Sunday, May 5, 2024

Florida Stuff And Other Things


The magnolias drop their spent leaves in spring and then come the new ones along with the blossoms. The lowering sun behind them shows the almost translucent baby ones so nicely. Eventually they'll thicken and turn their darker shade of green but for right now, they are pert and pretty and sassy in their showy newness. 
I think they are extra pretty today because we did get some rain last night, not long after I said we'd gotten none. It came down pretty hard for awhile and wasn't just a drive-by droplet situation. In fact, it was so nice that Mr. Moon and I sat out on the front porch for a few minutes to watch it, listen to it, smell it, take in that sweet blessing. I thought we got a decent amount of rain but the weather widget said it was only .3 inches and the rain gauge garden carts say about the same. Still, it was better than nothing and something to be glad for. 

Here's what the sun does to some palm fronds and the wild phlox that will be blooming soon. 


Soon that area will be a blur of pink. You can see a blooming salvia there in the front. I am afraid it doesn't get enough light and I don't feel like we're getting much bang for our buck with those plants. Which I didn't plant but you know what I mean. 

I picked my third basket of beans in as many days. Also another squash. Maurice was once again my faithful companion. 


Do you see the holes in some of the bean leaves? That is the damage done by the nymphs of the Georgia Thumper grasshopper or, as they are sometimes called, Lubbers. Whatever you call them, they are demons, each and every one. Here's what they looked like last week.


No, I did not take that picture but that's exactly what they looked like on my eggplant plants three days ago and honey, I smashed as many of them as I could with my bare hands. I am sorry, all you Buddhists, but these things are in no danger of extinction and if they have souls (and I'm sure they do), I'll just deal with that when I meet the Great Record Keeper Of Good And Bad Deeds In The Sky. 

They've gotten bigger than that in the past few days and are now about the size of normal grasshoppers. I've seen them on the beans and have smashed those too. As adults, they are about three inches long and I figure if we ate grasshoppers, it would only take about half a dozen of them to make a hearty meal. They are huge. 

So what else is there to talk about on this Sunday? I guess since the Rolling Stones are the official band of the Church of the Batshit Crazy, I will report that reviews of their performance in New Orleans at Jazz Fest were spectacular. It would appear that Jagger is in fine fettle and doing the job of a man half his age. Let's just call it the year for the octogenarians. If Mick can do a two-hour show, dancing, singing, and moving like Jagger in the heat and humidity of New Orleans, Louisiana, Joe Biden can still be president. 
I so proclaim it. 

Okay. Speaking of that situation- we all know that it is rumored that Trump wears adult diapers due to incontinence. Which look- I am making no judgements about. But his followers have not only decided that this is not a problem, they have embraced the whole issue in the way only Trump supporters can do. 



Remember back in 2016 when Herr Stinkin'Shit said that he could shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue in NY and he wouldn't lose any voters?
Well he was sure right about that. Any day now I'm expecting him to do just that to prove how beloved he is. THERE IS NOTHING THIS MAN CAN DO THAT HIS CULT FOLLOWERS WILL NOT CHEER! 

Sorry for ruining your Sunday. But since it's already ruined, let me point out that Florida's new abortion law went into effect last week. This law makes it illegal for a woman to get an abortion past six weeks of pregnancy. Now let me give you a little background on what this means. Women's pregnancies begin at conception, correct? 
Well, not in legal terms. Or medical. 
A woman's pregnancy is considered to have begun on the first day of her last period. This is how the "dates of confinement" are figured. In other words, due-dates. So technically, when you get pregnant, the very moment conception occurs, according to the law you are already two weeks pregnant. So, four weeks later, which is when the cut-off is to get an abortion in Florida, a woman is only two weeks past a missed period. And many women bleed a little bit at the time of implantation  of the fertilized egg which can be and often is, confused with a very light period. This occurs at the time a woman would normally get her period. 
Also, a pregnancy test is most valid after a period is missed. So there is a two-week span of time for a woman in Florida to figure out that she may be pregnant, take a pregnancy test, discover she's pregnant, find an abortion provider, and get an abortion. 
A safe, legal abortion, that is. 
And let me tell you as one who has been there, the first few weeks of any pregnancy are generally spent in denial. Especially when it was not a pregnancy that was planned. And many, many women have periods that are not in the least "regular." They may come once every four weeks, eight weeks, or six weeks. That's just the way it is. 

So all of these things and many more are why I am so focused on my yard and garden right now. I can't do a thing about Trump and I can't do a thing about the abortion law in Florida although I did sign a petition to get an amendment on a ballot so that women in Florida will not be denied the right to abortion before fetal viability which is around 24 weeks. We will be voting on that soon.

Hey! Here's a picture of what a hogwire tomato cage looks like. 



And here's a picture of a trellis made of posts and hogwire fencing that tomatoes can be tied to for support. 


And one more picture of the novelist Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings standing at the gate in her fence at her home in Cross Creek, Florida. 


I feel like part of a long line of Florida women. Trust me- MK Rawlings would have told Ron DeSantis to fuck straight off to hell. I will not even mention the fact that the woman had guns and knew how to use them. 

Love...Ms. Moon

28 comments:

  1. If it is true that real men wear diapers then how come The Orange Monster wears them? Some pretty dumb people have been involved in changing abortion legislation but why should they care? They are mainly men. I am right behind the slogan of the nineteen seventies "ABORTION - A WOMAN'S RIGHT TO CHOOSE". Thankfully, we are not having this battle in England and Wales.

