Monday, May 30, 2022

A Simple Day


 There is no way to justify my laundry-on-the-line photos except to say, as I have so many times before, that sight is like strings of prayer flags for me. The holy household trinity of air, sun, and water made visible in purpose in my own life. 

I decided to get out into the garden this morning to weed and tidy up a bit which I did. I pulled the spent pea vines and the two last chard plants and weeded around the cucumbers and the squash which once again, is not producing anything. The cucumbers are so disappointing this year! They are just sitting there, small bonsai plants that do bloom but with so little growth, so few baby cukes to show. I pitchforked some of the composting and composted chicken-shit hay into my garden cart and laid some of that down beside them as mulch and as fertilizer. It cannot hurt them. I weeded around some other areas and took this what-was-I-thinking photo of a few fine-looking green tomatoes. 


I can only plead guilty of being practically in a state of heat exhaustion by then. Sweat soaked my clothes and dripped off my head and finally I decided that enough was enough and came in and ate a late lunch. 

Last night was so precious. I had the best time. I think we all did. Lis and I laughed so hard at one point that I thought we'd fall out of our chairs. I love the way the four of us are together. We are like an old married couple, but an old married foursome instead. Not in any sort of kinky sense at all (trust me) but in the way that we understand each other and feel so safe around each other. We have our jokes and our shorthand, our memories of the best times and of hard times, of many meals together, many experiences together, much sweetness. 
The funny thing is how much Lis and Glen are alike and how much Lon and I are alike which I guess goes a long way in explaining why we get along so well as friends. Not in every way, of course, but in spirits. Lis and Mr. Moon are the adventurous ones, the ones who long to travel and do new things while Lon and I are the homebodies, the ones mostly content in the spaces where we live. 
Anyway, it was a lovely evening. 

After I had my lunch this afternoon I decided to go lay down on my bed and rest my heat-exhausted body. Which I did. It was heaven. I read some from my pile of New Yorkers which never gets smaller, and Jack came to cuddle with me. After awhile, the words I was reading made less and less sense and I put down my magazine and closed my eyes. Jack, who had been getting scritches as I read, was not well-pleased and tapped my hand with his paw, as he does, when he wants more but he settled down and we fell asleep. I woke up to a huge boom of thunder, shot out of the bed and rushed outside to get my laundry in. By the time I'd gotten most of it, it was already wet enough again to need to go in the dryer and I didn't even take it all down- it was raining so hard that I just figured it wasn't worth it. As I hurried back to the house with my basket of very damp laundry, I realized it was not only pouring rain but also hailing. We do not get hail that often and this was small but it was hail. Any type of ice that falls from the sky here is an event. 
It's not raining now but thunder is still rumbling off in the distance and I am grateful for the amount we got. The garden was as dry as a desert, even though we got so much rain last week. 

Oh! Over the last few days, I have listened to this book. 

Those of you who have read A Man Called Ove know how intricately and beautifully the author, Fredrik Backman, can weave a story. He is one of the best sorts of writers, the kind whom you can let lead you through the world they have created with perfect trust. 
I wished it had not ended but it ended well. And endings, I think, are the hardest thing to write. 

Well, that's my take on life today.

Love...Ms. Moon







15 comments:

  1. He's a wonderful writer. From the first paragraph you just have to follow him.
    How lovely to have those friends, where all four people get along. It's rare.

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  2. Oh I’ve been looking for my next book to read and this sounds just right.
    I’ve been lurking here for a year or two and just want you to know that even though I lead a very different life than yours, or maybe because, I am so grateful for the opportunity to peek into yours.

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  3. Your laundry prayer flags are the best, The breeze wicking through the weave, carrying good will to all down wind.
    I would love to have been a fly on the wall - I need some joy and I do believe you folks deliver!
    Linda Sue

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  4. I know the feeling of dashing out to get the laundry in! But I only have dash out onto the veranda because that is where the line is. It gets the best sun and I can also put out a drying rack for things I don't like to hang. I love to see the wash hanging out in the sun. I am going to see if my library has that author - always on the lookout for new (to me) books!

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  5. I once remarked at work that i would rather use a towel dried on the line than one softened in the dryer. A co-worker said "what are you, Amish?"

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  6. Endings are heard, it's why I never finish any of my writings. That's a fine truss of tomatoes. I prefer line dried clothes and sheets too, they have that freshness smell that simply cannot be duplicated.

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  7. Line dried is the best. Sorry you did not beat the rain, had a bit here too.

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  8. Oh I must look up that book as I loved A Man Called Ove - thanks for the recommendation. And your description of running to get the washing in conjured up an image of my mom training for the 100 metre sprint running to get her washing in when I was a kid in England. Damn, we got so much rain I'm surprised she wasn't on the Olympic team!

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  9. I really dislike a book with a poor ending. We have read a few with book club over the years. The actual book very readable but totally spoilt by a bad ending.....as if the author has suddenly got bored with it all and given up! There was one especially that left so many unanswered questions. ( can't remember the name now). I seem to remember that " Where the Crawdads sing" was an excellent read, but left a few questions.

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  10. I totally "get" your laundry photos. As I've often said, if we could, I'd line-dry everything here too. Britain isn't great for that most of the year, though, and our clothesline is very short!

    Glad you had fun with the Gatorbone folks.

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  11. I remember that I loved "A Man Called Ove" so I will have to check out this book you mentioned here...Glad you had great fun with your friends!

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  12. Nothing ruins a book for me more than a rushed or not well thought out ending. The last book I read was like that.This long long lead up and then wrapped up in a few pages. Most unsatisfying.

    I have the old poles rusting but no lines strung between them but since I don't do the laundry and that's far too much work for the person who does I guess it doesn't matter.

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  13. I do love your definition of laundry on the line!

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  14. When I opened this post and saw the laundry picture I thought oh how lovely - I think laundry on the line is a thing of beauty.

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