That's the Japanese maple that I planted in our yard when we moved in. The man we bought the house from brought it to the closing and gave it to me which I thought was a lovely gift. It has grown quite a bit in the twenty years that have passed and for once, I seem to have planted something in the right place. It does very well there, by the yard of the old kitchen. I can see it from my back porch where I spend a good many hours of my day. Every fall it does what Japanese maples do which is to appear to catch fire when the sun is shining on its leaves.
It's been a slow, lazy day. I seem to be making a habit of that. Mr. Moon got up early, early to go duck hunting. That season has begun. He went out for breakfast with a buddy afterwards and I made myself a sort-of Sunday breakfast, including two biscuits that I baked in my tiniest skillet in the air fryer/toaster oven and they may have been some of the best biscuits I ever made. Biscuits are nice in that you can make only two if that's what you want. Just a little self-rising flour, some butter, some buttermilk. Pat your biscuits out, put them in a tiny pan and bake them at a slightly lower temperature in the toaster oven than you would in the regular oven. Not only do they come out fine, they take far less time to cook.
Then Glen got home and went to work on my car which he has been cleaning and detailing for several days now. There is sort of a story behind this. Ever since we got married, it has been part of our unspoken contract that he deals with all of the car issues from getting the oil changed to getting repairs done if necessary, to making sure my car looks halfway decent. I do get my own gas. Usually. But overall, he is the Car Guy and I am the Car Guy's wife. It's not unknown for me to drive my car through a carwash but I don't do that very often.
To my mind, it's always been sort of like the fact that there's no question who is going to do the cooking. That is what I do.
Relationships all have these unspoken agreements, I think. And if someone seemingly is not holding up their end of the unspoken agreement, things can get...uncomfortable. You have to finally speak. Communicate. Etc. All those relationship things.
So my car had gotten to a bad point. It looked terrible. Even to me, who generally does not give a damn what her car looks like. It was, according to The Car Guy, spotted with mildew. Whatever it was, going through the car wash twice did nothing at all to make it look any better. But I just didn't talk about it and figured that eventually the man would take care of the situation.
Then Jessie pointed out that I might have roaches in my car.
The horror!
Although this is far more common in Florida than you'd think. They just fly in and take up residence if there are crumbs about and yes, I do eat in the car sometimes and yes, I let the kids eat in it too. So no big mystery there. I got some roach traps and informed my husband of the situation.
And waited.
Finally, I reached my limit and one morning recently I went to him and said, "Why have you let my car get to this point?" and a great, wet tear slid down my face because I had been feeling, if not unloved, then slightly ignored. And it's not like the man hasn't been busy. Oh my god, he's been busy taking care of all sorts of business.
Still.
And he heard me and he spent days cleaning and waxing and vacuuming and scrubbing and now my car is absolutely beautiful again.
Meanwhile, here we are. Another Sunday in north Florida and oh! I forgot to mention that yesterday when we passed by the little plot of land where the Lloyd Farmer's Market sign has been for months, there were a few people set up there, selling things! And there were people there looking around, possibly buying things! I am so excited! I need to check this out. What a great thing for Lloyd this would be. And it will funnel folks to the My Gypsy Soul Boutique which is right there beside the farmer's market. Perhaps there is hope for that woman's dream after all.
We shall see. She has surely hung on longer than I would have ever predicted.
Oh, sweet Mary Moon. I continue to treasure your musings and writings. I am prompted to write this time around as I am wondering if that is a picture of pink muhly grass?? I only became aware of this just a few weeks ago while on a cross-country jaunt that included a visit to the St. Louis Botanical Gardens, which also included many installations of Dale Chihuly's glass works. And a large patch of this delightful grass!
ReplyDeleteWishing you well, and hoping your week is blessed.
Yes! That picture is of muhley grass! Isn't it pretty?
DeleteThank you for commenting. Do I know you?
Oh that pink fluffy grass is so pretty. You definitely should plant some of that. I'm glad you got your car cleaned up by Mr. Moon and you feel loved again.
ReplyDeleteYou know we all love you too, don't you? Because we do, Mary Moon.
I'm going to go to a nursery after Thanksgiving and see if I can find some. I know I can get it online.
DeleteEllen, thank you so much for your sweetness. Truly.
I like that muhly grass. Most of the decretive grasses planted around here are non native and invasive. What a great alternative.
ReplyDeleteGlad your car is back up to snuff.
Of course the pictures they have online of muhley grass are far more full and perfect than what it would look like planted in my yard but still. I was driving home from the store today and the sun was low in the sky and shining in such a way that I thought, "Wouldn't muhley grass just glow in this light?" I think it would.
DeleteI've never seen the (munly) grass before. Living in Ohio, I doubt I would. It's
ReplyDeletejust beautiful. So glad your car is spic and span. It looks like you drove it
new off the lot! Mine has never looked that good, even when I take it in for a professional cleaning. Mr. Moon knows his stuff! I was surprised the Gypsy Soul is still there. She must be selling something? Maybe her business will pick up with more foot traffic next to her. All your Thanksgiving preparations sound totally overwhelming to me. But I've never cooked for more than 2 in my life and don't plan on starting now. I know your dinner will be out of this world. Happy Thanksgiving!
Mr. Moon DOES know his stuff. Each and every car he ever delivered to a customer was as in that exact sort of pristine condition.
DeleteI was talking to my across-the-street neighbor yesterday about MGS boutique and she said, "I hope she has an online presence because she can't possibly be selling enough to make any money." We've all been pretty surprised that she's stayed open this long. Perhaps the Farmer's Market will help but that's just one day a week. Who knows?
