Sunday, March 13, 2011

Return



Well. We're home.
And instead of it being 7:52 p.m. it is 8:52 p.m. and fuck that shit.
Arrrgggh.
So speaking of pirates, my own personal pirate coconut-head boyfriend was waiting for me when we got back to the island. He's a bit gap-toothy but so I am. I just love that jaunty ring in his ear, don't you?

Anyway, the trip over in the Winky II went just fine and there I was with my orange clown hair so it was fitting and Jessie and Vergil were at the dock when we got there, both of them with their long legs and hugs and help and we got the old jeep loaded up and headed to the house and it was just as it always is- smelling of Dog Island and old wood and fried fish and that iron/sulfur water and it was nice to be back.

I immediately went out back and took a picture. This is the bay shot through the old bloom of the aloe plants that our friend Tom, with whom we share the house, has planted.

We unloaded groceries and put things away and made up our bed and I just had to take this shot:

Is Mr. Moon like the cutest guy in the world?
Yes. Yes he is.

Vergil stole my heart by making us shrimp quesadillas and before I knew it, gin and tonics were being poured and mixed and served and we ate lunch and okay, I had to have a nap. Wouldn't you?

We got up just as the sun was setting but Lord, it was cold and I took a few quick pictures and then ran back inside.
Here's one.

And Mr. Moon grilled steaks and oh, honeys, the whole weekend went like that.
Eat, drink, sleep, eat, drink, sleep.
Read.
Walk.
Again. Repeat. Shower, rinse, repeat again.

And read. Read, read, read.
I started and finished My Family And Other Animals and was completely charmed. Ah- the days when a ten-year old boy is set free on a Greek island (or any island, for that matter) to roam with his dog and spend hours and days and weeks on his belly looking at life close-up as it is lived under a leaf, under a rock, under the sea. Lo- thank-you so much. I loved it. As you knew I would.

On Friday I walked for maybe an hour or so on the Gulf and it was a time of complete peace. No headphones in, no one beside me, just me and my legs and my bare feet and miles of white Gulf beach. I was accompanied by birds and the sea was flat and there were great pools of coquinas, perhaps mating, who knows? not me? and I did not have my camera to catch that. It was a mindful and grateful a time as I have had in recent memory.

The sunset that night was not was accompanied by a Nor'Easter and so we walked on the bay a bit to enjoy it.

Two men I really love. Vergil, after stealing my heart with those quesadillas, continued to do so all weekend. He is the sort of man you would want to fall in love with your daughter and he treats her with respect and humor and he is smart and can cook and cleans up and well, yeah. That boy is FINE! And Jessie knows it. And now, so do we.

So do we.
He feels like family.

Here's our little house in the light of the setting sun:

We took a bay-side walk the next morning and the funny thing about our walks is always this- we say, "Let's just go walk for a few minutes,"


and we all agree to do so and we start out, one foot in front of the other and we study the water and we check out whatever has been washed in.


Are there sea slugs? Is there bait fish? Are there horseshoe crabs? How much sand has been washed away here? Do you think that there is more sand here than there was before? Oh look- there's an osprey nest! Or is it an eagle nest?

And look! Fiddler crabs! And come on, let's just keep going until we reach that place where the creek comes out....


and before you know it, we've walked for an hour and then there's an hour's walk back but what do we care? What else is there to do?

What else?

Eat. Rest. Drink. Read.

Yes, we danced a bit.
We laughed a lot.
There was fishing. There was a great deal of cuddling.

There was Kathleen on the phone. Her ex-husband had died and she was with him when he did.

Ah. Well. Too much to say, too much to feel.
"He has no problems anymore," I told her. So lame. What more could I say? She there, me on the island.
"I love you. I am so proud of you for helping him go. You did a good job."

We came home today and the truck got broke-down on the side of the road and there we were in the middle of the worst n0-see-ums in the world but so what? We lived. Mr. Moon fixed the truck. We come home and I find that there has been a huge devastation in Japan.

Ah-lah. This world. It never ends, does it?

Well. I had a weekend. Some of it was perfect and some of it was hard but Lord let me tell you, there was love.

And here we are, back again. Chickens all present and accounted for. Tomorrow I will take my mother to get a molar removed. Freddy wants to film something this week. Can I play a grandmother who is dying of cancer?

"Give me a script," I tell him. "I can do it."

And on Wednesday, Owen will be here.
"Meir-Meir!" he will say and maybe, if I am lucky, "Ah-yah."

I went to the island. I came home. The dogs peed on my suitcase. I am doing laundry. We have Sprung Ahead.

We are here.

I have missed you. I have found myself and sometimes that was wonderful. I have learned to love someone that my daughter loves. Truly and fully-hearted.

I wonder what it is like on the island right now. Is the wind blowing? Is the Gulf flat or rolling? Are the osprey tucked up in their nests?

But oh, Lord. I am so happy to be here. When we pulled into Lloyd I breathed a sigh of deep relief. This is where I live. There is where I belong. There is where I am so grateful to be with my chickens at roost and my peas growing up and my bed, my bed, my very own bed where I sleep with my love and my least dog and where I can get my hands on all of my children should I need to. Where the oaks are so tall and so wide and so old, where the wisteria is beginning to bloom.
This is where my work is, my loves are, my garden is. This is where the dirt is from which I gather my strength.

