Friday, January 14, 2022

Loving My Inner Child


Another perfectly gorgeous day here in North Florida. Cool and crisp and perfect for drying sheets on the line. 


And for admiring the fierce and delicate beauty of the camellias. 

I headed to town after I got my chores done here and stopped first at Costco. I wandered around, desultorily taking in scenarios- a mother with a toddler on her hip, looking at books, a man complaining to an employee because they'd changed the placement of everything and he could not find the dates! I was in and out of there pretty quickly and then I decided to take my own self to lunch and so I did, eating two chicken tacos outside. They weren't great but I enjoyed the experience, reading my New Yorker magazine that I'd picked up from the post office before I left Lloyd. Then I went next door to the Goodwill bookstore where I did some more wandering and meandering. There were only three other people including employees in the store and that felt safe. I ended up buying a Kate Atkinson book and a vase! 


Cat for scale. 
Jack was very curious about it, scratching his chin on the edge and even taking a tiny pink-tongued taste of it. It is in the dishwasher now. It's very heavy and very handsome. It will look lovely with a bold leaf rooting in it like a monstero or something of that ilk. Or perhaps even flowers. I have way too many vases already but as I always say- I do love a vessel. Things that hold things make me happy. 

Next stop was Publix. 
First I forgot my mask when I was halfway across the parking lot and had to turn back to get it. Then, when I was all the way in the store, I realized that I'd left my list in my coat pocket which I'd shed because it was getting so warm. So. Back to the car. 
It's times like these that remind me of something my friend Ruthie said once about our memories going- "embrace your spaciness." 
What else can one do? 
I ticked off all the things on my list except for orzo. There was a space on the shelf for it but no boxes were to be found. A sweet employee even got down on his knees to make sure that there was not one hiding behind the boxes of alphabet pasta. 
I love Publix. 

And then home where I unloaded the car and tried on the new overalls that I'd also picked up at the post office, delivered from e-bay. It's always an uncertain thing- ordering overalls without being able to try them on. But these were such a good price and although they were definitely not made by a farm-friendly company (J. Crew!) they had looked sturdy and the price was good so I'd thrown caution to the winds and ordered them. They not only fit, they are lovely. The pockets have already been filled with eggs that I brought in from the nests and I think they will be an important part of my wardrobe. I've even pinned a little broach to them- a small, bejeweled crown that I bought for my mother when I was very, very young at a yard sale in Roseland. I don't think Mother ever wore it but I'd never forgotten it and when she died, I found it in her jewelry box and brought it home. I think that it goes beautifully with denim overalls. 
I've tried to take a picture but for whatever reason, it ain't happenin'. But I feel certain that not only the gold but the rubies and diamonds and sapphires are all real! Proof that we never let go of some of our childhood beliefs. 
I remember one time when Hank was very little and I let him put a quarter in one of those machines that dispensed little prizes in plastic bubbles and he got a diamond ring. 
"Is it real?" he asked, his blue eyes wide.
"Nah," I said. "But it's pretty."
"Maybe they made a mistake," he said. "Maybe it IS real." 
You never know, do you?

I'm tired tonight. I did a lot and am still not completely recovered. But it's not a bad tired. And the bed has clean line-dried sheets on it and it's getting chilly again and Mr. Moon got the onions planted in the garden. 


I took their picture when I went out to pick our salad greens for tonight's supper. Those are carrots to the left of them. They aren't big enough to pull yet but they're coming along. Mr. Moon also cut up the potatoes he bought to plant and set the pieces on old cookie sheets to cure before he gets those in the ground. It's so funny how I never get tired of anticipating what the next season holds in the garden. 
Some things never lose their charm, whether jeweled crown pins or the prospect of potatoes so fresh that when you put the knife to them, they seem to split of their own accord. Or clean sheets smelling of sun and clean air or perfect eggs lying in a nest or new overalls with pockets big enough to hold five or six of them. 

Happy Friday, y'all. 

Love...Ms. Moon


33 comments:

  1. Pockets are underrated vessels don't you think?

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    1. Absolutely! Although they are not in the least underrated for me!

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  2. Very heavy and very handsome indeed! ...oh wait-- you're talking about the vase! I thought you meant the cat.

    Well, him too, right?

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  3. Which Kate Atkinson? I love all her books.

    I'd like to see the overalls, too, if you can do that?

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    1. "One Good Turn". I don't think I've read it. Then again- I might have done.

