Sunday, May 21, 2023

Non-Sucking Sunday

Lace Cap Hydrangea


Today was a rest and restore day for me. First off, I got ten hours of sleep. Why do they always say that old people need less and less sleep? I sure don't. But I do tend to spend that last hour or so having such intense dreams that I wake up exhausted so there is that, too. This morning I had one of my dreams wherein I need to clean a huge house that is filled with trash and dirty crap and there are many washing machines and I can never remember which ones have clothes in them and which ones don't. I had promised some friends they could have a party at my house which is why I was cleaning it. So all the while I was trying to create order, people were coming in to party and oh, it was so dreadful. At one point, Mr. Moon was down in the huge, warehouse-sized basement with the foreman of a crew going over plans for building something. There was heavy-duty construction equipment all around us. The crew had just gone home and the foreman looked at me and said, "Did you feed all of those hard-working men before they left?"
"Oh god!" I said. "Was I supposed to?"
He just gave me a look of complete disgust. I apologized and apologized, all the while wondering how in hell I could have cooked for an entire crew AND get ready for that party. I find that a very funny, slightly sad, and rather easily interpreted part of the dream. 
Now why there are always Christmas trees in these wrecks of houses when it's nowhere near Christmas and I am the one who needs to take them down is a little more of a mystery to me but I suppose we could explain it by all of the years I did Christmas like a Mom's supposed to do, all the while resenting the work to make the magic happen and then having to take everything back down, tree included. 
Man, I must have really hated that. 

But anyway, I didn't do much today except make us a breakfast and make up a loaf of sourdough to rise and do a little laundry and water plants. And even that sounds like more than it was. I worked some on the jigsaw puzzle I got a few weeks ago and y'all- I'm having to use a combination of my MeeMaw magnifying glass and my phone to see some of the details in these pieces. Good Lord. This is ridiculous. 

Last night we got a text from Lily telling us that their beloved doggy, Pepper, had been rushed to the vet after probably being snake-bit. She was in a terrible state, yelping and acting like every part of her hurt when Lauren picked her up and the only thing they could see was a little blood on her paw. When they got her to the vet, the paw had swollen and her blood was not coagulating properly so yes, snakebite. No idea what kind. Pepper and Chloe, who is Pepper's sister from another mother, are Lauren's babies and I know she was scared to death. But she is home now, safe and sound. Yay, Pepper! Hurray for good vets and antivenin! I know she will be as glad to be home as her family is to have her there. It is scary to think that she got bit in their yard. We do have snakes here for sure. I haven't seen any this year but I am not fool enough to think I haven't been close to one. A good reminder, though, for the kids to be watchful and wary. As much a part of my life as snakes have been, I am still not comfortable with them. That primitive part of my brain that screams DANGER, DANGER! when triggered takes over when I see one and that's all there is to it. Now if I take a second and really look at the snake and realize it's a rat snake or some other harmless kind, I can relax and let it go on its way. And if it's one of the beautiful snakes, like an Indigo, I can actually admire it. But shitfire. Rattlers and moccasins, especially the moccasins, freak me out. They SAY they're not aggressive but I will just say that they seem to have no interest in silently slipping away if threatened but will rise and strike and defend their ground. 

The important thing here is that Pepper survived and is fine. 

It's raining again and I am not complaining. I think that the smell of rain when it first begins will always make me swoon. Not just the sharp ozone smell of the air itself but the way the dirt, the very flesh of the earth, releases its funky, verdant scent as the rain dampens it.

Oh, mama. Yes. 

That's all I have to say tonight. 

Love...Ms. Moon


35 comments:

  1. I'm SO relieved to hear Pepper is doing well and survived her snake bite! What a scare! Yes...snakes are definitely something for all to be mindful and wary of...... our 2nd to last dog Rocko got bitten just above one eye by a rattler here in the yard just 20 feet from the house. After 4 doses of anti-venom and 3 days in hospital (with a bill corresponding to said intensive treatment).....he thankfully lived another 6 years.....but snakes are all around us here and we do not take them lightly. We are good with *friendly* snakes, that abound...(non venomous)....but the rattlers here are a threat. Oh, your dreams of tidying, feeding and protecting.......
    Susan M

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    1. and that lacy hydrangea is just beautiful! Envious,, as always.......... Hope you'll snip one and add to a lovely nosegay vase
      Susan M

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    2. I imagine a whole lot of pets get snake bit. Dogs probably the most because they are just so curious and, well- not dumb but sort of too trusting about things. I'm glad your doggo made it fine and I do bet that was a major, major vet bill.
      I'm so glad that Pepper is doing well for her sake, of course, but mainly for Lauren who adores that doggie so much.
      If I get more than one damn hydrangea bloom, I will definitely cut some. I don't get enough sun for them, really.

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  2. I love the smell of rain! But I do not like snakes!! I’m so glad Pepper is ok, how scary- I hope the kids are better at avoiding them. I’m sorry about your nightmare.. is it amazing where your mind can take you while sleeping?? I love sleeping, I don’t think I’ll ever get enough!😂Had a very long and lovely day planting vegetables, now ready for dinner. Hope you’ll get a more peaceful sleep tonight🤗Xo, Rigmor

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    1. Snakes can be frightening for good reasons but I really hate it when people just kill them because they're snakes. And that happens a lot.
      I am constantly amazed at what my brain gets up to at night when I'm asleep. It's just a little too much sometimes but it's generally entertaining.

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  3. So glad the snake bite emergency is resolved. Poor dog. I wonder if she'd tried to play? Snakes don't play. And I hope this comment doesn't vanish like the others. I think blogger is messing about. Several comments of mine on other blogs have also briefly appeared then vanished! I'm being gaslighted, wooeooeooo.

