Friday, April 6, 2018

Evil, Goodness, And Chickens

I actually took down last night's post.
For those of you who saw it and commented, I thank you. It was a completely innocuous post, mostly pictures from Apalachicola and I posted it from my phone because I didn't take my laptop.
And then I got a comment from some horrible, nasty, vile person filled with hateful lies about Jewish people and I couldn't figure out how to remove the comment with the blogger app on my phone and so I deleted the whole damn post.
I absolutely could not tolerate the idea of such putrid vomit anywhere near blessourhearts.
The same comment appeared a few days before but I just marked it as spam and disappeared it. I suppose, since the commenter wrote as "anonymous" it's a bit tricky to block him or her.
If it happens again, I'll look for answers on how to do that.
I've been so very lucky in my years as a blogger. I've had almost zero trolls. Oh sure, I get the occasional spam comments with links to porn or interweb viagra but those are easily removed and do not bother me overmuch.
But. This was intolerable.

I am home in Lloyd now. I had such a very sweet visit with Mr. Moon and his sister. We went out to supper last night at the Owl restaurant in Apalachicola which will cook your catch for you and so Mr. Moon took them a piece of the grouper that his sister had caught and gave it to the chef who gourmeted it to the stars. It came back to us with a sort of caper, red pepper cream sauce and all three of us ate every last molecule.
And here's a picture of the brother and sister who love to fish and who love each other.


This morning when we woke up, we discovered that Mr. Moon's foot and ankle looked 99% better. The final diagnosis of inflammatory arthritis must have been correct because he responded so well to the prednisone. Hurray! And then in an early morning call he discovered that a Tallahassee credit union would be absolutely delighted to have him come and join their team. The bank he had worked out of for so long started off as a credit union and he enjoys that atmosphere of real caring about the members. He stayed with the bank for a long time after they became a bank but recently, another bank bought that one out and so changes were made and he was one of them. For awhile he looked for an office space of his own to continue his car locator service but he did send his resume to this one credit union and they seem very excited to snap him up. 
So hurray again! 
Change happens and sometimes it can be very good. 

We all went to a late breakfast at a place that's just recently opened for breakfast and lunch. The business itself- Delores' Sweet Shop- has been in one location or another since I've been going to Apalachicola, serving ice cream and, well, sweet things I guess. But now it's in an old house in which several businesses have come and gone. 
Would you look at this?


The bones of the place are still there and what beautiful bones they are. 
So we ate our eggs and grits and biscuits and then Mr. Moon and his sister got ready to go out on the boat for more fishing and I packed up and came home, meandering through the tiny towns and across the pretty rivers until I got to Crawfordville, Florida, where I stopped at the ACE hardware to see if they had any fancy chicks. 
When I got in the door I asked an employee if they had any baby chicks. 
"Yes we do!" he said. "We have four and they are just waiting for you to take them home!"
Four. Four chicks. 
I looked at them in the cage they were in. They were not exactly baby-babies, having already started to get their feathers. 
"Do you know what kind they are?" I asked him. 
He gestured to a sign beside the cage. 


"Do you think that's what they really are?" I asked him. I mean, those are some rather exotic breeds.
"Mmmm...well. Maybe," he said. 
Shit. They're probably just the last four chicks they had of all of the varieties and stuck them in the same cage. 
But of course you know what I did. 
I bought those last four baby chickens having been assured that not only have they been sexed and are all female (right) but that they seem smarter than the other chicks. 
Uh-huh. I assume they've been doing Sudoku, waiting for some human to come and buy them. 
They boxed all four of them up for me and I bought a bag of chick starter and brought those babies home. They peeped and talked during the entire journey and did not appear to be very happy about being trapped in a cardboard box after a lifetime of excitement in a cage in the center of the Crawfordville Ace Hardware. 
I brought them home and set up an old Pack'n-Play in my bathroom which is not ideal in any way but that's where they are. They have a light for heat and they have food and water and tonight I'll start giving them chopped up greens because they are certainly old enough. 

Baby dinosaurs are living in my bathroom. 

