Covering Some New Ground Here Today

Anyone able to identify that white globelike object way, way up there in a magnolia tree? 
It's the first bloom of the year that I've seen. It will probably be open tomorrow. I know I say this about so many flowers but...perhaps the blossom of the Magnolia grandifora is my favorite of all of them. 
Until the camellias bloom, of course. And those maroon velvet roses are right up at the top of the most beautiful in my opinion. 

I took a little walk today. I am so out of shape that it's pathetic. I could write an entire book on this subject but I won't. I'll just say that I have abandoned any good exercise habits I've ever had and I used to have some very, very good ones. For most of my life, really. And look at me now. 
Actually, no, don't look at me. 

Anyway, I walked down to where Lloyd Creek crosses the highway right by my house and I swear to you- I have no idea how we got as much water as we did last week. There are still acres of lowland that are flooded. 

In the lower two photos you can see the tops of trees. There is SO much water. It just seems impossible that even if we did get eleven or twelve inches it would cause this much flooding. I will admit that I know very little about the subject so I have no answers. In this case, I don't think development had much to do with the unusual floods because there really is not a whole lot of development going on in this particular area. Some, but certainly not enough to blame for water levels like this. We here in North Florida live on limestone for the most part, under which is an aquifer. That's where we get our water from and why we have so many springs and rivers and also sink holes. I suppose that getting that much rain at one time overwhelmed the natural, normal system that allows the water to seep through the limestone and into the aquifer. 
I could be wrong. I frequently am. But I am not wrong about the amount of standing and running water we have around here right now. 

All right. I woke up this morning thinking about a friend of Mr. Moon's whose wife died a few months ago. I can't remember exactly when but it hasn't been that long. She had been very sick for over five years and although she went through every known medical treatment known to doctors, it was inevitable that she was not going to be cured of the disease that did indeed, finally take her. Mr. Moon told me yesterday that this friend of his was vacationing in Key West with a woman friend. And he said, before I could comment on this, "I don't blame him. He deserves some happiness." 
And in all honesty, I believe this too. 
But isn't this a tricky subject? 
I've often told Mr. Moon that if I died I know he'd be remarried within a year. And I truly think he would be. This is the way of it. He is a domestically inclined man and he is used to the comfort of a wife. And I guess I'm at peace with that, knowing he'd find another sweetheart very quickly, but of course there is a part of me that would like to think that after having me as a wife for all these years, he would not be satisfied with any other woman. 
And that, my friends, is pure ego and has nothing to do with reality. 

When Glen told me about his friend I said, "I wonder how his kids feel about that?" and he said, "Well, they're grown so they probably understand."
But do they? How would our kids feel if one of us died and the left-behind partner hooked up with someone in a short amount of time? I think they would be glad to know that their parent was happy but I also think it would be hard on them. 

I have experience with this situation, as does Glen because after Glen's mother died, his father and my mother began courting and were married within months. And how did Glen and I feel about this? 
Pretty fucking freaked out. His parents had had a long and happy marriage. Of course, that was an unusual situation. Neither of our parents had just married some rando they'd known at church or something. It felt...very, very weird. And I loved Glen's daddy with all my heart and he was the best thing that could ever have happened to my mother whose two former marriages had been vastly unhappy. 
And then, within a few months of their marriage, Glen's daddy was diagnosed with liver cancer and he died shortly thereafter and ended up being buried next to Glen's mother in a cemetery up in Tennessee where they had lived most of their life. He had offered my mother the plot next to him on the other side but she wanted to be cremated and wasn't really into the idea of spending eternity in a plural marriage, so to speak. But when I say that the funeral in Tennessee which was mostly attended by friends and family who had known Glen's parents as a couple for so many years was awkward, I am not kidding you at all. 
My mother did not lead an easy life. She really didn't. 

But back to the situation wherein my husband became my stepbrother- the jokes were endless. And as I told my therapist when I was describing all of this, "Will the incest NEVER end?" 
And yet, of course we wanted our parents to be happy and if that meant they married each other, well, so be it. 

I'm not quite sure where I'm going with all of this. Obviously, no where at this point. But I suppose I'm just pointing out that the dating and possible remarriage of someone who was married for a very long time can be a delicate minefield. Especially for the children of that long-time marriage, no matter how old they are. 

I'm sure some of you may want to know how I would feel about dating or remarriage if my husband preceded me in death and I have to say that statistically and practically, the chances of me meeting another man whom I felt I could love enough to marry in that situation would be practically nil. As for dating- forget it. Don't you have to go out on a date? Do I go out anywhere? 
Not so much. 

I guess I've belabored this topic plenty for one day but I will say that I hope with every fiber of my being that I die before my husband. Whether we're speaking romantically or practically I have no idea what I would do without him. 
Literally. 
And in a way, it does comfort me to know that if I go first, there will be women lined up at the door wearing lipstick and holding casseroles. 
Because I do love him and I do think he deserves to be happy. 

Also, I'll be dead so I won't know a thing about it, which in itself is a comfort. 

Love...Ms. Moon