Tuesday, June 29, 2021

It's Mr. Moon's birthday and we drove down to the coast and met up with Lily, Lauren, Owen, Gibson, Maggie, and Pepper The Dog at Hamaknockers, a restaurant in Crawfordville where we ate barbecue on tables outside and it was delicious. 

And then we drove to Panacea where I lived one million years ago in a house by the bay or rather, I squatted in a house by the bay with about eight other people. We had no running water or electricity and some of the rooms were dangerous to walk through because of rotten floorboards but somehow it all worked out for a little while. Until it didn't. 
Still, I love Panacea in a way with its miles of grass rivers and cabbage palms, fishing boats and millionaire's houses where people never seem to live. There's a little beach at the end of a road just this side of a bay called Mashes Sands and right before you get there, there's another little road that goes to the beach where there used to be a fishing pier but most of it got destroyed by a hurricane and it still hasn't been rebuilt but you can make your way down to the water and there's a little tidal creek that flows with a good current and a little peninsula that makes a fine place to set chairs and watch the kids play in the water. It's the same place that Jessie and Vergil found and where the picture of Levon and me in the header was taken. That day was two years ago exactly because that's where we went on Mr. Moon's birthday in 2019. 


Mr. Moon brought his fishing gear and he set up on the other side of the little creek by the bay and he and Maggie sat in the water together for a long time. 

"I like being in your arms, Boppy," Maggie told him. And I think that's what he'll remember most about this birthday. He didn't catch any fish but he managed to catch a Maggie for a little while. 


The kids and Pepper had a great time. They swam and found hermit crabs and pretended the current was sweeping them away. Lauren and Lily and I sat on the shore and watched it all and talked and laughed. I got in the water too and let it wash over me like a tannin-colored dream and it was so nice to be sitting by the water, letting it all flow and be. 


When we finally packed up and hauled our chairs and the umbrella and our bags across the little creek back to the beach, it had begun to look dire to the east of us. We could hear very distant thunder for a while before that and suddenly, there was a squall line that was remarkable and then, just as we got back to the cars, the wind began whipping and it looked like this.

Seagulls began being blown backwards, trying to wheel around like a sailboat tacking into the wind and we all said things like, "Whoa! Good timing!" and so forth and then we drove home and here we are and the rain is coming down again and I'm going to go make our supper. 

Love...Ms. Moon



39 comments:

  1. Happy birthday Mr. Moon! You deserve everything good, and I see today you had some of that. May the year bring only more of it.

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  2. What a great way to mark Mr Moon's birthday. I believe I found your exact location courtesy of Google aerial imagery. Let's hope you can go back there in 2022.

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    1. Funny how you can find any place these days, isn't it?

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  3. What a wonderful day for Mr. Moon's birthday. Wow, Pepper sure did get big!

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    1. That picture is deceiving. Pepper is still quite small. But she is big in spirit!

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  4. That photo of Mr. Moon and Maggie fishing is priceless. What a birthday day!

    Chris from Boise

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    1. And - the perfect sentence: "He didn't catch any fish but he managed to catch a Maggie for a little while."

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    2. They sat like that for the longest time. It was so sweet.

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  5. "I like being in your arms, Poppy." That is pure sweetness and the essence of love. What a happy day of Moon family togetherness. Happy Birthday, Mr Moon! Wishing you all many more. x0x0 N2

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    1. That girl is a cuddly one. She has always loved to snuggle.

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  6. A fine time and a narrow escape. Happy Birthday!

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  7. Wow, that storm!
    I'm glad Mr M relented and had a tasty birthday meal!

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    1. We kept thinking of Dorothy and Toto.
      It was a fun and fine lunch.

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  8. Happy belated birthday to Mr. Moon.

    Panacea, what an excellent name for a place. Was it the solution to all of your troubles? It looks like it was yesterday. I'm glad y'all had a good day. Look at me, typing Floridian:)

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    1. A long time ago people would come to Panacea to "take the waters". There was a sulphur spring there that folks believed was beneficial. Thus, the name.
      I am QUITE impressed at your use of such a beloved southernism.

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  9. A good day and good timing. Panacea--a cure for what ails ya.

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  10. What's not to love in this blog? What a super birthday day for Mr. Moon and all of his admirers!
    Thanks for sharing it with all of us!

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    1. You are so welcome! Thanks for coming along.

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  11. So glad Mr Moon had a great birthday! Today it is my husbands' birthday and due to the sweltering heat here I am making him his favorite dinner in the crockpot-brisket. Ice cream for dessert.

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    1. I can't believe how much cooler it is here than it is elsewhere in the country right now.

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    2. Also- that sounds like a delicious birthday dinner.

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  12. Looks like a great day! It was cool seeing the recent picture of the peninsula and comparing it with your header -- looks essentially unchanged!

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    1. That's what I thought too- no real changes at all.

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  13. I am sure Boppy likes having arms to hold Maggie! Such a wonderful day with the ones you love and who love you right back. That is the best photo of a dog I have seen for a long time, I may try to paint it. perfect lines, posture, balance/composition!

    Your youth sounds crazy, like mine! We may have been wild things!

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    1. Pepper is truly A Dog. No distractions of fur or fluff to belie the lines of her.
      We MAY have been wild things?

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  14. I can't think of a better way to spend a birthday - it looks just wonderful (except for that last picture)!

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  15. What a wonderful day for Mr. Moon! and the rest of you too!

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  16. A very fine day indeed. And excellent timing! The Florida weather can sure change in a heartbeat.
    Xoxo
    Barbara

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  17. another wonderful for the Moons. we're still getting rain, three brief showers today so far, several yesterday and one the day before I think. at least it's not several inches a day.

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    1. We're getting rain almost every late afternoon just like in the old days. I can't say I don't love it. It cools things off so beautifully.

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  18. That was a grand day for a grandad's birthday!

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  19. So glad there was a party after all the reluctance before. It sounds like a lot of fun.

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  20. Wishing your husband many, many happy returns of the day.

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