Friday, June 5, 2009

Friday Morning, Fresh Green


Sometimes I call Mr. Moon Mr. Moon and sometimes I call him Mr. Honey.
He was Mr. Moon yesterday when he hurt my fragile early-morning feelings and he was Mr. Moon when I went in to do data entry for him. I am sure he was calling me Ms. Bitch at that point.

"Do you want to do the checkbook first?" he asked me.

"I don't want to do it at all," I said, sighing and taking the dreaded thing from his hand.

I hate doing data entry. Filling in those little spaces with numbers and dates and sorting through all the receipts and trying to figure out whether this is filed under "parts" or under "services."
But I did it and it wasn't so bad. I sort of like being in the office (but two hours is my limit, okay?) and getting everything put into the QuickBooks and then put in their real files. Real as in manila folders.

When he came home last night, Mr. Honey was holding three beautiful magnolia blossoms in his hand and he gave them to me and kissed me. I made him a good dinner with his grouper and potatoes and squash and greens and tomatoes out of the garden and he kissed me again while we were eating.
Then he washed the dishes. Then he shared his dark chocolate M&M's with me.
Definitely Mr. Honey.

We have this thing here called Resurrection Fern. It grows on the limbs of the oak trees and during times of drought you don't see it because it's so far up in the tree and it's a dry and gray thing. But then, it rains, and the stuff springs to life- Resurrection!- and sometimes a part of the branch it's on crashes down and there it is in the yard at your feet and I found a piece of it today. I use those pieces of branches as borders for some of my fern beds and ginger beds.
I'm not going to get all metaphorical here- the metaphor is way too obvious for that- but I will say that it's good to be reminded that given the right conditions, life can spring forth anew, surprising you every time.


I was going to try and write something about how much easier it was to perceive the rightness and wrongness of things when I was young because I didn't have the life experience to give me the knowledge and compassion to view things from a lot of different sides. I feel like all that experience I've had has served to cushion me and inform me and I am grateful for that.
This is the way life is- when you're young and the world revolves around you, it's so easy to see things as black or white. Not to get all Bob Dylanish here but it's true. You lose a few friends, you raise a few kids, and you aren't quite as sure about how every damn thing in the world should be run or the way you should be treated. Oh. Some things I am more sure of than ever.
I'm more sure of the power of love than I ever was. I'll tell you that.
But I have a whole new definition of what it is.

It's doing data entry and it's remembering that although we've been married for almost twenty-five years, we're still very different people and that's as it should be. He likes things to be straight and true, I don't care if things do get a little blurry at the edges and tip a bit, this way or that. My eyesight never was any damn good anyway.

But it's 20-20 when I look at him.
And all it takes is a handful of magnolia blossoms and a few kisses and he's Mr. Honey to me again.
That love I have for him is never gone. It gets curled up and not as apparent sometimes but then all of a sudden, it springs forth, unfurling and green again, given the right circumstances.

There will be more later here today, I feel sure.
We're getting NINE new baby chicks and here we go again with the nursery box on the porch and the tiny peep-peeps and wonder at the growing. I am pretty darn excited.

It's drizzling again and the Resurrection Fern is green and new babies are coming and the frogs are croaking.

I'm happy.

20 comments:

  1. Oh this is so exciting! Nine new babies is so many! Hopefully, I will get to see them today. That would be great.

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  2. This has nothing to do with anything, but... did you know that when bunny food sits in a cooler with standing water for about 3 weeks it smells an awful lot like raw sewage?

    YECH!

    Can't wait for the new bebes!

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  3. I know that fern. I remember it from my childhood. It made everything seem greener and made you appreciate the rain more (even though it brought with it the humidity that I was sure was causing my entire self to melt). Your blurry around the edges comment brought to mind the picture of the house...

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  4. Ms. Moon,
    I am glad you have such a good, solid relationship. Such a blessing.

    Love,

    SB

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  5. I spent 15 minutes while waiting for Steve to get off work last night gazing at baby chicks, wanting them so badly I could taste it. Alas, none allowed in city limits, as we are pushing it already having a rabbit. Sigh, someday.

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  6. It's in his kiss; that's where it is...

    come on, you know the words!

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  7. I so love when you write about Mr. Moon!

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  8. Good day at the Moon's, sounds like. :) And, new chick a dees? Yay! More daily updates. I love it that their personalities are so individualized and how you've describe them.

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  9. Mr. Honey is a cute nickname.

    Growing up, my mother called my father Mr. Booter (or Booder?). He called her Mrs. Booter. I have no idea why. I'm kinda scared to ask.


    Yay for maybe chicken babies!

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  10. Will the bebes be there on Sunday?

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  12. I misspelled before.

    I love icky gooey sticky ookie love stories. You guys are adorable!

    My step-mom calls my dad "Hunka" as in Hunka Hunka Burnin' Love. Bleh!

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  13. HoneyLuna- You are home! I can actually talk to you!

    Petit Fleur- Good to know.
    Come see the babies!

    Sarah- Yes. It has to be humid to make the fern come alive. Which I do not mind.

    Ms. Bastard- We mean to make this work.

    Kori- I tell you, chickens are the BEST pets.

    Steph- Oh no. Now you've done it.

    Ginger- I think he does too.

    Lady Lemon- Yeah. I would not ask.

    Nicol- How will I keep ten straight? This may get less personal.

    DTG- Therey're here now. I hope they're still here on Sunday.

    Windy Days- Guess what? Your parents have had sex.

    Aunt Becky- I am glad!

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  14. When I was married to my first husband and lived in Louisiana, I ordered a resurrection fern from a magazine. I had high hopes but either I had the wrong fern or it had the wrong owner because I never resurrected anything.

    HA! Much like the marriage. But now I'm thankful for a few failures. They've brought the best blessings.

    And now, I'm off to google these ferns. Hey, maybe they have a robot voice site, too!

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  15. Ms. Trouble- Yes. Please let me know if you find one.
    And I'm glad you found your real man. I am.

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  16. thanks be to mr. moon for putting a smile on ms. moon's face and dark chocolate m & m's in her mouth!

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  17. Adrienne- I just read that comment to Mr. Moon. He liked it.
    (Smile...)

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  18. Mr. Moon-bestower of chicken coops, magnolias, and dark chocolate m&ms...it doesn't get better than that
    Too sweet!!

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  19. Michelle- Not a bad life. Not at all.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.