Turkey Talk

Well, it has happened. The first pink perfection of the year has bloomed. I found it this morning when I went out to see if I could find some nice sasanquas to cut to take to Liz Sparks but the rain had smushed almost all of them. They are so fragile. Like flowers made of tissue paper. The camellia japonicas have slightly thicker, almost waxy leaves although they, too, are fragile. I love the way that one still has rain drops on it. It's as if its thirst had been sated completely and then some. 

I was going to take Liz some flowers because I was taking her some food. Did I mention that she had a hip replacement on Tuesday morning? Well, she did. I think she must have worn that hip out, hiking and biking and kayaking and running full tilt her entire life, leaping from one adventure to the next. She'd been in terrible pain for a while now and was so ready to get this surgery. 
Did you know that you can get a hip replacement early in the morning and be home by 1:00 p.m.? Well, you can. And she did. Because Liz has a thousand friends who love and adore her, she has lots of help and one of her friends made up a rota for people to bring her food on scheduled days. I was not on the list but of course I was going to bring her food. When I made that big pot of beef and vegetable soup at the beginning of the week, I froze some so that she could keep it in the freezer until she wanted it or let it thaw for eating now. I was going to make her some bread but I knew I was going by Costco before I went to her house and I swear to you- Costco makes a rosemary/parmesan bread that tastes better than anything I can make. So I got her a loaf of that.

When I got to her house, she was sitting on her porch, and before too long, two other friends had stopped by and we all sat and chatted. It was nice. It was great to see that Liz is up and walking with the aid of a walker and also good to hear that she hasn't been in much pain at all. They did a nerve block which has really helped. So hurray for that! She's already getting PT and I'm sure she'll be back on the rivers and trails before too long. Her son and her granddaughters are coming for the weekend and that will be a treat.

When I went to Costco, I bought our turkey. It's a twenty-pound fresh one, supposedly meaning that it hasn't been frozen but it appeared to be frozen to me. It is now in the refrigerator in the garage and hopefully, by Thanksgiving, it will be completely thawed but I have my doubts. Costco was very busy but not packed. That will come next week. Hopefully, I won't have to go back. I got butter and pecans and will make and freeze my pies tomorrow, I think. 
Here's something that made me laugh so hard- I was talking to Lily on the phone and I told her that I'd gotten a turkey. I said that I'd picked up a twenty-three year old turkey, meaning of course that I'd picked up a twenty-three pound turkey but after I realized what I'd said, I cackled like the old crone I am. And I didn't get the twenty-three pound turkey because damn- the thing was almost more than I could pick up as it was and I thought about what it would weigh stuffed with stuffing and in a roasting pan and by the way- do I even have a roasting pan that big? I think I do. But anyway, the twenty pound one seemed much more doable than the one that was three pounds more. 
Still, I may require help for this thing when it comes to roasting it.
A twenty-three year old would come in handy for that. 

And so it goes. I've had the blues a bit, just the regular kind, with a pinch of anxiety to go with them. It took a lot for me to enter Costco with all the shiny stuff and shopping people but I did really well when it came to sticking to the list and not being suckered into buying a flat of crackers and a vat of spinach and artichoke dip to go with them. And I got to see Brenda and also the guy who told me about how he loved to hang out at the Wacissa. He said, "Don't I know you?" and I said, "We talked about the Wacissa once," and he said, "Oh, yeah!" and we discussed how much we love the Wacissa and he told me that he always gets on people who trash the place and how much he hates Nestle because at one point they were trying to use the water there to bottle and I said, "Fuck Nestle," and he said, "Yeah!" 

But everything is okay and any day I get to see Liz is made better just by being in her presence even if she's just had a total hip replacement, and the camellias are all about to bust out of their buds, and Candie was here today and the house is lovely and clean, and I have our turkey and a garden cart to haul it from the garage to the kitchen in, and I am rich, rich, rich in love and luck and I made myself laugh at myself today and that's always a good thing, don't you think? 

I do. 

See you tomorrow.

Love...Ms. Moon