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    1. Tonight I see you! And I thank you for your comment. Blogger is doing some weird shit, isn't it? I worry about that.

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    2. No. Snakes are not inclined to play. And dogs definitely are. And they are so curious and trusting.

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  4. Petrichor - that lovely smell of rain on dirt.
    I am so glad Pepper is OK. Snakes scare me way more than spiders. Which is just as well as we have a few of the latter and I have yet to stumble across the former.
    Your dream was exhausting.

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    1. For whatever reason I can never remember the word "petrichor." Perhaps because I do not find the word nearly as lovely as it should be.
      That dream was exhausting.

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  5. Good that Pepper could call for help and got it it.

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    1. Amen! And even though they got her to the vet as quickly as possible, the anti-coagulant part of the venom was already taking effect. Lily said that her paw, which barely bled at all at first, was leaving bloody footprints everywhere.

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  6. I'm glad she is okay and back home. That dream would have worn me out. I hope you have a more peaceful sleep this rainy night.

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  7. So glad Pepper had a happy ending. Snakes are scary for many of us. When I lived in Miami, I had pugs and they warned me about pygmy rattlers and coral snakes when walking my dogs. I never felt comfortable
    walking around in the grass there. I had a scorpion run over my foot in the bathroom once. They had cleaned a mangrove swamp out nearby and there were nests of them there that scattered....one into my bathroom! Have you ever had any experiences with poisonous snakes
    around/in your house? Yikes!
    Paranormal John

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    1. A few years ago Mr. Moon did indeed kill a poisonous snake only a few feet from my porch door. August and Levon were here. It was a rattler and I was somewhat shocked to see it. I have had rat snakes come into the house twice now and they also used to frequent the hen house. But that's a whole other story.
      Scorpions are rather common but their bite is no worse than say a wasp sting. At least the kind in Central Florida and here in North Florida.

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  8. Most dogs have NO common sense about leaving things like snakes alone. My border collie got one heck of a bite on his nose from a snapping turtle. If we had venomous snakes around here it would have been a worry.

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    1. My childhood dog Snoopy would snap at giant land crabs and get his nose pinched badly. Yeah. Dogs are not the smartest in some ways.

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    2. for Karen.....we here in Calif. .....actually have *snake aversion* training classes for dogs given by our County Wildlife staff . I never enrolled either of my dogs in one, obviously.......one dog got bit and came close to losing his eye.....the other dog.....would bark at and avoid them, thankfully. Susan M

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  9. That funky verdant scent is called petrichor. I'm glad Pepper survived. I'm not a fan of snakes either, I can admire the without liking them and I don't think I've seen one in 20 years. I had my own weird dream last night and all I can remember is that it was weird. Not a single detail about it.

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    1. I don't even mind holding snakes like at the local museum where there are handlers who know what they're doing with them. But for some reason, I would never pick up one in the wild, even if I was certain it was non-venomous.

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  10. We seem to have the same kinds of dreams in that mine are always full of chaos and tons of people making demands on me. While I was married I could figured them out but now? I haven't got a clue! I'm so glad Pepper is ok though. Snakes - yuck!

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    1. I think you and I both have PTSD from the those old days.

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  11. I remember when I first moved to a garden apt. in Brooklyn. On one of the first evenings I had the windows open on the garden and there was a light rain. There was this wonderful smell which I finally figured was damp earth. That was at least forty years ago and I still remember it so clserly.
    Cheers

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  12. I'm glad Pepper is OK. That must have been a scare! In all my years of pet ownership in Florida I never had one bitten by a snake, amazingly. We did have scorpions living in our mailbox, though! They were there for years. We used to shake out the mail before we brought it in the house.

    "Too much nature!"

    That dream sounds exhausting!

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    1. Too much nature is right! The house on Dog Island seemed to have a lot of scorpions in it. None of us ever got stung though. I was stung by one on a camping trip in Central Florida once.
      Yeah. My dreams wear me out.

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  13. Oh, that is one of the best smells in the world! Better than any perfume or any sweaty man.... Just after a few drops of rain on the dirt and rocks! Love it!!
    One of the best reasons to live "at altitude", as they say, is that there are NO snakes. They can't survive.

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    1. No snakes would suit me just fine although they are very good at rodent control.
      You're right about the smell of rain. The best.

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  14. moccasins are too aggressive. I haven't seen any snakes here this year so far either though I did find the shed snakeskin in the little backyard so I know they're about. I finished mowing the big backyard yesterday morning and thank god it was a little cooler than the previous two days and that's all I did. then we watched four episodes of The White Lotus. oh, and I walked the dog. lazy day.

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    1. It's a little cooler here, too although it's raining so forget working outside.
      You're right about moccasins. They scare me to death. They just LOOK evil.

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  15. I am glad Pepper is okay. My Mom had a deadly fear of snakes and so I've always been afraid of them. How do you keep them out of your yard when you live in Florida and have pets?
    You certainly have exhausting dreams sometimes, Mary! Hope you slept well last night! :)

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    1. Well, the short answer is, we DON'T keep them out of the yard. No way. And amazingly, our pets have not been bitten as far as I know. I've seen chickens surround a snake but they know to keep their distance.

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  16. I’m terrified of snakes too. Poor Pepper! Glad she’s ok. I love the smell of the earth that’s released from raindrops too. I think moccasins are one of the few aggressive types, I remember grabbing my son when he was little by the seat of his pants when he tried to get close.
    Xoxo
    Barbara

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    1. I bet you'll never forget the moment you snatched your son away from that moccasin. How scary!

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