two southern women I work with were just "Mmm-hmm, yep, got it covered" and the two yankee ladies said, "What are you talking about? Tell us about this."

    I love living where firs are not the only greenery at Christmas.

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  6. DTG- Dad just put his deer stand up in a magnolia tree at the place he hunts. He said it's so nice to sit up there in all the green leaves.
    What a majestic tree the magnolia is!

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  7. I'll bet he gets a nice, clear view from there, too!

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  8. i often have that same though about my boyfriend ('please don't ever die!'). a lot of times he is the only person who makes me feel peaceful, happy, understood... kinda scary to rely on one person so much but nice to have it (: we are lucky

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  9. I know what CME means. So great to have one person and scary, too.

    It was 9 degrees (!) when I left the mountains yesterday. And despite that, there was no snow. I stepped outside to take a picture and my wet hair started to freeze!

    I'm glad to be back in the magical land where we can wear tank tops through Christmas!

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  10. CMe- it's always scary to hand your heart to someone. But I think it's awfully worth doing. If it's the right person.

    Ms. Lemon- no snow? I'm sorry. But yep, gonna be in the seventies by Christmas.
    I'll take that over snow, thank you very much!

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  11. That was so beautiful. You have a way of soothing me when you describe days like that. Lovely. :D

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  12. Quiet Girl- it makes me so happy to think that anything I write would be soothing to you.
    Thank-you.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.