Thursday, July 6, 2023

Patience And Owls And A Darling Girl


 Ralph the Roomba was doing a bang-up job of vacuuming the entire house yesterday. That thing vacuumed for hours and then he'd take himself to his charger, rest there for awhile, and then start back up again! Just like he's supposed to do but does not always, in fact, do. I have no idea why this is. I just help him when he gets stuck or when something inappropriate gets caught in his bin like the little silver fork I found there once. But Maggie decided that Ralph would be perfect for giving Ratty the thrilling experience of taking a ride on a robot down the hallway. As you can see, Ratty was very thrilled indeed! And Ralph did not care at all. 

We had a great time with our girl grand. She got sleepy before supper but she managed to stay awake for her fish and corn and cucumbers and CHEESY NOODLES! She ate everything. And then, of course, she had a purple cow. 

She wanted a bath and so Boppy got the water in the big old clawfoot going and then he cleaned up the kitchen while I cleaned up the child. She loves that bathtub. It's so big she can go underwater and open her eyes which she demonstrated to me. Then she actually wanted her hair washed so I did that and she loves the shower attachment on the faucet to rinse with. At that point she realized that she had not played yet with the ducks and octopuses and other plastic water creatures that live beside the tub so she did that for a few minutes but then she told me she was very tired and so out of the tub she came, got dried off and put on her pajamas, got cozy in bed, and I read her a story from a princess book that she brought for that purpose. We also FaceTimed her mama and her brothers which gave her a lot of happiness. She didn't need to see them, she just wanted to. 

And oh yes- she was in my bed. She'll probably still be sleeping with me when she's fourteen. 

She fell asleep and after I got my shower and read for awhile beside her, I turned out the light and we both slept just fine except for waking up once in the night when we both had to pee and I have to admit that I was cranky and I apologized to her this morning about that. For one moment I felt like I had been inhabited by my mother as I was saying something like, "No. I am not going to turn on the light!" Or perhaps it was, "No, I am not going to go get a soft blanket." Or, possibly, "No, I do not wash my hands after I pee in the night." 
Something about the way I was holding my body and the way the words were coming out of my mouth, directed at that sweet baby, made me feel a little possessed and a great deal ashamed. 
When I apologized this morning she said, "That's all right."

Bless her. 

And then she slept until almost ten this morning! We both woke up about 7:30 and we both went back to sleep. I had some most interesting dreams in which almost-flying AND Keith Richards AND the ocean were involved, and got up at 8:30 but she continued to slumber like a curly haired little princess who was under a spell. She WAS tired. 

So we had pancakes and bacon and eggs. And then she wanted to play cards and Boppy joined us as we sat at the table on the porch and played two rousing games of Go Fish. 


I must have taken this picture at a contemplative moment because there really was a great deal of excitement and laughing involved. 

When it was getting time to go, she helped me make our bed and I asked her if she thought the dolls would like to come out and sit on the bed today to get some sun. She said that yes, she thought they would. Zippy joined them. 


We greeted each doll by name and with kisses and Maggie arranged them to her liking. Instead of calling Dorothy Anne creepy the way everyone else does, she just looked at her wonky face and said, "What happened here?" I explained that Dorothy Anne is very, very old- older than ME! and she accepted that with aplomb. I love that picture because when I took it, Maggie was telling me about how Emily had gotten up in the middle of the night and got in bed with her and that she had told Emily that she must go back to her own bed. 
"Really?" I said. "I didn't know that Emily could even walk!" 
"Oh yes," she said. 
And who am I to doubt? There is something just so incredibly precious about being allowed back into that child world of wonder occasionally. A gift. I do not take it for granted. 

I took her home on my way to town to shop and there was so much fun going on there that I almost did not want to leave. Chloe and Pepper, the two black doggies, were putting on a show for me (or at least that's what Lauren, their mommy, said) prancing about and leaping in the kitchen together. A friend of theirs was over with her daughter and the boys gave me hugs and overall, it was just a very jolly situation. 

But I knew I had to get my shopping done and so I left but got stuck behind a Waste Management garbage truck. The road that Lily and Lauren and the kids live on is quite skinny and there are parts that are impossible to pass a large truck on. But I was listening to my latest audio download and did not mind at all. 
Here's what I'm listening to. 


It is a luscious book, a gorgeous book. I read Verghese's Cutting Stone 
years ago and it too, was one of those books that remind you of what fiction can and should be. 
So. Having to wait behind a garbage truck was not a problem for me. 

Publix and Costco went fine. I got to see the Beautiful Brenda who told me about her most recent trip to the coast and showed me the tan line her watch had made. It was a funny day of shopping in that although neither Publix nor Costco seemed unusually crowded, the aisles in both stores kept getting jammed up, usually by people who were standing and staring at the the choices, unaware that someone was waiting for them to allow passage. I can't criticize this behavior. I do it myself all the time. But it happened over and over again. 
One guy in Costco and I finally laughed when it happened in our vicinity twice. And everyone was patient about it, waiting silently until the person blocking the aisle had made their choice and moved on. 