For having had chickens as long as I have, I really know absolutely nothing about them. I don't know the names of varieties, I don't know the different attributes of different breeds. Well, except for the Americaunas which lay the different colored eggs. And oh yeah- banties which are like miniature chickens who are sort of wild. People REALLY get into different breeds just as dog and cat-lovers do but since Kathleen brought me that first batch of peeps, I've simply taken the birds which have come my way and have learned to love them all. Except for some of the roosters, of course. 

But if I'm going to do this, deal with the mess and the worry and the fuss of raising these babies, I'm going to get some more and so tomorrow I'm going to go to the Tractor Supply in Monticello and see what they have for offer. Jessie's got chicken fever but no coop but I've told her that I'll raise a few that she can have if she can convince Vergil to build her chicken housing. 
And I know he will. Eventually. He grew up with a chicken-raising mama and he knows the value of good, fresh eggs and friendly hens. 
I swear to god, I never in my life thought I'd grow up to be an old woman who tended chickens but it would seem that I have become exactly that. 

Well. There could be worse fates. 

Lord but I'm lucky. 

Love...Ms. Moon






30 comments:

  1. SO happy Mr Moon is doing well and enjoying sister and fishing times! I was confused when your entire post disappeared.......but good for you. The world (your world, nor any other) does not need more hatred.
    Your chicks are too cute! And more to come? Mary, where will you put them all? LOL! My neighbor called me yesterday and said *I got 10 bantams and I only wanted 2....I was coerced into taking them all.....do you want 8?* . NO, I said. !!!!
    Susan M

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    1. Oh Lord. Well, I'll just have to figure out where they all go. The four oldest will be able to go outside soon. They have real feathers. Good for you on being able to say NO to the bantams.

      Delete
  2. Ah, the Internet. A place for sad excuse for humans to spew their ugliness. Cowards.

    But baby chicks is something to be happy about. And I ended a sentence in a preposition but don’t care.

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    Replies
    1. I think we can all disregard the preposition rule. It's ridiculous.

      Delete
  3. Dammit! Vile people should get their own blog to spread their hate. So glad Mr Moon is better and things are falling into place. Looking forward to chick pictures.
    Xoxo
    Barbara

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    1. Oh, there will be chick pictures! Never fear!

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  4. I don't understand all this ugliness. We're all the same, human beings trying to get through life. Some of us with chickens:)

    I'm glad your hubby is ok.

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    1. I say that those of us who do not understand such ugliness are the lucky ones.
      Thanks for caring about my sweet man.

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  5. Replies
    1. I may not BE a spring chicken but I can sure raise a few. Right?

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  6. That evil comment was all over, on my blog and several others i follow. In my case, i was able to delete the contents of the comment. There's still the name "Anonymous" there with the notation that the comment was deleted by the blog author. You might be able to do something similar if it ever happens again, so you don't lose a whole post.

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    1. Oh, I've done that too but was on my phone with a blogger app and not able to do what I'm usually able to do. Thus the deletion of the post.

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  7. I was a little worried when I saw that you had removed that post. In all my years reading here I don't remember you doing that. Maybe you have and I've forgotten. But I certainly understand why you did. It was such a nice post of Apalachicola, that town and SGI are so dear to my heart! We usually vacation there once or twice a year but haven't been in a year and a half and I am missing it SO bad! It used to be easy to rent a house on SGI just a few months out but now you better do it at least a year in advance, or the ones I prefer will be all booked up! Sucks for us that it has gotten so popular. I will have to look for that new restaurant next time we're there, it does look charming. And the Owl, oh I have had some delicious meals there1 SO jealous of your fresh grouper dinner, Lucky you indeed!
    Very glad to hear Mr. Moon's foot and the job situation are both resolving for the better. I know you must have been so worried.
    And YEA for new baby chicks in a Pack'n Play! I love that! I think quite a few of us live vicariously through your tending to chickens. Well, at least I do, so I'm glad you are a woman that does that and blogs about it. And I hope you do for many more years.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Yeah. St. George and Apalach have certainly become a lot more popular than they once were. This was inevitable. I hope you get to go back soon!
      I'm glad you like my chicken posts because I certainly do talk about chickens a lot. Jeez. Oh well. It is what it is.

