Monday, May 11, 2020

Another Bout Of Musings


Best news first. This girl does not have Covid.
Hurray, hurray! Which means that that little boy doesn't either. We are all so grateful. I told her to come and hug me, then, but she did not.
Oh, she's got a lot going on as all the mommies do right now. On top of everything else they're moving house for a few days to an Air B&B (now that she knows she's not infectious) so that workers can come in and replace their air and heating unit. Besides that, there's a fence being torn down and rebuilt in their yard. The company they hired on great recommendation did such a lousy job the first time that when Vergil called and complained and when the supervisor came over to see the work, he said, "No, this is bad. I am so sorry. We'll completely redo it."
And so they are.
With a completely different crew, too.

So. That little family is well.

I walked this morning and it was cool enough and I went as far as Heartside Run again today. Here's a picture of what it looks at one point.


Perhaps tomorrow I'll follow it all the way down. For some ridiculous reason after I've gone two and a half miles I start to worry that I won't be able to get all the way back and home before I collapse. I've not yet in all my years of walking collapsed so I'm not sure why I'm so concerned. I guess I don't trust myself. 
I took this picture on my way back. 


Yes, it's pretty but it is non-native and so invasive. I have the vines coming up all in the garden and trying to uproot them is like trying to pull something which is anchored in China. In that regard, it is hideous. 
No Man Lord was on his way home from somewhere, picking up cans which I'm sure he sells when he has a large number of them. He doesn't always speak but today he did. We greeted each other (from a safe distance) and he said, "So, is this manmade?" 
"The virus?" I asked.
"Yeah."
"Nah, I don't think so. New viruses crop up all of the time and some of them aren't much at all and some of them are bad. This one is bad."
"Huh," he said. "Okay. Well, you be safe."
"You be safe too," I told him. 
He is a most interesting man. 

Before I got to my driveway I took this picture. 


Now that is a perfect glory of a magnolia blossom. Wider across than my hand and the matchstick-like stamens have let loose and are falling into their petal cups. The wind will carry them away. I picked another blossom, still closed, and brought it home. 


It will open tomorrow morning and by Wednesday, it will be dropping its stamens too. It's already sharing its sweet lemony perfume with us. 

After my lunch I had a pre-scheduled phone call with a social security agent. Mr. Moon and I are going to start taking our benefits and this was my call to apply. There's a secret password and everything. The lady who called me was so very nice. She kept laughing about hearing Liberace crow in the background. "Please excuse me for a second," she would say. She told me that she can't type and talk at the same time. I told her that was fine, I was just looking out at the beautiful day. Sometimes as she typed she hummed a little scrap of a tune. The whole thing was easy until the very end when she told me that I had to send in our marriage certificate.
Oh dear. I have no idea where it is. I can't remember ever even seeing it. We did well and truly get married. 
I hope. 
I went through the file where it might possibly be but although I found my first marriage certificate (and decree of divorce), I did not find the one which proclaims Mr. Moon and I to be legally wed. 
Wouldn't it be funny if we found out that some glitch had occurred and that we never were? And had to do it again? 
Funny, but not very convenient. I hope to hell that we find it. 

So that was my big excitement of the day. 

Every evening for the past few days we've had a raccoon trying to slip into the hen house before we shut the chickens up. If he comes back tonight things are not going to go well for him. I'm sorry but I'm not going to have spent three months of my life raising and tending and nurturing this last bunch of chicks for a raccoon to come and grab one or several and eat the head off of them. Predators happen and if you let your chickens free-range they're at risk and even if you don't, they're at risk. Coons especially are so good at figuring out how to break in to even the most secure shelters and possums are geniuses at digging. I accept that things happen if you keep chickens. I really do. But having a hawk snatch one is not quite the same as having a critter get in to the place where the chickens are supposed to be safest and murder them. I know that raccoons and possums have to eat too but they don't have to eat my birds. 
Big talk from a woman who doesn't even know where the gun is kept. 
I depend on my husband so much for doing the hard things. I really do. He'd set up the whole social security application process after he did his and when I asked him why we were even bothering to apply for my benefits since I've done so little work outside the home and they'll be so ridiculously tiny, he answered that it was because if he died, this would make it easier for me to get his benefits. 
Listen- that's love. That's the real deal. That's making sure that I'll be taken care of if he can't. 
May I go first. Please. Let me go first. 

