Saturday, February 9, 2019

Sleeping Is The Decluttering Of The Mind And It Sure Sparks Joy In Me


That is not a good photo, obviously.
The bee is in shadow but it was the best I could do this morning. I wanted to grasp the stem of the camellia and tip it up towards the light but I did not dare to touch it lest I disturb the bee who was so industriously making love to the blossom in the privacy of that deep, shadowed pinkness.

I was not industrious at all today. In fact, I slept for an hour and a half this afternoon on a bed that didn't even have a sheet on it. Last night I bled from a healing burn on my forearm I'd gotten a few days ago while pulling a large sheet pan out of the oven.
Chef scars. We all have them. Even if we're not chefs.
Anyway, it was just a little blood on the bottom sheet but I was gathering laundry and threw that in with it and when I laid down on the bed, I pulled the duck up over me and did not care a bit that I was lying on the mattress cover which is rather soft in and of itself. Jack was already napping there and he moved to my side and rested his body against mine and we slept hard. When I woke up I truly did not know what time of day or even year it was. I had surrendered to sleep entirely.

It was so nice, having Jessie and the boys here last night. After we got the children to bed we had martinis and ate our own supper and watched a show on Netflix about huge, crazy houses and the two we saw were made of concrete and steel and they were horrible, horrible and I would much rather live in a cabin in a state park than one of those things. Or maybe even a tent. If it was a nice tent. It's called "The World's Most Extraordinary Homes" and yes, they were extraordinary but not in a good way. The two people who host the show kept saying things like, "I love the way that they have created this intimate space within all of this industrial design," blah, blah, blah. What a tribute to the saying Just because you can doesn't always mean you should. At least in my universe. But still we enjoyed making fun of this bullshit while we ate our eggplant parmesan.

August slept well in our room as he always does and when he woke up he slipped out without us even knowing but soon he was knocking on our door. He wanted his Boppy to come and watch TV with him. Boppy did just that and I got up and started making waffles and bacon. While I was cooking, Levon, who is notoriously shy of almost everyone including his grandfather, went up to the big chair where Boppy and August were sitting and raised up his arms and snuggled in with them. He could not possibly have made Glen happier.


He's slowly coming around to letting us all love on him. 

Every time I make waffles I think about how once, when August was quite small, we were in Asheville and had gone to a restaurant for breakfast and August was starving and in his tiny little baby-boy voice he told the waiter, "Waffies. Please." He was so plaintive. 


He ate every bite on that plate except for some of the bacon. 
Waffies still rock the child's world. 

After breakfast Jessie packed things up and she and her babies and Mr. Moon headed out to a soccer game of Gibson's. I stayed behind and leisurely cleaned up and did laundry and tackled the junk drawer. 
I only really have four drawers in my kitchen. Two of them are in the kitchen island and one holds silverware, the other random knives and cutting implements including the pastry cutter and knife sharpener and crab crackers. In other words, another sort of junk drawer. I keep the utensils I actually use in various jars and pitchers beside the stove and on the kitchen island, and the knives I use in a knife holder on the island too. One of the other two drawers in the kitchen holds aluminum foil and plastic wrap (which I am truly trying to use less of) and wax paper and it did hold rubber bands and the canning funnel and the small regular funnel and a small strainer and the drawer is not big and things were always getting stuck and this morning I said, "This thing is going to be the death of me!" With vehemence. 
And finally, the last drawer is the junk drawer. 
So. I cleaned it out. We have enough batteries to light up many nights and those stayed although they are now all contained in bags instead of just rolling around randomly. I made a donate pile in which the set of steak knifes has gone. Steak knives? Really? Also going away are about twenty shish kabob skewers. Did I go through a shish kabob phase? Why? When? I threw out some telephone cords. You know- real telephone cords? One end plugs into a phone and the other end plugs into the wall where the phone line comes in? Remember those? I discovered I have many, many boxes of matches and one matchbook from The Stardust casino in Las Vegas which is now gone. I'm holding on to that for posterity. I threw away instruction booklets for appliances we no longer own. I got rid of other items in there which were just holding space and gumming up my life and was thus able to put some of the stuff from the aluminum foil drawer in the larger drawer and so my life will now be better and will spark more joy. 
Please. I do love that phrase. I'm using it a lot in my mind. 
Tomorrow I may attack the knife drawer. I hope it doesn't attack me back. 
Perhaps I can slowly take control of my kitchen, my closets, my life. I know I've vowed and sworn to do this before but hey! This could be the year!

The guy who lives next door has band practice at his place tonight. I have to say that his band has improved a small, tiny amount from a few months ago when I was finally at the end of my rope and went over there and knocked on the door and told him I JUST COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! 
Not a whole lot of improvement but some. And I can tell they're practicing on the other side of the house. Still. I could live without it. 
Other than that, all is peaceful here in Lloyd and Mr. Moon should be returning soon from an FSU basketball game. He's been busy all day. After Gibson's game he took Owen shopping for baseball cleats and basketball shoes. 
He's such a good grandfather. 
And Owen has feet like a St. Bernard puppy. 


I think I'll go make a salad. And there is silence from next door. Hopefully they're getting so stoned that they won't be able to play anymore although having known way more than my share of musicians, I know that that is not really possible. 

