Sunday, December 19, 2021

In Which I Am Irreverent, Irrelevant, And Irredeemable

 We went to our second social outing in two days this afternoon. As I mentioned yesterday, our across-the-street neighbors had invited us over for oysters and it was actually a very nice little gathering. I got to meet their daughter's fiancee and I give him my stamp of approval. He seemed pretty real to me and for a guy from New Jersey just getting to know Lloyd, quite chill as well. He admitted that Lloyd is like no place he's ever been before but he said it was beautiful. 
Of course I agreed with that. 

I baked a focaccia with sausage and cheese stuffing to take that another woman tasted and then immediately asked the recipe for and said she was going to make it this week for a gathering she was having. So that made me feel good. Turns out she and I have a lot in common and I really enjoyed talking to her. We spent a lot of time talking, not only with each other, but also with a girl in high school, the daughter of another couple there and we ended up giving her life-advice which was mainly the old hippy perspective and I have to wonder what she thought as well as wondering what her parents thought. 
These sort of experiences always make me think of this scene in The Graduate.




But what is it about older people wanting to tell younger people what they should do with their lives? It seems to be something embedded in the human genome although I can't really remember anyone pulling me aside when I was young to tell me what I should do with my life. Well, except for "get a good education!" 
A friend of my mother's did take me to lunch at a fancy restaurant in Winter Haven when I was about to go off to college to give me some advice but I don't really recall what it was. She was a woman ahead of her time and had a job in the upper echelons of a large local bank. She may have been the first woman I ever really knew who didn't work as a teacher or a nurse or a secretary. It was still a little bit unusual for a woman to work outside of the home in those days to be honest. 

But honestly, the lady I met today and I didn't give this high school girl any specific advice, just mostly to be open to different experiences, to listen to what her heart told her and to not be afraid. 

So. Here we are, less than a week away from Christmas and have I finished my shopping? 
The real question would be- have I started my shopping? 
And the answer would be....umm...sort of? 
Oh sweet baby Jesus. How in hell did your humble birth lead to this giant capitalistic orgy of enforced buying, resulting in people wandering around giant stores, picking up and discarding things like gift baskets filled with odd and unwanted sausages and faux cheeses and stale crackers and jars of jam so small that we are led to believe that their contents must be as precious as gold? 



If I make it through until next Sunday it'll be a Christmas miracle.

All right. Our freezer seems to be not working and we need to haul all of the stuff in there out to the garage freezer and I sort of want to make a little bit of supper because even though there was food at the party I didn't feel like eating much of it and such is life.

Hang in there, y'all. The season of fucking joy will be over before we know it. 

Thank god. 

Love...Ms. Moon


23 comments:

  1. Yeah, over soon, thank god. Miss Mary, I, too, would like that recipe. And I hope your Christmas is placid and comforting and without anxiety. Let's hope that for me, too. Not such good stuff going on right now. But I get to see my granddaughter tomorrow night, yay! Up from Kentucky for a few days.

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    1. The recipe is on the King Arthur website but theirs only has cheese and herbs. I added the sausage and took out the herbs.
      I'm sorry that not-good things are happening with you. Please take care! And yay for getting to see your granddaughter!

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    2. Thank you! My schoolteacher son who has been vaxxed to the max, along with his wife and daughter just tested positive today, so trip is postponed. I feel so badly for my granddaughter, her only cousins are going to be here from CT and all her gifts are up here in WI. Geez, it just keeps coming. She's only 8.

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  2. That baby looks spent, utterly exhausted, trying to cheer up humanity and all. I would invite you to any and all parties ! You offer such goods and wisdom.

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    1. That poor baby. And his mother because obviously he was two years old when he was born.
      I almost said the word "fuck" at that party. I had to bite my own damn tongue.

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  3. Your social activities leave mine in the dust! You seem to have enjoyed it a lot, too. About this focaccia, I have to check into that.

    Any idea where in NJ the great guy is from?? Just asking for a friend..

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    1. Somewhere on the shore is what I understood. So...
      I think that he comes from an Italian family. No cliche there, right? He seems like a very fine guy.

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  4. Four more days of work and then I'm off until January.

    You can do this. You're a tough old hippie:) You birthed babies at home. You got this.

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    1. Funny but the fact that I birthed babies at home came up at the party. Also the fact that I lived in a house with no running water. A guy asked, "And you did this willfully?"

      I have been thinking about you all day long, sweet woman. I know that you must be devastated and I am devastated for you.

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  5. " Invited us over for oysters" ??? Is that really a thing in US? Did you actually have oysters or is it a euphanism? Sounds like you enjoyed it whatever! I am getting worried that our shit government is going to lock us down again before Xmas.....whilst they again have parties and a good laugh at the rest of us obeying!

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    1. Haha, Frances! Yes. There were real oysters being shucked and eaten. Some were steamed.
      I hope that things don't get so dire in England. But if they need to shut down again then I guess you'll have to. Better than here where the governor of our state just completely ignores all medical advice.

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  6. "Hang in there, y'all. The season of fucking joy will be over before we know it", could be a great advertising strapline for Macy's.

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    1. I agree! I wonder why they haven't been in touch with me yet about using it.

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  7. I understand older people wanting to give advice to younger people (who probably wouldn't take it anyway) because they have lived the experiences - warts and all. The only advice I would give to a young girl today is to make sure you can support yourself financially. Divorce happens, people are widowed and so on, so it's so very important for a young woman to be able to take care of herself and her children. If she then has a wonderful, happy marriage that is just the icing on the cake!

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    1. I think that it was absolutely understood that whatever this girl's plans included, they needed to be able to provide her with a living. I believe that most girls these days understand that completely.

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  8. Christmas will be over before we know it and that's a good thing. I enjoy seeing them all and it will be fun to get together. I will then go back to my boring routine of a life, altho, I am trying to think of what I can do in 2022 to feel better about my day to day existence! No pressure?!?! :)
    Hang in there, Ms. Moon!

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    1. I'm with you on that one, Ellen. The part about feeling better when it comes to day-to-day life. The woman I was talking to yesterday has discovered a new career after her retirement and she is so happy and excited to get up every day. She says she can't believe how much she loves it. I was jealous.

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  9. I just ignore it altogether. No decorating, no shopping, no cooking although I am going to the SHARE christmas party in a little while and I did make a small pasta salad. why they have to drag one day (two if you count the eve) into 2 months of non-stop happiest day of the year. It is not the happiest day of the year. and my other pet peeve about it...any tragedy is always worse if it happens at christmastime. No it isn't! that's like saying your tragedy any other time of the year is not as horrible as it could be.

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  10. I am with you 100 percent on the holiday exasperation. I haven't bought a thing, hardly, and I'm still not sure what I'm doing for Dave this year!

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    1. Same-same here. Glen told me today that I can get him a work bench at Costco. I said, "Great. Go buy it."

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.