Friday, June 15, 2018

Friday


What a good day it's been! First of all, it's Jason's birthday and I can't say enough about how glad I am that he was born. Not only did he father three of my grandchildren whom I love more than life itself, but he is the very best father to them that they could possibly have. He also loves my daughter with all of his heart and soul and that makes a mother happier than anything on this earth.
We decided to meet up at the Indian buffet for lunch but before that I took a shortish walk, just enough to bring my total of miles for the week up to twenty. I am proud of that. I will admit it.
In this heat there is a lot of mind over matter involved in these walks and in so many aspects of my life, I feel no confidence in my mind or my matter (for that matter) and so simply putting my walking clothes and shoes on and heading out to White House Road is sort of a big deal to me.
And that's enough said about that.

After my walk I took a shower and met Lily and Jason and Lauren and Owen and Gibson and Magnolia June and Hank and Rachel at Persis Indian Grill where all of the smart people gather on Friday's for the buffet. I was greeted by Maggie who kissed me and hugged me.


Those eyes. Those rosy lips.

I know. I KNOW I'm prejudiced. But in my eyes, she is simply exquisite. 

We all had way too much very, very good food. I never have the slightest clue about the names of the dishes I'm eating there but it's always good. Always. 
And after lunch we went to the Goodwill book store, of course. 
The only thing I bought for myself was the original album of music from the movie Camelot



which I saw at a very impressionable age and cried my way through. I do not know who I fell in love with hardest- Arthur, Lancelot or Guinevere. They were all so very beautiful and the story was so very, very sad and romantic. And sexy. 
Oh, Lord. No wonder I grew up with such odd ideas about what love is. 
I still say it's a fabulous movie.

Phew. That was a weird segue. 

I did buy the children books, of course, because that is the ritual and I also bought a copy of The New, Our Bodies, Ourselves, which I gave to Rachel because she'd never even heard of the book or the original and goddammit, every woman needs a copy of that. And I got her and Hank a beautiful vintage cookbook with luridly colored pictures of many foods as well as someone's handwritten menus tucked away between the pages. They are about to move in together and Rachel is a wonderful cook and Hank is a purveyor of old books in general. 


Rachel and Hank with their Goodwill booty.


And the Hartmanns with theirs. Owen blew out his flip flop. Maggie just took her shoes off. 

A few weeks ago when Jessie and the boys and I went to the thrift store downtown, I saw a beautiful old Singer sewing machine. Did I discuss this already? Ah well. 
Mind and matter. 
Etc. 
It was in a cabinet, was not a Featherweight but was one of the cast iron machines. Yes, they literally made sewing machines of cast iron. 


And I had not been able to get that dang thing off my mind so I went back today to see if it was still there, determined to buy it if it was. 
And it was. 
I sat down on a very uncomfortable piano stool set in front of it and began to really examine it. One of the things I truly loved about it was how when you flicked one of the levers, it made such a very sturdy "click" sound and felt tight and exact under my fingers. Obviously made to last through the Apocalypse. And you will note that it is threaded. It obviously needs new belts and electric cords and probably a few other things but that really does not cost too much. One drawer contained thread and machine oil 


and buttons and in another were the original manual, the original Singer attachments and the original Singer buttonholer which were all tidily packed away in their original kelly-green boxes looking almost unused as well as the beautiful little screw driver that Singer sent out with all of their machines. 
I think those were the things that made my heart clutch. 

So. I thought about it. I looked at the cabinet. It had peeling veneer at the bottoms. I attempted to lift the thing off the ground but realized that it probably weighed about as much as a cement mixer or a sperm whale. Take your pick. And I thought about my precious little Featherweight machine which has proved itself capable of anything I've ever wanted to sew and I thought...aw, no. I don't really need this. 
And I left it there. 
But it sort of hurt my heart. 
Someone will want it. Someone will come along and want that machine and will take it home and fix it up and use it for a lifetime. 
I hope, at least. 
And maybe now I can quit thinking about it. 