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  8. I've had to delete a number of ugly commenters from my blog (I always assume they are either my ex husband or my stalker). BUT--Jonah and Dashiell and Rob and I are going to look at chicken coops tomorrow and are getting peeps after Dashiell returns from a trip to Japan to see family with his mom and I am both excited and terrified I will kill them. Or the cats will. I never would have wanted chickens until I came to your blog all those years ago.

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    1. I think that your chicks will be fine and please know that it is absolutely part of the whole deal that some do die. That's all there is to it. But I also think that you will find keeping chickens to be as satisfying and soothing as I do. They are amazing critters and have enriched my life tremendously.

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  9. New baby chickens! Yay! That makes me so happy.

    Sorry about the troll. The only times I've ever been bothered by them I learned to simply delete their comments without responding. They love getting a rise out of people and quickly move on if they can't.

    I sure am glad Mr. Moon's foot is better. That's good news!

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    1. I'm so glad about Mr. Moon's foot too. I worry way too much but this is the way I am.

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  10. i'm sorry about the asshole who made that comment and glad everything is ok with mr. moon's foot. looking forward to see what kind of mystery chickens you got!!

    xxalainaxx

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    1. I'm pretty excited to see what they grow up to be too! They sure are different looking right now.

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  11. yeah, I got the same vileness twice as well. I go to my dashboard to the comments section and mark it as spam and poof, gone. I used to never allow anonymous commenters for this very reason but I know that there are some legitimate people who comment that way and so a while back I changed my settings to allow it. well, no more. after that horrid sad person posted the same ugliness again I have gone back into my settings and once again do not allow anonymous comments. such cowards. if you are going to be that hateful, own it. so. glad Mr. Moon's ankle is better and he has new office space and you have new baby chicks.

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    1. I just can't disallow anonymous commenters. I have too many who always sign their names and who I have come to know and love. I will just be vigilant and Spam/Remove that asshole if it ever happens again.
      The new office space is tremendously exciting for Mr. Moon. I'm really glad that he's found a new, good place.

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  12. Sorry about that ugliness...I loved that post. The pictures were great and I am looking forward to visiting. Glen and his sis look so happy and sweet. What a beautiful way to spend time with a sibling! Congratulations to him! and to you! Happy new baby chicks!

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    1. WHEN ARE YOU COMING TO VISIT? I would love to see you guys so much. There are so many more adventures to take. And meals to eat. And so forth.

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  13. welcome home little chicks. you landed in a wondrous place.

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    1. Well, I will do the best I can. It's a hard, cruel world for baby chickens.

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  14. Well, I'm sorry that I missed that post, but I'm not sorry I missed the comment. What is WRONG with people?! And why on earth would they be motivated to put anti-Semitic BS on your blog?!

    Can you repost the pictures, maybe?

    The chicks are adorable! I can't wait to see what they look like as they grow. I hope you got one of each of those breeds so we can see them all side-by-side and compare and contrast!

    Yay for Mr. Moon and the good news for his business! I'm glad he got to spend some meaningful time on the water with his sister.

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    1. I can repost those pictures for sure.
      And what the fuck IS wrong with people? Don't ask me.
      Isn't it wonderful that Glen and Brenda take the time and effort to make this trip every year?

      Delete
  15. Sorry too that I missed your Post, but also not sorry I missed the vile comment, nothing someone like that has to say is worth anyone's time to hear or read, which is why they probably Troll around trying to force feed their vile instead involuntarily and interestingly enough 'anonymously' so they don't risk being revealed for who they are tho' it's clear what they are! Your baby Dino Chicks are adorable... so glad you had a good time with Family during the trip and that Mr. Moon is healing well.

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    1. Thanks, Bohemian! And you know- for some reason, those four new chicks remind me of dinosaurs more than any I've ever had before. They should be interesting.

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