Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Moments Of Bliss


This morning I did what I suppose is panic-buying and went to Publix. At least I got up early and got in there before nine which just goes to show you how somehow important it all seemed to me. I knew we had plenty to eat but I needed the comfort of knowing that we have more than plenty which is absolutely the wrong way to think about things and I know it.
I mean, whipped butter WAS involved.
So silly.
Lily had asked me to get her some toilet paper if they had any and every person I saw had some in their basket and I knew I should have done what they'd all done which was to go raid the paper aisle first. By the time I got there the shelves were empty but for three four-packs and I got Lily two of them. I got juice and asparagus and potatoes and strawberries and another bag of flour and a can of baked beans and beer and milk, both for us and for Lily, apples, bananas, avocados, coffee, and dark chocolate peanut covered M&M's.
Which I swear are for Mr. Moon.
The bread aisle was empty but for gluten-free and raisin bread. There were chips galore. So of course I bought a bag. Don't even ask me why.
I got whipped butter and chocolate chips (for emergency baking) and probably the most random thing of all because I got neither tortillas or taco shells- two packages of Old El Paso taco seasoning.
Venison Noodle Mexicana, anyone?
I did find bleach and I bought some. Also, laundry detergent because you know DAMN WELL I can't go three days without doing laundry.

Mr. Moon spent the morning vacuuming the house and then spraying for fleas so while the spray was drying I took a walk and when I got back I told my husband that it would be nice if he hung the hammock up. "Good idea!" he said, and he did it and told me it was ready.
"I wanted you to lay down," I told him. "You've been working hard."
He kept telling me to enjoy it and I kept insisting that I was perfectly happy where I was, which was true. I was sitting under the magnolia, reading Keith Richard's Life for about the fourth time. Finally my sweetheart did arrange his long, long body in the hammock that we bought in Cozumel and for a little while, it was so beautifully peaceful.


Jack came out and rubbed my foot with his head and I responded by rubbing his head with my foot and the chickens came and went and talked about things as chickens will do. 
I've been thinking lately that it was probably about time to reread Keith's memoir. It's been years since I either read it with my eyes or listened to it and if there's anyone in the world who embodies survival, it's Keith Richards. 


When I opened it up last night I was surprised at how fast I got back into it. How charmed I was. I remembered why I love that book so much- it's a damn good book. How many times have you read an autobiography or a memoir and gotten through the parts about the grandfathers and grandmothers with eyes rolling back in your head with boredom? Either Keith's forebearers were far more interesting than most grandparents or else he's simply a great story-teller or both. Even those parts spark with life and the man who put the first guitar into Keith's hands, his grandfather Gus Dupree, was so obviously beloved by the little boy Keith that you can't help but fall in love with the old reprobate. The way he talks about being bullied as a child, how his mother and father both came from matriarchies, what England was like just after the war, how he came to love music and sang for the queen before his voice broke, how he first began to question authority and the entire system- it's all told so honestly and yet sweetly that I've fallen right back into the story of it. 
Better than chocolate for me. 

So we had that time in the yard and the weather is warm, warm enough to make you sweat if you walk or work, but breezy and not yet so humid that it's like trying to breathe underwater. The Tung trees are blooming all up and down the interstate here and in my yard as well. That's what you see in the top picture. And in this one. 


I'm not sure there are even names for those colors. 

I passed a fat bumble bee making love to an azalea on my walk. 


Tomorrow August and Levon are coming over for the day. They stayed at Lily's house today and from the pictures I got, it would appear that they had a wonderful time. I came in and said hello to them when I dropped off the milk and toilet paper at Lily's and they both looked at me as if I had suddenly appeared from a very different planet. What in the world was Mer doing at Lily's house? 

I'd keep track of the days' numbers that we're all spending on what indeed feels like this very different planet but I have a feeling that there are going to be quite a few of them. 
Best to just take them as they come and try not to count them. 

Be well and be safe and do like Keith, by which I mean- survive. 

Love...Ms. Moon

31 comments:

  1. Those flowers are something I didn't realize I needed to see. Thank you.

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  2. Up here in Wisconsin we have snow on the ground, so I really appreciate your photos of what's bloomin' in Florida. We are hunkered down and I confess to a panic driven toilet paper buy. Most disappointing is the announcement that the Rolling Stones have canceled their tour - we had tickets!!! for their show in Louisville, KY where our son and family lives. It would have been my first concert ever. Stay safe, love up your kids and grands and hug Mr. Moon bunches. This virus is teaching us a lot, most of it for me is appreciation.

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    1. The Stones will reschedule! By god, if there's a way, they'll do it! You MUST go see them!
      Appreciation. Yes.

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    2. I for sure will go if they reschedule. Age 69 is a little late to get to a first-time concert (probably 70 when I do get there), but I'm going to stand up and rock to it if I feel like it!

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    3. I feel personally invested in this situation now. YOU MUST GO TO A CONCERT and what better concert to go to than the Rolling Stones?