Jesus. I have definitely said enough here tonight and I need to get supper started. 

Pork chops, sweet potatoes, corn from the garden, and a nice salad. 
That will do nicely. 

A good supper after a good day. 

Happy birthday, Jason! 

Happy Friday, y'all. 

Love...Ms. Moon


18 comments:

  1. Happy birthday Jason! Happy Friday to you too dear Mary.
    Xoxo
    Barbara

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  2. Wishing Jason many, many happy returns of the day!

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  3. Happy birthday Jason!
    And it does indeed sound like a wonderful day of adventures with your beloveds. That sewing machine reminds me of the one my mother had which she inherited from her mother, who got it from hers. That thing is still pristine, and we still own it but us in storage. I really should get it out though I am not a seamstress and will likely never use it. Still. A lovely post.

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    1. The machine wasn't that old. From my quick google search with the serial number I believe it was made in 1953 which is only one year older than my Featherweight.
      I wonder if your daughter would want to learn to sew? I'm sure NYC has plenty of places to learn the basics. I can only imagine that with her creativity she would do some wonderful things with that machine.

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  4. Birthday wishes to Jason, the wonderful man he is! Love all of your family........ good for Hank and Rachel!
    The sewing machine...... oh Mary, I would have a hard time passing that gem up even though YOU don't need it. I have 2 machines..a fancy schmancy Bernina my Mom gave me. Can't even begin to use it unless I read the manual cover to cover. It sits in a box in closet. My fave is my heavy duty *New Home* with a greyhound logo. made of steel? weighing something equivalent to a cow...... Mom gave it to me for my 11th birthday- it was a used machine then.....and I'm 65 now.....and I use it all the time. Sews through leather, 4 layers of denim.....it is awesome. No fancy stuff- sews forward and backwards and that is it but it is sturdy as the day is long and one of my favorite things in the whole world. I'd re=think that machine if I were you . ;-)
    Susan M

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    1. Oh, you're right. And it only cost 75 dollars. I mean- that's dirt cheap. But I'm really in a place these days of wanting to own less, not more. Anything I buy has to really serve a purpose. But who knows? It doesn't seem like anyone is very interested in buying it. It may be there for a long time and they may want to knock the price down even more...

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  5. That little baby doll! I understand how you must feel...I fell it! You are correct, she is perfect! I also understand the Singer dilemma- I have decided that if I can not single hand an object of desire then it must stay behind. I threw my shoulder out while lifting - shifting heavy oak furniture and ...sewing machines when I had a business...no more.

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    1. Oh, the things we've done to our body lifting and moving things we should never have lifted or moved because we are stubborn. Well, at least I am and I feel certain you probably are too.
      The older I get, the less of that particular sort of stubbornness I have.

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  6. I've been getting corn from my garden too! in fact I think today i"m going to harvest all of it, or most anyway. and I'd have been hard pressed to leave that sewing machine there myself. even though I don't really sew anymore. but now that I'm retired, maybe I'll start again.

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    1. Sewing is amazingly meditative for me. When I'm not ripping seams or yelling at myself for stupid stuff I've done.
      I bet you'd really enjoy it if you got back into it.

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  7. OK, that wasn't where I thought the sewing machine story was going to go! How much was it? Would it kill you to have two sewing machines? (I'm probably not helping, am I?)

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    1. NO! You are not helping!
      I don't even want to tell you what it cost because you'd be even more apt to tell me to go back and get it. $75.
      A steal. For sure. And they'd probably take less.

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  8. I have an old, old sewing machine that belonged to my great grandmother. It weighs a ton. We use it as a stand for a small aquarium.

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  9. Oh Ms Moon, go back! We had one in my family. My sister took it and made it into a table. GO BACK GO BACK GO BACK! You have strong men to carry it. You could make me a sock monkey! Ok, I’ll keep quiet.

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  10. Congrats to Hank and Rachel!

    And the Hartmanns (Hartmenn?) are looking extra fine in that photo.

    You may be prejudiced about Maggie, but she is just as exquisite as you think she is.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.