How Life Goes

I took a teeny-tiny walk today and even that was more than I cared to do. It was so hot and humid. There was nothing to recommend it except that Jacob and Emma drove by in a truck and stopped to chat with me for a moment. I have written about Jacob and Emma several times before. One of those posts is HERE. 
I used to walk by their house regularly but have not lately. But they saw me and stopped and because Lloyd is the way it is, this is a common enough thing for people to do- to stop their car or truck in the road and have a little conversation with someone on the sidewalk or even in another car. 
Anyway, I had not seen them in quite awhile and so was glad to see them today. "Good to see you walking!" said Jacob. 
"Thank you," I said. "How're y'all doing?" 
"We're fine," he said, "Except I broke my foot." 
"Oh no!" I said. As I recall, Jacob has had many health issues over the years but he looked good today, sitting in his truck, and I was sorry to hear that he'd broken his foot. 
"Did you fall?" I asked.
"Yes," he said. "On that uneven pavement over at Jones'." 
I have no idea who or what Jones is but I nodded as if I did. 
"How're you doing?" asked Emma. 
"Oh, we're good," I said. Which is true. 
And then I told them I was so glad to see them and thanks for stopping and they smiled and nodded and we told each other to take care and that, for me, was a beautiful few minutes. 

After the walk, even short as it was, I was pretty much done for. One of those days when I just didn't want to go back outside. I did take the compost and picked a few of the last zinnias and I watered porch plants and swept off the kitchen porch. 

Mr. Moon was off in the woods doing hunting prep. 
Sigh.
He's home now. 

Yesterday someone sent him a private message on FB and he turned out to be a former teammate of Glen's when he was at Auburn. He sent Glen some pictures from back in the day and they're so cute. I asked him if I could post one. He said I could although I don't think he was wild about the idea. 

When I saw it, I said, "Oh, there's my sweetie pie!" 

He looked a lot like that when I met him although he did have his beard by then. But he was, for sure, a Viking. 
"I'd say that I'm sorry I did not know you then," I told him, "But I don't think we'd be here today if I had."

"Probably not," he said. 
I thought about it for a minute and said, "Neither one of us was smart enough to recognize a real thing when we saw it then."

He agreed. We had a lot of shit to work out, he and I both, before we could meet and see each other for who we were. Now let me make it very clear- we STILL had a lot of shit to work out after we were married. My god. So much shit. 
But we persevered, we didn't give up, we were kind to each other, we respected each other, we worked hard together, and yes, we loved each other. 
And I can't say that even at this point in our lives, forty years after meeting, that we've worked it all out. Do we ever? But we've learned to live with whatever crazinesses we may still have, both our own and each other's. 
For the most part. 

So that's my darling boy when he was a young'un, playing basketball at Auburn University. I was probably busy being a hippie and doing whatever it was I was doing in those days. I was pretty lost until I had Hank, to be honest. 

But here we are now, settled as settled can be. The man ripped his best overalls in the woods today on something. He probably told me and I've already forgotten. "You just wanted to give me something else to patch, didn't you?" I asked him. 

I'm pretty certain though, that after yesterday's patching job, that was NOT his intent at all. Too bad. I live to patch. Still being a hippie. And he's still a beautiful man. Still my sweetie pie, my darling boy. 

Here are close-ups of some of the zinnias I picked today. 

Now you know what? I had no idea that's what the big yellow ones' centers looked like. Isn't that crazy and beautiful? 

And the red one is showing her age but she's still lovely. Past her glory, for sure, but still a fine spark of crimson in the hallway for me to admire and enjoy.
And no, I am not comparing that zinnia to my husband. As far as I'm concerned, he's still in his glory. Just a different kind of glory from his young self and honestly, I admire and find him more beautiful now than I ever have. 
Isn't that strange? And yet. 
It's true. 

Love...Ms. Moon