All right. More tomorrow. Sweet dreams tonight. I have missed you.

This is my life and you are part of it.

Thank-you. Amen. Good night.

23 comments:

  1. Sounds like a divine weekend.
    Welcome back to us.

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  2. Sounds so very good. Glad to have you home.

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  3. Welcome home! We did miss you. Your pictures and your family are just too much. XO

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  4. Made me feel like I was there on the island. Beautiful place you have there Ms. Moon.

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  5. Sounds like a weekend of Light and Love.

    Good to be back

    xoxoxo

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  6. Welcome back! I'm delighted that you had such a peaceful, loving time on the island.

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  7. Heavenly...
    Even though I am so busy I don't check in every day, I missed you, knowing that you weren't near a computer where you could pop in and let me know that all is all right with the world.
    Love the love in the pictures. So happy for Jessie and Vergil. He is a lucky, lucky guy.

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  8. Welcome back! The light in each of those photos is gorgeous -- in the background and in your faces --

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  9. I love the photos. And the weekend of reading, resting, walking, talking, etc. sounds so good. Good to have you back.

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  10. I missed you, Mary M. but I am thrilled that you had a lovely weekend away and that you read the Durrell book and enjoyed it.....he has dozens more if you need any reading to cheer rather than depress you.

    Thanks for letting me tour that delicious island with you....ummmm.....shrimp quesadillas....Ohgawd......

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  11. Welcome home, mama! I posted photos from my weekend, too.

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  12. LOOOOVE that last photograph... What a magical sight, two people in love. Love everything about it.
    It made my starting day...

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  13. Oh, sounds lovely. We missed you.

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  14. It sounds like a magical March on Dog Island. Love the photos--they say so much.
    --Michele R.

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  15. I missed you, too, believe me. I thought of you all weekend and worried some. I'm glad it went well and am very glad that Vergil is such a good guy.

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  16. Oh Mary Moon, I knew it would be good down there with the young lovers and the beauty and balm of the ocean and your good strong man and all of it, all of it! My heart is full just thinking about it! And I can't wait to suck up some of that sweet Jessie-Vergil juju my own self now that they're perched here in town next to my own little nest.

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  17. thanks for the photos.
    thanks for the words, for coming back.
    i missed you lots.
    it just felt weird that you weren't THERE.

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  18. oh guess what! I chose that book for my book group for April, because you mentioned it. I researched it and everyone seemed to love it. So glad to hear you liked it. So thanks to you and Lo.

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  19. Oh what a good reminder to pick up My family and other animals again. Thank you. Did you know that Gerald Durell refused to speak until age 6 and the apparently his first word was zoo...

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  20. Dear Ms Moon, welcome back, we've missed you! Your break looked and sounded glorious. Your house, the beach, the sunsets. And the food and drink!

    I love the picture of Mr Moon - I can tell how wonderful he is. And the picture of Jessie and Virgil under the blanket. And the one of you and Mr Moon - just gorgeous!

    My Family and Other Animals is one of my favourites too.

    Much love, C xx

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  21. Lisa- Oh. I have missed you so! I will catch up in your worlds, eventually.

    Stephanie- Thank-you, darling.

    Mel- It's hard to take a bad picture of Dog Island or those pretty people I love. Thanks.

    Rebecca- Yes, it is.

    Michelle- Honey, I wish you were sitting on my lap.

    Lora- It was. Both of those things.
    Wouldn't your children love Dog Island?

    Angie M- I can see Vergil just slipping right in to our family. He is just so darn precious.

    Elizabeth- It's a light-filled place. Truly, truly.

    Syd- It's good to BE back.

    Lo- How can you not love a man who makes shrimp quesadillas? And that book- just perfect! I will read more Durrell.
    Thank-you so much for such a gift.

    DTG- I love those photos! I love you!

    Photocat- It was the magic hour, wasn't it?

    Jill- I missed you TOO!

    Michele R- And I have so many more pictures...

    Ms. Bastard-Beloved- Well I thought about you too. I wanted to share a drink with you and hear your sweet voice. Someday???

    Kati- It's impossible not to be happy around those two. Ah. Sigh. Love.
    Enjoy what you can get off them. Hey! You coming to Gator Bone next weekend? YOU SHOULD!

    Bethany- It felt weird to me, too, sweet ladybug.
    And your book group will love that book, I think. What's not to love about it?

    Sabine- Really? Awesome!

    Mwa- In many ways, yes.

    Christina- Dog Island must look like another planet to you. Maybe? It is almost another planet to me. Alien life-forms everywhere. Have you ever seen a cannonball jelly-fish? Or a horseshoe crab? Oh my.
    Thank-you, as always, for dropping by, for reading and commenting.

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  22. I'm so jealous of your weekend. Looks like a beautiful time spent with beautiful people. Thanks for the mental get-away.

    I'm sooo happy for Jessie to have found someone so good to her.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.