Love...Ms. Moon




27 comments:

  1. The perspective in that photo of Owen is hilarious.

    I admire your junk drawer clearing. I have a pathological fear of clutter clearing that I don't quite understand. I want to do it. I don't mind once I'm actually doing it. But I fear it ridiculously. Sigh. I'm hiding from a lot all the time.

    Sweetie babies, as always.

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    1. Well, I'm sure that a therapist would tell you (and most of us) that we are afraid of throwing things away because we have invested memories and hopes and emotions into them. Or maybe I'm just speaking for myself. Oddly enough, I find that the things which I find hardest to throw away are the things which least spark joy in me. In fact, they generally bring up feelings of guilt or dread. Like- shit that I "know" should mean a lot to me because of who it belonged to or who gave it to me. So, the very thought of getting rid of these things makes me feel guilty. Ridiculous.

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  2. Please tell me, Mary, how tall is Mr. Moon?

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    1. Sometime around six foot, nine inches. He's quite tall.

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    2. My brother was at Auburn and was a big fan (still is) when Glen was on the basketball team ~ he said Glen was called Moooooooon-Man or 6-10 Glen...of course, we all seem to lose an inch or two as we age!

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    3. I always forget that your brother was at Auburn when Glen was and when I'm reminded, it makes me smile.

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    4. I figured he was 'tall' but didn't expect he was THAT tall. Wow! Pretty cool. Big guy with a big heart.

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  3. de-cluttering is so rewarding....why don't we all do it more often? I always feel like I have conquered the world if I do just one drawer or cupboard! August and Levon are so cute on Boppy's lap. Glad you had a proper nap today and are ready to roll again . ;-) .
    I love, love, love your new header photo. It is *so* you and a beautiful piece of art
    Susan M

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    1. I need to do some research and see if I can find who painted this picture. It is beautiful, isn't it?

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  4. In the past few weeks I’ve noticed just how adorable Levon is. All your grands are adorable. But little Levon is really coming into his own right now. I loved August’s dress and Maggie’s nurturing stance with Levon in recent photos. I don’t like to hear about a burn on your arm and it bleeding!! Please no infection. I slept a good nap today too. It’s been that kind of day. And congrats on de-clutter work. It’s something I’m always attempting to do. Right now it’s my office that I hope to change into a guest room. I have little piles of stuff lining my hallway in an attempt at organizing. Life. Joanne

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    1. Life IS messy, isn't it?
      Don't worry about my burn. It's very shallow. Healing nicely.
      Levon is definitely becoming his own little boy self. It's so precious to see.

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  5. A very nice day. I almost didn't recognize Owen in his new haircut. Do his feet give him away now, like my 17 year old grandson?

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    1. Not sure about Owen's feet! They seem fairly unoffensive so far. But he's only nine.

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  7. I love the new picture. Did you notice the mouse with the mandolin?

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  8. I love your new header picture. I wanted to let you know that I read you all the time, but for some silly reason, don't comment. Well, I'm commenting now. I envy your ability to have a good, hard nap! I also want you to know that you have made me crave waffles and bacon on more than one occasion! -Jenn

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    1. Please comment whenever you feel moved to do so. I love comments.
      Wafflies, please?

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  9. I'm not surprised Owen's feet are puppyish, given how tall Glen is. No matter how big he eventually gets he's got a lot of growing to do! Good for you for tackling the junk drawer. I cleaned stuff out here as well! It just seems like the time to do that when spring is over the horizon. I have never been a daytime sleeper. I just can't do it.

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    1. PS -- I did some research on your fabulous new header image. If my research is correct (I hope!) it's by a Ukrainian painter named Vladislav Erko, and depicts a Ukrainian folk tale. It certainly LOOKS like a Ukrainian folk tale.

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    2. Yep! Looks like you are absolutely correct! How did you figure that out, Steve? What an amazing artist and illustrator he is. Thank you.
      And yes, I can't wait to see how tall all of these grandchildren are going to be. Honestly, August and Levon have the most genetic inclination to be super tall. Vergil's father's side of the family is VERY tall and his mama's side has some tall folks too. We'll just have to wait and see.

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    3. Thank you Steve for identifying the painter of this header art! I had a good hunch it was an eastern european work........ good for you! I'd love to find a small print of this- it is quite wonderful
      Susan M (who *found* you through Ms Moon)






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    4. I found it by using Google image search. If you click "images" on the Google search page, you can then upload a picture and search for it on the Web. It's a good way to find out who painted a certain picture or took a certain photo.

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  10. The photo of the bee in the flower is beautiful and the shade is a much better place to take photos rather than the sun. The sun tends to bleach out details in photos.

    I love organizing things, I do it at work too and everyone laughs but I know where to find things.

    Love your photos as always but now I have a craving for waffles:)

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    1. You should probably start your own organizing and decluttering business. You could probably make a fortune AND get to see what's in people's closets and drawers.
      I'm glad you like the bee photo.

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  11. I'm fixing blueberry pecan pancakes for breakfast this morning, something a little different than our usual Sunday bacon, eggs, and toast. but there will be bacon too. I've been sleeping late this past week but I've also been awake for several hours during the night. tackling the junk drawer...quite brave of you there Mary.

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    1. I love to put as many different fruits and nuts in pancakes and waffles as I can. And sweet potatoes! They make the best ones.
      Yes. I almost felt as if I needed to wear a helmet to clean that drawer out.

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