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  4. Yes, a second on the picture. For years I kept a ring of mom's with a $10,000 emerald cut emerald in it. It was so pure and green and perfect, I was sure it was rea.

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    1. Was it real? Doesn't matter if it was that beautiful. I do love emeralds.

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  5. I love vases and my cat hates vases and likes to knock them over. All of my plants have to be cat proof. She especially loves palms but figs seem to be okay and the aloe is too pricky even for her.

    We want of photo of your overalls and the brooch. Have a lovely weekend.

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    1. I was thinking that Jack was probably trying to figure out how to knock that vase off the counter. It would make such a grand crash!

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  6. You know, you could write a way better book than the women/wings one- I did not like that book and I do love everything that you write. I love your sense of style in all things too. I do hope you can take a photo of the new overalls with brooch, I want to draw it. I want to draw you like the French ladies.. Hard for me to fathom that you have a green growing garden at this moment in time! We live on different planets i reckon.

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    1. We do live on different planets. There is little doubt about that.
      You are so kind, Linda Sue! Thank you for those dear words. I am a little overwhelmed by them.

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  7. Pix of Overalls and Brooch Please!

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  8. Echoing: pics of overalls and brooch please. I love hoe grown veg, I once grew a bucket full of potatoes accidentally by throwing old ones on a compost heap. They were lovely.

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    1. Potatoes just really want to grow, don't they? I love volunteer plants!

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  9. I'd love to see a picture of the crown pin, when the pictures are working again! I love the shot of the sheets on the line, as always. I still remember certain pieces of jewelry my mom owned, even though she almost never wore any of it.

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    1. I love that you still remember pieces of your mom's jewelry. That tells me you've always been a visual person and also- an attentive son.
      I never get tired of hanging sheets on the line so thank you for saying you like seeing that picture.

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  10. Which Kate Atkinson book are you about to read? I have read a lot of hers....some better than others, but mostly good.
    It is months since I dried anything on the line outside. After about September it isn't worth the effort to put things out as they would mostly come in again still damp. Luckily I have a little " drying room".....just a door square cupboard with a radiator in it. Dries things quickly when the heating is on. I have some of my Mum's jewellery, her engagement ring and a pretty ruby ring that Dad gave her for their 40th anniversary. My daughter in law had my grandmother's beautiful engagement ring when my son proposed!

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    1. "One Good Turn." And as I said to Boud, there is of course a chance I've already read it.
      Winter isn't bad at all for hanging things on the line here because it's far less humid than in the warmer months. Or hot-as-hell months. Your drying room sounds like a very nice thing to have.
      Do you wear your mother's jewelry?

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    2. I occasionally used to wear the ruby ring ( the other is too big for me) and I sometimes wear a single diamond necklace and earrings that were hers. Hardly go anywhere these days to wear nice pieces! (I love to see my Nana's ring on my beloved daughter in law's finger...she had the choice of that or my Mum's!)

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  11. The smell of fresh sheets (especially if line-dried) is one of life's greatest pleasures isn't it. And talking of you keep forgetting things in your car, the French have a saying which basically translates to "he who has no head must have legs"!

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    1. Line dried anything smells so much better than things that come from the dryer.
      I LOVE that saying. I've thought about it several times today.

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  12. That last paragraph is splendid and so is your new glass vase.

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  13. I bought my parents a bowl at the 5 and Dime when I was a kid for their anniversary and I thought for sure it was crystal or fancy cut glass. My Mom said no but she liked it and used it anyway and now I have it in my china cabinet. I filled it with old ornaments at Christmas and it was lovely! Your story about your pin brought that memory back to me! Thanks!

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    1. I'm sure that the bowl IS lovely and I'm so glad you still have it.

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  14. This time of year the shade catches one end of the clothes line before things are completely dry. Periodically I go out to move things down the line as the first ones dry. We have no clothes dryer, but since I love to hang and see clothes on the line it is no chore - a pleasure, really - for me to tend to them.

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  15. That's a great vase. And yeah, which Kate Atkinson book? It's about time for a Costco run for me. I find myself forgetting my mask too, halfway across the parking lot have to go back and get it.

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    1. "One Good Turn."
      I swear- you'd think we'd remember to wear our masks by now, wouldn't you?

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  16. What a lovely post -- and that anecdote about Hank was priceless!

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  17. Eggs in your pocket, a crown over your heart. With real rubies and sapphires too. In the kingdom of Moon magic, it could be.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.