Wednesday, January 11, 2023

Sweetness And Light


This is what it looks like when I have gotten to my driveway on my way home from my walk. Can you see all of my dead ferns? They will come back. There are many brown Crocosmia too. Quite unfortunately they will also come back and in fact, in parts of my yard they already have, sending up their leaves with green vigor, ready to do battle with me again in my never-ending attempt to get rid of them. 

I have been in the best spirits today. I have no idea why but I have. Just a real and true feeling of contentment and peace. Nothing out of the ordinary has happened but it has been an almost perfect day, weather-wise, and my walk was fine. No Man Lord has created a huge cross in his yard with hundreds of aluminum cans. He appears to be in one of his religious phases again with signs about Jesus and the coming days of reckoning propped up against his fence, and his fence, too, has messages written on it. For those of you who have not been reading here long, No Man Lord is what I've been calling this neighbor for many years because he had a cross in his yard for a long time with a sign that said just that- NO MAN LORD. 
He is so interesting. Always, always doing something. 

When I reach the point in my walk pictured above I can either turn in and end my walk or go on to the post office which is just past the intersection up there. The decision is often made on how badly I have to pee. If I stop and go into the house to do that, I find that my momentum has faded and I just say, "Oh, fuck it. I'm home."
But today I had peed in the woods as I often do and was fine in that regard and walked on. My newish-neighbor was on a ladder in his front yard, cutting vines hanging from a magnolia tree. I stopped and called out to him and we ended up talking for quite awhile. I really feel that he may have changed since moving to Lloyd. He seems softer, more open. And in fact he told me that he has been building things and loving that as well as working in his yard and loving that too. 
"It might be my age," he said. He is fifty-one. 
I asked, "Have you started bird-watching yet?"
He laughed. "Not yet"
"You will," I said with all the confidence and experience of my years. He admitted that his wife had hung a hummingbird feeder and he does like watching those birds come and go. 
He'll see. 
I asked him if they were planning on building a fence, now that they've cleared all the fence lines and he said that maybe they would but they weren't sure. He sort of apologized for infringing on our privacy which I appreciated. I think he just wants every square inch of his yard to do with as he wants and I understand that and I told him so. I have a feeling that neatness and tidiness is important to him in ways that do not worry me at all. 

The rest of the day I have spent hanging laundry on the line, instructing Ralph to vacuum my floors, and making a lemon pie with Meyer's lemon juice that my across-the-street neighbor brought me. It is a beautiful thing. 


I used Granny Mathew's recipe for key lime pie. It works equally well for lemon. 



By the way, my arms and legs look almost exactly like that recipe card due to my years in the sun. I am not kidding. 

Obviously, I did not make a meringue. I know my husband and I knew he would want it with whipped cream so I bought whipping cream at the store yesterday. I asked him today which he would rather have and he hemmed and hawed and said, "Well, I know we usually eat it with meringue but I think I would like whipped cream," as if this was something entirely new.
"All right," I said. And there are billowy clouds of whipped cream in a container in the refrigerator now. 

Levon's ultrasound came back normal so...who knows? He seems to be better today. I talked to those boys on the phone this afternoon and August asked how the Roomba was doing. There had been a bit of a problem with it when they were last here. I told him it was fine and was vacuuming right that moment. He was glad to hear it and I told him that I would tell Ralph he'd asked about him. 
Dead silence. 
I could only imagine that my engineer's-brained grandson was thinking, "MerMer is an idiot." 
I cannot disagree. 
When I talked to Levon we chatted for a bit and then I asked if there was anything else he wanted to tell me. 
"Yes!" he said. 
I waited a few seconds. 
"What is it?"
"How are you today?" he asked, working on his social and communication skills, I am sure. 

Oh, how lucky I am to have all of these grandchildren to talk to, to learn from, to recognize and appreciate the ways they learn and grow. 

I am grateful, too, for this sweet, easy day. I wish there were more of them but I am so glad for the ones I have. 

Love...Ms. Moon






26 comments:

  1. I google earth stalked you and stood in the EXACT spot you took that photo. I felt I could have just knocked on your door and we could have had a hug and a cup of tea.
    That lemon pie looks to die for. With or without whipped cream.
    Grandkids have a good way of grounding us, don't they?
    I am so glad you had a sweet day. There should be more of them. And you know what? There will. Lots and lots of them.

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    1. Well, if you ever do stop in, use the kitchen door on the side. Only politicians knock on the front door. Even the Jehovah's Witnesses come to the kitchen door.
      Grandkids absolutely do ground us. In so many ways.
      I hope you're right about the sweet days for all of us.

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  2. Your lemon pie looks de-licious!
    You are so fortunate to have all your littles near by. Blessed indeed.

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  3. A sweet and easy day is no less than you deserve, especially after those dreams. I hope your rest is equal to your day.

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  4. that blue sky! Something we haven't seen here in Calif. in a week or more. Major flooding here...lots of inconveniences but nothing that couldn't be overcome and all is well. That key lemon pie (LOL) looks divine.....oh, I long for a slice of that, and a Mary hug!
    Susan M

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    1. Haha! It's actually a Meyers Lemon pie. I would give you a slice and a hug for sure. Beware of flooding!

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  5. I like whipped cream on my pie too, instead of meringue. I'm glad you had a good day. I had a good day until about noon and then all hell broke loose.

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    1. Well, I think in a contest for taste and texture, real whipped cream would win over meringue every time. But I like a meringue too.
      Oh no- what happened to your day?

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  6. Your recipe cards are in worse shape than mine! We need to be fixin' this situation! At least we took photos so that the cards disintegrating before we do the fixin' part will be somewhere where we can find them.
    I thought of you today, hard- listened to some magic guitar by the one and only and thought that we should be dancing. Dancing down the walkway in front of your house, where it is warm!! I feel a fog has lifted!

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    1. I think those brown spots must have come from lime juice. It's the only recipe card I have that looks like that.
      Oh- what did you listen to? And have you heard that the boys are probably going to be putting out an album this summer? And touring, of course. If all goes well.
      I would dance with you, Linda Sue.

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  7. I'm glad you had a lovely peaceful day and I'm glad Levon's ultrasound is normal. The pie looks delicious.

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    1. It was good but not as good as I thought it would be.

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  8. How sweet of Levon to ask you how you are. I hope that he continues to feel better.

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    1. I know! I almost died when he said that-"How are you today?"
      Conversational skills 101.
      He has felt better today.

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  9. A good day is a blessing! Good news, if still a bit mystifying, about Levon's ultrasound. The pie looks fantastic and I must admit, I'd opt for whipped cream over meringue any day.

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    1. I think most people would choose whipped cream over meringue. It is a delicious substance.
      A good day is indeed a blessing and we need to appreciate them when they come our way.

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  10. I hope there's a solution to levon's pain. Worrying for his family.

    I think the pie without anything on it would be my choice -- make a note!

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    1. Noted, dear Woman! No topping for Liz's pie!
      Levon has had no pain today!

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  11. I miss those easy days...hopefully one crosses my path soon.
    hugs
    Donna

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  12. You know, my stepson had a terrible time with stomach pain as a teenager. They never did figure out why.

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    1. Some things just never do get figured out. It's so weird. Medicine is a science and yet, still an art.

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  13. My all time favorite pie was my grandmother's lemon meringue pie and I wonder if your recipe might be it! I will have to try to see if I can recreate it! Oh, sweet memories!

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    1. I doubt that's the recipe your grandmother used. Most lemon meringue pies had cooked custards with the lemon juice and egg yolks. But you could try it. You might like it even if it doesn't taste like grandmother's. And of course you could always do it with limes.

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