Friday, May 13, 2011

Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover



So the painters finished up this afternoon and we all cleaned up a little and headed across the river to the auction. Man, I totally could have worn my overalls there. I would not have been the only one wearing them. Take my word for this.
It was a big old barn of a place and they sold hot dogs and coffee and cokes and you could walk around and look at all the stuff up for auction and there was a tiny table that I really wanted but it had already been sold. It was raining hard. The lightening had come in and cracked and the thunder had shot through the valleys and it was cool and wet and beautiful.
We hung out for awhile but there wasn't anything that any of us really had an eye for and so we got in the truck and headed off for supper. Vergil wanted to take us to this place that he'd heard had the best food in Asheville and it wasn't in the cool, downtown, East area but in the newly arising West area of town and we pulled up to see this place.


Good Lord, Vegril, I said. Who told you they have good food here?
A guy I know who bakes bread, he said.

Okay. We parked across the street at a place where during the day they sell bio-diesel and we walked up to the patio of the cement block hole-in-the-wall and there was a crowd, sipping cocktails and waiting.
Hmmmm.
Maybe.
And we went in to put our names on the list and if you don't have a reservation you have to sit at the bar and that is a very, very good sign when it comes to a dining establishment.
We got our cocktails and went out on the patio, to wait our place at the bar.

You know, sometimes there is just nothing better in this world than sitting with people you love, waiting for a seat at a restaurant where you know the food is going to be everything you want food to be. This was one of those times.


The best thing about coming to Asheville to help Jessie and Vergil move in is that we have a mental picture of where they are going to be living and the faces of Vergil's family who are going to be such a big part of Jessie's life now. And, as Mr. Moon said, the fact that we've gotten to help tuck them in.
Tuck them in.
Yes.
And we've had a good time too.

We finally got seated and dinner was splendid. As wonderful as the entrees were, my favorite was the arugula salad with grated apples and cheese and walnuts. I just never get tired of arugula.
The martinis didn't suck either.

We all shared food back and forth, we laughed, and yes, we cried a little. We're leaving tomorrow and I told Jessie that she's in a wonderful place with a good man and his precious family and that all is going to be well.
She knows it.
I do too.
Doesn't mean it's easy. Does not mean that at all.
But it's right.
It's true.

So. Time for bed. Time for bed. Tomorrow we'll get up and pack up and have breakfast with those two sweet souls and say good-bye. It's not going to be easy but hell's bells, Martha! Jessie will be home in a week to celebrate May's birthday and go to a music festival and there you are- all that lays between us is eight hours of white-lined asphalt winding through little towns where there are little pink houses for you and me.

At one end lies Asheville and the mountains and a house with a new-painted living room where Jessie and Vergil live nearby some mighty sweet, loving people and at the other end lies Lloyd and Tallahassee where the giant oaks offer shade and protection to some other sweet, loving people and there are chickens at both ends.

It's been a good journey and I'm ready to go home, as hard as it's going to be to leave my daughter. She has a new life here and it's going to be a good one and my world is just going to have to stretch a little farther.

Which it has, which it will.

Sweet dreams, y'all; safe journeys.

As long as there is love at both ends of the trip, it's going to be a good one.

I promise.


Just leave the light on to guide the travelers home. That's all I can say. I don't think there's a hell of a lot more than that.

14 comments:

  1. What fortunate folks you all are, and what a pleasure for us to read about it!

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  2. Maybe it's because I love Asheville. Maybe it's because I love hearing about the close ties you have to your family. Or maybe it's because I love little dive restaurants and martinis, I don't know. But this post made me smile a whole lot. Thanks for that.

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  3. Good night, Ms. Moon. Sleep well and safe journey back home tomorrow.

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  4. What a fun adventure that dinner was. I have to say that place did look a bit scary from the street.

    Sweet dreams and safe travels.

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  5. I think the idea of tucking your beloved daughter and partner into her new home is wonderful, Ms Moon, something you've done many times for your daughter before I expect but different now.

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  6. Tucking in Jesse and Virgil sounds just about perfect. You always make me yearn for the south of my childhood -- I wish you an easy heart tomorrow, although I know it'll be hard. You're being so brave about it all -- take care.

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  7. When I got to the part where Mr. Moon said you got to tuck them in, i felt a big lump in my throat and this is life, this bittersweetness, this launching your babies, this. oh Ms Moon, what a week you've had. You are all so filled with love it is blindingly beautiful. I wish everyone could see it.

    Btw, you make Asheville sound pretty damn cool.

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  8. Ms. Moon,
    This is a beautiful post, evoking feelings of both joy and just a little bit of sadness. Parting is always hard, but I can imagine that seeing Jessie happy and in a beautiful life is an awesome feeling.

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  9. Always trust the locals when it comes to restaurants. Sounds like Jessie and Virgel are settled in. They will enjoy being together. It is an exciting time.

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  10. I love the hole in the wall places. There is this place sort of near where I live, it's only about an hour drive there. It's called Fast Eddies and the place is great. It's a Biker Bar, sometimes a guy is in the place strumming a guitar and singing and the food is cheap and good. You can get a half pound hamburger for about a dollar or else it used to be a dollar and then you can get jumbo shrimp for a quarter each. Hot chick on a stick is about three dollars......their fries are great and they have these popcorn machines that you can just help yourself to fresh popped popcorn and it's all good.

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  11. Eight hours is doable. I have a lot of experience with that kind of distance. It's doable. Really. Big hug to you.

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  12. Thanks for taking us along on your trip. I have enjoyed reading about it.

    I love you SO DAMN MUCH!

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  13. What a gorgeous trip. As you say your world will stretch a little farther. Love you xx

    PS. I love that lamp! Very boudoir.

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