You've never cooked for more than two in your life? That's so wild!
bless Mr Moon for cleaning up your car to pristine-ness! Mine is in a constant state of semi *mess*....living on a 4 mile long dirt road....takes it's toll......and I'm lax about really cleaning it. Can't do carwash due to vertigo triggering LOL........ and so.....car not all that clean much of time....but I try. Roaches.....I can do without (haven't seen one in years) but I do keep 2 mousetraps set in my car and yes, I do catch mice! That grass is beautiful.....happy to hear the GSBoutique may be drawing customers with a true farmers market...... she''s persevering!
ReplyDeleteSusan M
I don't know which I'd rather have in my car- roaches or mice. Both are pretty disgusting to have living in a car.
DeleteI can totally understand why going through a car wash triggers your vertigo. It makes me feel so weird and disoriented.
Yes, the GS Boutique woman truly is persistent.
That grass is lovely. I could go for some, but I may be in too cool a zone, even though we've been moved up again in the newest ag. maps.
ReplyDeleteYes. I've seen that we've been re-zoned. WHAT global climate change, right?
DeleteFrom what I''m reading, muhley grass can grow up to NY and Massachusetts. It does not do well with temperatures that get to 10 below.
As someone who drives a car that is not only growing quite a fine accoutrement of moss on the outside, but also often has mice nesting in the engine and whose inside is probably made of 78% crumbs and mold having left the sunroof open once (in Portland. In the winter.) overnight and who does not have a garage and is also a terrible trash person...boy, I wish I had a Car Guy.
ReplyDeleteI am quite lucky to have a car guy! I know that your guy may not be a car guy but he is a fine guy and a good one. That's what's important.
DeleteAnd by the way- Glen has had mice (probably still does) nesting in the engines of his project cars out in the garage.
I have a car guy but he doesn't clean my car. I once heard a woman complaining that her husband took her for granted. I really thought hard about that. I realized that Tim takes me for granted. I also take him for granted. That is marriage, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteYes. I think that we do take each other for granted in marriage but I try very hard to notice and appreciate what Glen does for me and for us and I like to thank him. He thanks me every night for whatever I've made for dinner and I surely do appreciate that. And he often washes the dishes too! Which is a doing, not a saying, so it's even more real. It probably would not hurt any of us to be more outwardly appreciative of what our partners do.
DeleteOh I never meant that we should appreciate each other. I meant it more that after a few years together, you develop expectations. I don't think about figuring out the car because I know that he will take care of it. He doesn't give dinner a second thought because he expects that I will handle it. It is not that we are not glad for each other's contribution.
DeleteYour car certainly is beautiful, but roaches? Yikes! Perhaps you could not eat in the car anymore? Funny how garages the world over seem to contain everything but the cars they were intended for.
ReplyDeleteNot eat in the car any more? Where's the fun in that? I do love to get something to eat, park in a quiet, shady part of a parking lot, and read my New Yorker magazine. I feel like no one in the world knows where I am for that minute and I sort of love it.
DeleteThat is funny about garages. Somehow my grandfather had an entire woodshop in his garage, stored wood, AND was able to fit his car in. And it wasn't a very big garage either. Granddaddy magic.
My ex would take his car to the carwash and clean it out but he NEVER took mine or ever did anything to it. I cleaned my own car, sorted out the oil changes, winter tyres - everything. I guess that says a lot about my marriage doesn't it. Mind you, he was the slob not me so it didn't matter in the end!
ReplyDeleteAnd that is probably the least offensive thing your ex did. I am so glad you don't have to put up with that shit any more.
DeleteLike you, we have our set " jobs"......I do the cooking, food shopping, laundry, dog walking, cleaning ( not often enough!) and he looks after the cars, mows the lawn, cuts the hedges, that sort of thing! I do however have to remind him re things to do with my car. The other day I had to take a bowl of water and sponge to wash the rear end, where my friend's dog always puts his muddy paws to say hello to my dog before he gets out of the crate! I also clean the inside of my car, but not very often as the foot mat is always covered in grass and grit from my shoes after the dog walk, and if I cleaned it I wouldn't want to mucky it again! Does that make sense?
ReplyDeleteIt is nice for a couple of days when I do clean though!
It does make sense about not bothering to clean the floor of your car when you know you're just going to get it yucked up again.
DeleteYes. At our house, Glen mows the lawn and I do most of the rest of the yardwork. At least the stuff I can do. I have become woefully behind at that lately though. And for some reason, I take the garbage to the dump unless he has a big load of stuff to take. It's funny how we break these tasks down and assign them without ever really talking about it, isn't it?
She must pay a tiny, tiny amount of rent (if any). I love that muhley grass!
ReplyDeleteOh, and as you know, we have divisions of labor in our household as well. Dave does the food stuff; I do pretty much everything else!
DeleteThe GS Boutique woman OWNS that building. She bought it. I doubt she paid much for it but still...
DeleteDave is getting off lucky. That's all I have to say about that.
Perhaps in the course of time you will become a salesperson at Lloyd Farmer's Market. You could sell little clay farmers - hand-painted of course and vouchers for the Glen Moon Deluxe Car Valeting Service - forty bucks each.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...Probably not. I think those people bring their own things to sell and I don't have anything I want to sell. Unless people want to buy love letters that I write for them to give to their sweethearts. I've always thought that would be a fun thing to do.
DeleteGlen would get a lot more than forty dollars for each car he detailed. He worked on my car for days.
T had a go at our car (we only have one) when I managed to put a dent in the side. He spent about a day vacuuming and polishing it up inside and out, for the benefit of the mechanics who were going to fix it, "just to show them that we care about how it's done" he said. Well, I didn't say a thing, particularly since we share the car and I haven't been looking after it either. I'm really grateful he's done it, (and he didn't even mention once that I was the one that put the dent in it).
ReplyDelete