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    4. P.S. Keith's book is wonderful. Should be required reading in a literature college course!

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  3. I love it when children assemble their world; realize Mer Mer is grandma to more than them. I can feel that knowledge working around there, behind their eyes.
    As for Keith, I'm straight off to Amazon to own my very own copy, just in case the library recording wears out.

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    1. Oh, Joanne! I bet I've owned four of the Keith books. I buy them at Goodwills for when I loan one out because what if I never get it back? How obsessive is that? I love you so much for loving that book. Not everyone does, you know. Although I have no idea why.
      You're right about Levon and August- I'm sure that was a bit startling.

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  4. Those flowers are beautiful! I always enjoy coming here before bed. Sweet dreams to you.

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  5. I'm glad you're both still well. The flowers are lovely and make me want the winter to be over, although there will be a lot of dog shit to deal with. Which reminds me, I'll have to get out of the yard and do some scooping tomorrow, the poop is that perfect temperature, not frozen solid but not too soft. How's that for a mental imagine?

    Take care.

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    1. Ha! That reminds me of how Keith describes the poop his pet mouse made in his pocket every day.
      Don't you wish the dog shit would simply disappear?

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  6. Hammocks are absolutely wonderful. I'd love to sleep in one but I'd probably fall out! Good job on the grocery store trip. I have to do that tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to it.

    Take care and enjoy Keith's memoirs!

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    1. Once you're in a Mexican hammock, it's hard to fall out. They embrace you. They're made of netting. I hope you did okay at the store.

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  7. I shopped yesterday and a lot of things were absent, like dried peas and beans of any kind, and all tuna fish, and ordinary yellow carrots (and of course hand sanitizer and bleach and antibacterial wipes etc.) But the one that amused me was the whole six-foot wide shelving area completely empty of pickles! I guess people know what really matters when self-isolating... I got 2 jars of capers...
    I'm expecting to have an ample chance to make some serious space in my chest freezer which hasn't been done in a decade. Without auto defrost things really keep well (that's my excuse).

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    1. Yes. There were like two bags of organic pinto beans and that was it for the dried beans. We did have lots of pickles, though! You've reminded me that I need capers. NEED capers. Haha!
      Good luck with that chest freezer.

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  8. You and Mr Moon in the yard, reading, hammocking. This.

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  9. Finally the penny has dropped. I know Boppy Moon's big secret. He played drums for The Who! It was said that he passed away in 1978 following a clomethiazole overdose but clearly this was just a ruse. He escaped fame and fortune to enjoy a normal life in northern Florida, cunningly changing his name from Keith to Glen. He must also have had his body stretched considerably on a rack.

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  10. We went for a short walk around the neighborhood yesterday and the early spring colors were so beautiful. I also saw a bumblebee, but mine was moving slowly up the wild/overgrown hedge on the side of my driveway looking for flowers. There's already a couple of tiny blooms of wisteria, and I even found a half hidden tiny azalea bush with white flowers over on the neighbor's side of the hedge.

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    1. I am so grateful that at least it's spring. I went out today and discovered wisteria growing way up to the sky on different trees in my yard. It shocks me to see this every year.

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  11. one thing about all this forced isolation is that it is giving the planet time to breathe. I read that the canals in Venice have cleared up, you can see fish in them and swans and porpoises are swimming in them. life is pretty much as usual here as this is how we normally live. so many people though don't know what to do with free time and no demands. my daughter spent one day at home...bored...and went back to work the next day but now her work is closed. I offered a jigsaw puzzle.

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    1. So true, Ellen. I am thinking about this a lot. For the planet, this is going to be a time to breathe.
      Jigsaw puzzles are good. They require you to slow the fuck down and concentrate.

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  12. Those are simple pleasures aren't they. Maybe everyone (except medical staff) having to slow down isn't quite such a bad thing is it!

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    1. Medical staff and plenty of retail people. They are heroes.

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  13. I had a similarly bizarre shopping experience this morning. I'll write about it tomorrow. The world has gone mad, and somehow grocery stores are the epicenter of the madness.

    I'm glad you got the hammock hung, and the tung trees look beautiful. Florida sounds so wonderful right about now.

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    1. Florida is very, very beautiful right now, Steve. I'm sorry you're missing it. Can't wait to hear about your shopping experience.

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  14. Someone I follow on instagram pointed out that we can't intend to quarantine for two weeks and then expect ourselves NOT to stock up on groceries, or do what we're calling "panic buying". So I think those of us buying more than usual are actually not selfish or insane, just doing the best we can. I'm glad you found toilet paper for Lily.

    Your flowers are so stunning. You, and they, do my heart good.

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    1. I think that's completely true, dear Ms. B. And I rationalized every purchase I made by thinking, "Well, I won't have to come back for that for awhile." And that is true!
      You do my heart good. It is so nice to see you here again.

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