A Sweet Day At Home

The size of that live oak on the left is impossible to gauge from a picture. I think it is one of the biggest recorded oaks in Jefferson County and we have no shortage of huge, ancient, heritage oaks. Let me just tell you that the tree on the right is, in itself, quite large and it looks like a sapling compared to the one on the left. 
I took that picture on my way back from the Post Office today and as always, I cannot pass that tree without taking a deep breath and giving a little thought of praise in my head. I am no Pagan and I know that. Kathleen practiced quite a few of the old ceremonies on the days considered of ceremonial importance in that particular religion but I'm ignorant about them, as with so many things. Still, it does not take a Pagan to recognize one of the old gods and to be astounded and worshipful in its presence. 

That's what I think, anyway. 

It's been as gray and dull as an old tin bucket all day long. This weather is so weird. We've had a little rain but no wind to speak of. And the temperature has climbed to almost seventy degrees but will be back down to forty again by tomorrow morning. I've not been overly concerned about the gray day but have had a fine day, here in Lloyd by myself. I've mostly just puttered around, doing laundry and thinking about how I should get back outside and pick up some more of the fallen tree-parts that litter the yard. However, you know- rain. And also, sloth. Like I said, I did force myself to walk to the Post Office which is less than a block away if Lloyd had blocks which it does not. I had a card to mail to Billy. 

He and I had been texting this morning and he told me that his New Year's resolution was to tell the people whom he loves that he loves them, unabashedly. Now I love that word. Unabashedly. And honestly, Billy has always been pretty good at that. 
Some of you do not know who Billy is. Everyone in the world should know who Billy is, but unfortunately, they do not. Here's a picture of Billy. 

He has his own style and he does not and will not conform to anyone's idea of what he should look like or how he should dress or how he should do his nails or how he should live his life. I could go on for days about why I love Billy and why everyone who knows Billy loves him but I won't. 
Anyway, when Jessie and I were at World Market doing the Christmas thing, I found this card.

Obviously, it was made for Billy. It's a birthday card. I bought it and set it aside to send on his birthday which is not until the end of September. When we were texting this morning, I told him I'd already gotten his birthday card but that I was thinking of sending it now. He said, "Do it!" and so I did. 

I would not be surprised if he hasn't already gotten about five of these cards. 
Oh well. I crossed out "birth" in the "Happy Birthday" message and replaced it with "Every" so that it says, "Happy Everyday."

Totally appropriate. 

By the way, I love Billy unabashedly. 

Another thing I did today was to make a peach cobbler for my across-the-street neighbor whose mama died a few days ago. The mama was ninety-three years old so it was not a surprise but still, like I said to my neighbor, It's a different world when your mother is no longer in it.

And that is true and we live in the south and when someone dies, you take them food. That's all there is to it. I had a jar of beautiful canned peaches (well, jarred peaches) and made the simple, basic recipe that Truvy gives in Steel Magnolias which involves flour, baking powder, sugar, butter, milk, and peaches. That is all. And as Truvy says, she eats it with ice cream to cut the sweet. So I made the cobbler and then I went to GDDG and bought some vanilla ice cream so that my neighbors could cut the sweet. 
And you know what? While I was in the GDDG, I made a huge social blunder. I am still tossing this about in my head wondering why in the world I did this. 
As I was checking out (self-check-out because the GDDG doesn't hire enough employees to keep one at a cash register), a very tall man with short dreads came in and stood by the cash registers and kept looking around as if he was searching for someone or some thing. And I, for some reason that I cannot fathom, asked, "Are you looking for something?" 
As soon as I said it, I knew that had not been an appropriate thing to say. And he let me know!
"Do you work here?" he asked. 
"No," I said. 
"Well why in hell would you ask me that question?"
"I have no idea!" I said. "I'm so sorry."

And I was. And I took my ice cream and left. I know I could rationalize this by saying I was trying to be friendly but honestly- what a stupid question. It's not like I know where everything is in the Dollar General. I mean, I know where the ice cream and frozen pizzas and tortillas are. But truly, he looked as if he were looking for a person. 

I am not beating myself up about this. I know my intentions were pure. But I am realizing that I need to just keep my damn mouth shut sometimes because believe it or not, not everyone in the world needs to know I'm here. 

And then I had a nice chat with my neighbor about her mother and so on and so forth and I feel okay about it all but just...huh. Why'd I do that?

Here's a picture of Maurice, wanting some attention. 

I think this cat is going through menopause. She is so upset that Mr. Moon is gone. Her anxiety levels seem to be about where mine were when I was going through the change. 
Poor baby. 
But of course right after I took that picture, this happened. 

That is my blood. 

Her hunting skills are still intact. Last night she brought me the fourth baby mouse she's caught and killed over the last week. Remember that large mouse that Candie and I saw? I do believe that Maurice has found her nest. 

So that's life in Lloyd on this Friday. Clean sheets on the bed, a martini at a safe distance from my MacBook, the drummer at the church next door pounding out praise rhythms. The bird-frogs are calling and I cannot help but wonder what they're going to do next week when we have at least six days of below freezing weather, four of them down into the twenties. 
Be cold, I imagine. 

Happy Friday, y'all.

Love...Ms. Moon