We've just had a very nice and delicious rain and it is cooler and smells of a fine funk, made up of dirt and leaves and the letting go of heat demons. We needed it. We've had an owl in our backyard the past week or so and it is calling now. I know it's an owl because I've seen it and so has Mr. Moon. I am not sure what sort of owl it is. It doesn't call like our regular Barred Owls do but makes a whistle that almost sounds as if it is being breathed in rather than breathed out. I just listened to a bunch of different owl calls and none of them matched what I'm hearing and my glimpses of it have been in coming-darkness. It is big. Now that I do not have chickens to worry about, I can enjoy the presence of owls and hawks whereas before I mostly saw them as threats to my darlings. 
I guess that's one good thing about not having chickens, right?

And so it goes. Another full day and I am tired. The rain has stopped and although it is cooler, it is also sticky with humidity. Literally- my skin feels sticky. It's all right. Good for the trees and the tomatoes and the field peas and my old sun-spotted, wrinkled skin as well. 

Maybe. 

Love...Ms. Moon



20 comments:

  1. well..I will have to *reserve* that book from library. I read *Cutting for Stone* and it was a VERY good book..... and yes, the way good fiction should be! Brenda, she of the mermaid eyes..... and patient, staring shoppers that are *patient*.....and rain. Sounds wonderful! We have many species of owls here.... seasonal, of course..... and I know them all by their calls. Do you use the Cornell *bird web*? I find it the best for vocal identification. My fave (don't know if you have it) is the screech owl.....that emits a *bouncing ball* sound. They are only about 7 inches tall but howdy, they can emit the sound! I know it's not Friday but hey, I think you and Mr Moon should have a Martini!
    Susan M

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    1. I am as wrapped up in this book as I can be. It is some sort of miracle that it was available on my library audio book app and I am grateful that it was!
      I do have the Cornell bird app and actually, was trying to use it outside to catch that owl sound when I saw the owl and then...mosquitoes attacked and I hurried back in, my curiosity sort of satisfied.
      There will be a martini tonight!

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  2. Oh, the joys of grand girls visiting. I was fortunate enough to have four of them. I remember one of them jumping the creek, and then, no matter where we looked for her to jump back was "too scary!" We walked up and down the creek for an hour until she screwed up her courage and leaped.

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    1. Oh, bless that child's heart! She had to be brave two times! Yes, granddaughters are special, I think.

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  3. Tank you for the night with Maggie, that was fun. I love how the babies and Zip are all tucked in for the day. When the girl says she is tired she means it! May be a growth spurt- next time you see her she will have grown a couple of inches. Sweet child.

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    1. She WAS tired, poor baby. But she so wanted to stay up and do fun things. At least a little bit of them! She loves to stay up late and may have stayed up TOO late the night before. Anyway, she caught up on some of any sleep she may have missed recently, I think.

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  4. The way you described the owl call....Google "baby barred owl calls" and see if that's it. We have those babies around here at the moment and that's what they sound like.

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  5. Sometimes I just want to be a (butter)fly on your wall and soak up all the deliciousness. But the sticky humidity is something I can live without.

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    1. The humidity is a trial but without it we would not have all of these green trees and plants and the Spanish moss. And I do know that. It's a trade-off, you know.

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  6. Unless I'm in a hurry (which is rare these days anyway), I don't mind waiting either and since I usually have a book with me, no harm no foul! And I expect Maggie really did have the most wonderful time - your place is a grandkiddies paradise!

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    1. There is a lot to do here for grandchildren. And to have TWO grandparents who are at your beck and call (mostly) is of course a huge treat.
      Patience is not so hard when we're older, I think.

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  7. I am need of a book so I will download this, thank you.
    Girls of that age are just delightful. I wonder how Princess Magnolia and Princess Sally would get on? I imagine they would have a wonderful time and I wish it could happen.

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    1. I bet Sally and Maggie would find so much to do together. They would create their own universe!
      I hope you like that book as much as I do.

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  8. I soon need to suggest a book for our book club, and having looked up on Amazon Books what it is about, and seen all the positive reviews, I think I shall put The Covenant of Water forward to be read. Thanks for mentioning it!

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    1. I can't imagine a better book for a book club but it IS long. I do not think that finishing it is going to be a problem though.

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  9. Another successful sleepover! Enjoy your weekend, Mary!

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  10. Glad you had a good stay with Maggie. Thanks for the recommendation on the Verghese book. I haven't read "Cutting for Stone" yet so I'll try that one too at some point. (When I've worked my way through my current stack!)

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    1. Oh, wow! You do need to read Cutting For Stone. I am sure that I wrote a blog post about it many years ago. I just did a search on my blog and it was eleven years and one month ago that I read it.

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