I tell you what- getting older is an experience that almost none of us can be prepared for. Not in any real way. It's like becoming a parent. People tell you, you can observe it, but you can't really know until it's your turn to step into that part of life. 

All right. Going to go make stir fry with all the vegetables and leftover steak from last night. Always a joy to get that wok out and peel and slice and chop and grate. 

It's a beautiful evening here. I hope it is where you are too. 

Stay safe. Let's keep those test results negative. 

Love...Ms. Moon




33 comments:

  1. i am so glad jessie tested negative! we call that orange thing trumpet vine here and i used to get paid to dig it up when it shot runners all over the front yard.... bees do love it but it is a mess for sure. congrats on your SS!

    xxalainaxx

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    1. Yep. Orange trumpet vine. It's another one of those plants that is trying to take over the world. Or at least my part of it.

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  2. When I get the urge to explore and go further on my walks I ask my husband if I call will he come get me so I don't have to worry about walking too far to get back. He is fine with that and it makes it so nice to be able to walk as far as I want without worrying about when I need to turn around to go back.

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    1. Well, of course my husband would come and get me and actually, everyone is so nice along my walk that someone would probably bring me home if it was necessary. I actually fine. It's just a funny little weirdness I have.

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  3. Wonderful news! Flying back home tomorrow and hoping the airport and plane aren’t crowded. This is a bad one, doubly cruel when we can’t hug our loves or be at their side when they need us. Let’s all stay safe!
    Xoxo
    Barbara

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    1. I hope your flight is going well and that you get home safely and smoothly.
      Yes. Let's all stay safe.

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  4. I'm glad Jessie tested negative and glad you got a good walk in. If you did collapse on your walk you have a phone to call for help:)

    The magnolia blossom is gorgeous and your man, yes, that is love.

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    1. I do indeed have my phone. That makes me feel much safer. Plus, it delivers my audiobook to me as I walk. AND maps my distance and time on a map.

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  5. That man is one in a million...I'm glad you had a good day and I hope that raccoon finds other appetizers and leaves your chicks alone.

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    1. He for sure is one a million. No doubt about that.

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  6. Don't sweat the marriage certificate. (Unless Florida is a lot weirder than I think.) It's an official document on record, probably at the courthouse in the county where you got married, and the people there should be able to give (well, for a moderate price) you an official copy, possibly stamped and sealed and all.

    Yes, I have a long war going with the trumpet vine here in upstate NY also; and I have a friend who had it in Long Island and turned out to be quite allergic to it, broke out all in hives while trying to subdue it. I don't even have enough sun that it will bloom nicely.

    And you brought the smell of the magnolia right out of my memory and into my nose. Delicious!

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    1. I know I can get a copy and it does have to be certified. It's just that right now it sure would be more convenient to find ours.
      I wish you could smell my kitchen right now. That blossom is filling it up with its scent.

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  7. I'm so happy to hear that Jessie is okay! Yay! I don't remember needing our marriage certificate when we applied for SS but it's been a few years. I think I did it online and it was much easier than I had anticipated. That beautiful magnolia takes me back to when I lived in the south growing up. There is just nothing like them and the smell is so sweet. You and Mr. Moon take care now!

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    1. Oddly, Glen didn't need it but I do. Not sure why. He doesn't need to prove he's married but I do?
      Magnolias are definitely a memory trigger for those who knew them as children.
      We will take care. You, too, Bonnie.

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    2. Sounds like Mr. Moon set it up for you to file a "spousal" SS benefit claim, as opposed to a claim against your own work record. This would make sense, since as you say, you haven't done as much paid work outside the home. Sometimes you need to show proof of marriage for that kind of application. No worries, your smart husband did the right thing!

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  8. Huge relief that Jessie doesn't have the Virus and her Family is all Well! May you scare the Raccoon shitless so it doesn't have the nerve to come back and have to be neutralized... I kinda feel that way about Gophers, I know they have to Live, but not in our Yard, the potholes they leave are Senior Falls waiting to happen and I don't need to break a Hip right about now... or ever... That Magnolia looks Magnificent... and even the most invasive of Species of other Flowers {the Lovely Vine} and Creatures can be pretty, which is likely why people felt they needed to have imported them and bring the Scourge of them to places they don't belong. Man has really cocked up so many environments and patterns of life that we shouldn't have. I was thinking just Today that had some obscure person we'll never know, not needed Bat Soup on their menu, we all would have perhaps been spared this deadly Pandemic... or something like that, who knows why Diseases jump Species really, perhaps it's Nature's way of Culling apex Predators like us?

