Ahh...The Sleep Of The Peaceful War Field

This was the sight this morning of the southwest corner of the main crossroad in Lloyd. The one with the flashing light. In the distance you can see the post office which is where I was going when I took the picture. The old store is falling down and is trashy enough on its own so, hey! let's throw in an abandoned sofa with a pint liquor bottle on it! The dump is literally a block away. 
I bet you anything that sofa is going to be there for months. I hope I'm wrong. But honestly, the old store looks so bad that it hardly matters. Someone bought that building and they haven't done one thing to it or with it. If they tear it down, I don't think it can be zoned for anything and the parking lot is minuscule. The county's been on the owners for years to do SOMETHING but so far, there has been no progress. 
It's like I say though- I'm so used to it I don't see it anymore but hopefully, it will dissuade people who are thinking of moving here not to. Is that mean? Yes it is. Is it logical? No it's not. 

Does it work? 
Well, maybe. Along with the trailer park with the rusted out abandoned trailers and other assorted sites of sheer ugly. Manmade, all of them, of course. 

But it was another beautiful day and Mr. Moon called this morning to say he was on his way home and he should be here in about forty-five minutes, in time to make me a Friday night martini. So that's pretty exciting. I told him I wasn't sure he was going to come home at all but he claims to miss me and his cats and his bed and I'm wondering if its really all in that order. Making up the bed with clean sheets took me most of the day. Now there's a story behind this, of course. 

Last night, Jack was on the bed with me and we were sleeping peacefully and suddenly, I was awoken by the sound of cat-fury. Hissing, howling, spitting, slashing. And it was all happening up by my head. I started screaming at them and Maurice jumped off the bed and ran. I guess she'd thought she could sneak up there and sleep on the bed too but of course Jack was not about to tolerate that. 
I checked my phone and it was 1:37 a.m. and I thought, "Oh hell, I'll never get back to sleep now," and then promptly fell back asleep. So that was fine and I'd completely forgotten about it until I went to strip the bed this morning, only to find some pretty serious bloodstains all over the area in which the fight was held. My first thought was, "Oh god! Am I dying?" but quickly realized that the stains were not where I sleep and realized it had come from one or both of those damn slashy, bitey cats. I checked them for wounds but saw nothing apparent and I haven't seen any more blood today so I guess they're all right. 

But the blood had gotten all the way through TWO mattress pads which I use to keep the sheets from sliding around and actually, onto the mattress itself. 
I did three jumbo-sized loads of laundry and I'm pretty sure those bloodstains are never going to go away entirely. Too bad Oprah can't come help me. I heard her on a podcast one time and she could not quit talking about stain removal. It was like her new favorite hobby. I think she was there to talk about empowering women but the subject kept going back to stain removal. I bet she's good at it. 

Another thing I did today was to talk for two entire hours on the phone with my oldest best friend. She called me and we caught up and it was so delightful. We weren't even teenagers when we met in the sixth grade and now here we are, two old crones, cackling for all we're worth. I never talk to anyone on the phone much anymore. But when I see her number come up, I answer. We've both been through a lot since we met, as one does living a life, but it's just such a comfort and a joy to be able to recall the things that we truly bonded over all those years ago and how they still sometimes relate to what we're doing and experiencing now. And somehow, those memories seem like they happened yesterday. We haven't laid eyes on each other in almost thirty years but when we talk, we just continue the conversation we started over sixty years ago. 
I love her so much. 

So that was mostly my day. Doing laundry and talking to my girlfriend and sort of getting ready for Mr. Moon to come home. That doesn't really require much though. I thawed out some chicken and picked some salad greens and I have bread rising. It'll be good to see him but there's always a little period for me of re-acclimating when he gets home. Like, "What are all these clothes doing in the laundry room?" as well as having to think about someone else's needs when I've just gotten so used to being a wild and crazy old woman by myself. But I have a lot of practice and it's nice getting hugs and kisses again and having someone to laugh with and bitch to about things I feel bitchy about (and I don't mean him) and yes, even cook for. 

He's my sweetheart. 

I really wanted to show you all some of the different colors of pink that my camellias come in but I wasn't able to come up with a way to truly get good comparison shots. Here's what I did get, though.

There's a bush I have blooming that Kathleen gave me which puts out blossoms that are barely a shade past white. The most delicate pink you can imagine. And then of course there the shades of young-girl's first dance lipstick pink, and baby cheek pink, and the possibly quite perfect pink of the pink perfections. I don't even know what to call the pink of the ones that are probably my favorite. And all of these flowers contain their own different varying shades of pink- universes of pink in and of themselves. 
Colors that would make Barbie cry. 

The man should be home any minute so I guess I'll go powder my nose and do my hair. 
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! 

I hope I'm wearing my most fetching overalls but I think that would be an oxymoron. 

Oh, one more thing! Billy's son Waylon texted me this morning. He said, "Happy Groundhog Day. The groundhog didn't see his shadow so spring is coming early!" 

I was so honored and so charmed by this. It was a beautiful way to start off the day. I answered him and thanked him for letting me know. And as I texted back to him, it sure looks like spring around here. 

Happy Friday, y'all. 

Love...Ms. Moon

P.S. Title of this post is courtesy of Rebecca who was responding to a text I sent her about the catfight that didn't keep me awake nearly as long as I thought it would. I asked her permission and she graciously granted it. 

P.P.S. Mr. Moon is home, safe and sound, and martinis are being enjoyed. All is well with my world.