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    1. Good question in regard to the Orange Monster. Because he is so not a real man.
      Why DO people care about what others do with their bodies? And yes, they can claim that an embryo or even a fertilized egg is a human being (which of course it is not) which should be protected because human life is sacred but do they give a shit about the life of the mother or the wellbeing of the mother and any other children she may have? Or in fact, about this fertilized egg when it is in fact born and and must be taken care of?
      No. They have repeatedly proven that they do not.

      Delete
  2. It is so good to know the abortion issue is on the ballot and up for the vote. It passed broadly here in Ohio, also known as a Little Florida, and our GOP state legislators are still fighting it.

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    1. I am hoping with all my heart it passes here but I know that the our legislators will try to figure out how to get around it with the help of the anti-abortionists.

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  3. Ya know, I thought I'd heard it all, but his f**king cult members embracing diapers? You have got to be shitting me. That Florida abortion law is just heinous. I cannot help wondering when the people of Florida are going to say "Enough of this shit!" and vote those people out. Women's health care is basically non-existent in Red states.

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    1. I am NOT SHITTING YOU! Can you believe that shit?
      Women's health care is not system's number one priority, is it? I don't know what's wrong with people, Jim.

      Delete
  4. Bravo to MK Rawlings as I, too, think she would have told Little Ronnie DeSantis for fuck off. I think I told you I toured her home and was very
    moved as I had just read "Cross Creek". Stil one of my favorite books
    about the old Florida.
    Paranormal John

    ReplyDelete
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    1. John, you are right. She would have told the governor exactly what she thought. I love her home and I'm glad you got to see it. I've been there several times. You feel like you know it after reading Cross Creek, don't you?

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  5. I'm beyond angry about that law passed by men to ruin women's lives.

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    1. I'd say that men just don't have a clue but I think it goes far deeper and is more sinister than that.

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  6. Just when I thought Trump supporters couldn't get any more nuts! I heard he has been wearing diapers since he was on "The Apprentice" however many years ago and he was so full of Adderall his assistants had to remind him to change them.
    I am SO SORRY about that abortion law.
    Thank you for the tomato cages and fence support pictures and that lovely sunlight through the palms.

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    1. I've heard that about Trump too.
      Can you imagine how this law is going to affect the people of Florida? And not just the women, either. But mostly women and children. Of course.
      You are welcome for the tomato support pictures!

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  7. Oh my God. I hadn't heard about that abortion ruling!!! Like you say, so many women don't even know they're pregnant at six weeks!!!!!

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    1. And if the pregnant person is a child, which happens far more often than we'd like to think, she may not have the slightest clue that she could even be pregnant at all. Especially children who are in situations of incest.

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  8. Those Trumpists make me feel like there’s no hope for the USA and that doesn’t bode well for the rest of the world.

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    1. Mitchell, I cannot say I don't agree with you because I do. 100%.

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  9. I've never had an abortion, but I did have to make the decision not to have one. One of my AFP tests came back with bad results. I was lucky enough to have more testing to show that the fetus was fine (she is fine). I don't know to this day what our decision would have been, but I'm so glad that I had the right to make the decision. What a tragedy for women in the state of Florida. It makes me so very afraid for the next generations.

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    1. Yes, the point is that a woman should have the choice. And that's all there is to it. I'm glad your situation came out well.

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  10. I just hope women (and sympathetic men) get out and vote responsibly. These insane, oppressive laws must not be allowed to stand. It is absolutely no business of government's whether or not a woman has an abortion. Period.

    Rawlings would not only have told DeSantis to F off, she'd have punctuated that sentiment with a slug of whiskey.

    I don't blame you for killing the grasshoppers, but I'm not sure I could squash them with my bare hands, even when they're small. (And certainly not when they're big! Ugh)

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I know there are a lot of men who are sympathetic and intelligent and respectful of women's ability to make decisions concerning the most important things in her life. And yes, may they please vote.
      You're right about MKR. She would have kicked his ass.
      When I kill the bigger ones, I knock them to the ground and smash them with my feet. I do wear shoes in the garden.

      Delete
  11. I guess we shouldn't be surprised about the backlash against the empowerment of women to the point of wanting to take us back to the time when women died all the time from complications of pregnancy. not after thousands of years of being considered less than and firmly under the thumb of some man but it totally sucks.

    my tomatoes in their cages are growing wildly and blooming but not setting much fruit. also I have a tomato hornworm and I can't find him.

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    1. No. We shouldn't be surprised and yet somehow, this whole movement to take women back to the days before women had any rights at all is a shock. Have we learned nothing? Why do women have to keep fighting this battle?
      I hate those damn hornworms. They are ugly and destructive.

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  12. I hadn't seen the news about the diapers. How silly that group looks.
    I hope the voters in Florida will vote that policy down. I trust women to make up their own minds.

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    1. Maga supporters are, by definition, idiots in my opinion and they look like idiots too.
      Yes. A woman has to be trusted as to whether she wants to have a child or not. It is not the government's GD business.

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  13. Those grasshoppers must go. The damage done to your plants is disappointing. Kill them all. Trump and his diapers is hilarious. Add this to all his other features! FL voters must mobilize against the new abortion law.

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    1. One of the main problems in Florida, politically, is how much gerrymandering has gone on. Voting laws are ridiculous and made so quite purposefully.

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  14. I’m in despair for the women of our state. I read that even if the referendum passes, legislators will find a way to thwart it like they did for restoring voting rights to ex convicts.
    The whole diaper thing is hilarious, his supporters have already shown they’re fine with whatever heinous things he does, I’ll never ever understand.
    That’s one fine looking garden!
    Xoxo
    Barbara

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    1. I think you're right. I know they're already trying to figure it out. The right-to-life assholes have many lawyers who love loopholes.
      Maybe the MAGATS will start a whole new movement (no pun intended) to make pants pooping a badge of honor. At least we'll be able to identify them by their smell.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.