Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Losing My Mind, Finding My Center


 I think we can safely say that these azaleas are fuchsia. Startlingly so. These are the ones that didn't get pruned and they sure are happy about that. 

So- example of me losing my mind. This week is a pretty full week. I had something planned for every day of it. Today I was going to Metcalfe, Georgia with my friend Liz. Tomorrow I am going to an appointment with another friend. Thursday all the family that can is meeting at El Patron for a Rachel-Birthday-Lunch. And Friday I have a dentist appointment. 
Or at least I thought I did. 
Now let me tell you something- my dentist's office calls, texts, AND emails to let me know I have an appointment coming up. Yes, yes, yes, I kept saying, getting a bit annoyed at the over-messaging. And I'd even found the little card in my wallet that I got when I made the appointment six months ago which has a sticker that you can put on the calendar and I DID put it on the calendar. 



After looking at that picture, can you see where we're going here? 
For whatever reason I was convinced that my dentist appointment was on Friday despite all of the evidence pointing to the fact that no, it was on March 8, which is a Tuesday, which was today. 

The office called me when I was pulling out of the yard with Liz to ask where I was. 
"Going to Metcalfe, Georgia to eat soul food," would have been the truthful answer. Of course I ended up apologizing left and right and am rescheduled for Thursday and I'm already getting texts and e-mails to remind me of that, but this time I am not scoffing and deleting them and IN FACT, I have told Siri to remind me on Thursday morning that I have an appointment at 11:00. 
Phew. 
I'm getting old. 

Anyway, Liz and I continued on to Metcalfe and what a beautiful drive it was! We went down red clay roads the color of rusty blood but when we got there, we discovered that Mary's Kitchen, our intended luncheon destination, was closed. There was no schedule posted anywhere and I guess that Metcalfe is just so small that everyone knows they're closed on Tuesday. The place didn't look closed-closed, just closed today. I have posted about Mary's kitchen several times before. The first time I ever went there, I think, I posted about it HERE.
I have had as many truly fine meals there as I have eaten there which is to say that Mary is one hell of a cook. 
We were disappointed but both of us felt that this is just another example of the way life is these days and shrugged our shoulders and decided to go to Thomasville, Georgia, which we did and which was fine. We went to a place called George and Louie's or maybe it's Louie's and George's but whichever, it's sort of a Greek place with amazing seafood. We ate outside and both of us got the best crab cakes I've ever eaten along with a small Greek salad, hushpuppies, and cheese grits for me and french fries for Liz. George was actually working. He is an older gentlemen, very handsome, and I think he was flirting with Liz. While we were standing in line to order at the counter, he asked her what she'd like to drink, got her the tea she wanted and left me standing there, drinkless. He also tried to tell us what we should order but as soon as he turned his back, we ordered what we wanted, rather than what he'd recommended. 
We sat and ate and talked for about an hour and then we got in the car and drove back home on one backroad after another, having no real idea where we are and we didn't care either. Somewhere in the south Georgia/north Florida area on red dirt roads with the wild dogwoods coming into flower and the trees all turning green and the red clover starting to bloom in crimson on the sides of the road. It was glorious. We passed a little church with a cemetery, and noticing a very old small building beside it, we pulled in and stopped to look around. 


We could not decide whether it had been a church or an old school house. We walked around it, admiring the width of the pine boards which had definitely been hand sawn, the old shutters instead of windows, the still straight bones of it. 



Although the roof is definitely new, there were some gaps in the back door that we could see through. 


There were a few of what could have been pews or student benches, something that could have been a pulpit or a teacher's desk. Whichever, the old building was not giving up its secrets. 
We walked around the cemetery for a few minutes which has some very recent burials in it along with some very old ones. 
Stories and stories and stories of lives. 


Stories of love and of grief.


It all felt very peaceful. 

We ended up at Reeve's Fish Camp on Lake Miccosukee where both of us have been before. 


And y'all, if that ain't north Florida right there, I do not know what north Florida is. 

It was such a sweet day. We had time to share hearts, share food, share memories, share roads that led to places we knew, places we did not. 

I am so very grateful that Liz never gives up on me but keeps on inviting me out for these little but very profound adventures. 

I am as lucky as a north Florida girl can be. 
That I do not need to be reminded of. 

Love...Ms. Moon



14 comments:

  1. What a pleasant day! Good luck at the dentist.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Goodness.....what a full and vibrant day you had! I am in awe. Your azaleas are to die for.......and what the heck, dentist next week instead? It's all good! Sounds like today was a healing (filling up the cup) day....and we all need that
    Susan M

    ReplyDelete
  3. The back roads are the best way to go when you're not in a big, honking hurry!
    Sounds like a perfect day!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Such a luxury, not needing to hurry, just bumble along and enjoy the place. Sounds wonderful. That would keep me going the rest of the week.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your adventure - all of my favorite things! Old shed takes the cake I must say. Everyone needs a friend like Liz- get you out and about and fed...the dentist appointment made me laugh - so very much! I have done that but caught it before I was to be somewhere or do something- today was Granny day- Tuesday- all day I thought it was Monday-imagine my surprise! Well you do not have to imagine, you have lived it.I don't credit old age for these tricks, I blame covid and the UN-natural lives we have lived for over two years.Sorry that your cafe was closed, bummer.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Blue highways. And red dirt roads. What a great way to go. AND good food!

    ReplyDelete
  7. That is an absolutely perfect day! Even without Mary's Kitchen, which I went back to read about.

    ReplyDelete
  8. That sounds like a great day, despite Mary's being closed. It's cool that you were prompted to explore and go find someplace new to eat. I would never have guessed that the world's best crab cake is in inland Thomasville, Georgia! I love little exploratory road trips like this.

    The building looks to me like a one-room schoolhouse, but it's weird that it would be in a cemetery. Maybe it's a chapel associated with burials? Like, they'd have the funerals there and then go straight to the graveside...? Maybe it even served both purposes.

    ReplyDelete
  9. If it's a school house, maybe it's as DeSantis seems to think it is. Knowledge will kill you.

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a fun relaxing day with good weather to encourage your exploring. It reminded of my Dad who always loved to go on drives in the country (farm fields west of us in Illinois). He always taught us how to look for the sun so we could figure out which direction we needed to go in order to return home!

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a beautiful old building. I forget appointments too. I forget a lot of things now. I wish I could forget the things I've done that have hurt others but maybe that's the point in remembering them, so I learn and don't do it again.

    ReplyDelete
  12. If it was on the church grounds maybe it was the original church building though it looks more like a schoolhouse. To me anyway. Lots of cracks between those boards. It sounds like a fun day.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm glad you didn't prune those magnificent Azaleas! They really are showing you how Happy they are about that! The Old Building is great, I just Love Historic Buildings that have Survived and not given way to encroachment, being razed and replaced with Modern crap. I like to Imagine what they were like, this reminds me of what some Old One Room Schoolhouses used to look like, I actually went to one in Maine when I was in Kindergarten thru First Grade. It had Kinder thru Seniors being taught by one Teacher and she even let my little Brother, who was only 3, come too, so he could get a head start on Education!

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a magical day you had with your dear friend. We should all have friends who draw us out on adventures. Love.

    ReplyDelete

Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.