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    1. Well, if that's what nature is intending, she sure is trying her best to get it done.
      The raccoon saga continues. We shall see how it ends up.

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  9. Good news on Jessie! Weird that she lost smell and taste, though?

    We have a Rat visiting and eating the bird food. Being chased away by our bloodthirsty terrier doesn't seem to have discouraged it. I'm not going to be out there with a shotgun either, no Old Ma Blunderbussing here. I'd like it to feck off, though, I prefer not to see daylight evidence of their presence.

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    1. Some critters are just stubborn as hell, aren't they? And persistent! Since Liberace figured out where the cat food was in the kitchen he will not stop trying to get in there to eat it. We have our little confrontations several times a day.

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  10. oh, what a relief! Jessie is not sick. Well, not sick with covid. and no this virus is not man made and bad ones sweep through humanity with regularity. and how lucky that they hired a fence company with integrity.

    there are magnolia trees on just about every property on the street and they are all in full bloom. ours is so crowded by other trees that it doesn't bloom as well and it takes a while for flowers to form low enough for me to pick.

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    1. That truly is a fence company with integrity! They're going to lose money on that deal but they are doing the right thing.
      My own magnolias here are too tall for me to hardly ever get one of their blossoms which is why I resorted to stealing this one.

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  11. I'm always so envious of the beautiful flowers (and birds) people who live in hot places have around them. And the lush greenery - you are so lucky even if a lot of it is invasive. And great news about Jessie - your relief must be palpable.

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    1. We are lucky, even with our invasive plants and animals.
      And you are so right- I am vastly relieved that Jessie is okay.

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  12. I won't be able to sleep tonight for worrying about that darling raccoon. Why can't you get a raccoon trap? Then when the wire door slams shut Mr Moon can take Rocky to another place where he can live happily. Good to learn that your gorgeous Jessie has tested negative.

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    1. Well, for one thing, it's illegal to relocate raccoons here. Snakes we will relocate but raccoons are a different matter. They are fierce and can wound dogs and humans alike.
      Plus I guess we're just barbarians.
      But we do have beautiful children and grandchildren.

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    2. Of course you know more about raccoons than I do. After all, we don't have the pleasure of their company on this side of the Atlantic. But I had a look at the website of The American Humane Society and found this page with its links most instructive and heartening:-
      https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/what-do-about-raccoons

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    3. Well, none of those situations is really what we're dealing with which is a raccoon trying to slip into the hen house before we shut the door. We try to shut the chickens all up as soon as we can but there are always a few stragglers and that's the problem. So far, no coons have died yet so that's good.

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  13. I'm so glad Jessie tested negative- I didn't see the earlier post- but it must have been very worrying for you. May you all stay safe and well.

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    1. Me too! Thanks, Wendy. You stay safe and well too.

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  14. Ah, my ducklings are on their way in the mail, should be here tomorrow. You can bet I've had the pens all checked and reinforced againt the big fuckers (raccoons) and the little fuckers (weasels and ermines). The heat lamps are in working order and we will get any feeding/watering things we still need when we pick up the chicks at the feed store...So excited for them all to arrive. Otherwise I've felt corona-'murica-smothered all weekend and now it's Tuesday?
    Oh yea, those trumpet vines, we called them monkey cigars when we were kids living in Virginia... I found a cold tolerating one years ago to plant in my garden with vague archway plans and it never took off. Now it's been showing itself several feet from where I planted it and it even bloomed the past two years! It's on a rotting old post which we'll replace with an arch for dream fulfillment purposes.

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    1. Oh, you are going to love those ducklings! Do you have a place for them to get in the water?
      "Dream fulfillment purposes." I love that! Good luck!

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    2. Thanks Mary, yes we have a tiny brook running through the bottom of our yard, we call it the gully garden and have various lovely things there,such as a garden hut for visiting and a fire pit. the boys played there as kids and there was a sand pit and a tree house with a swing. Oh gosh, sudden happy memory dump... Anyway over the years the boys, the ducks and even the geese have shifted the course of the brook as they played/nibbled in it...

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  15. I'm so glad to hear about Jessie's test. That's wonderful news.

    I don't think I knew those trumpet vines aren't native. We had one near our house in Pasco County and I always enjoyed it. Oh well.

    And I totally understand needing to go after the raccoon. We're having a similar pest situation here and I am riddled with guilt. (More on that later!)

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.