Wednesday, July 3, 2024

A Lot To Think About

 


Every year I get a new Virgin of Guadalupe calendar and this is the image of La Reina de Mexico for July. I especially like this one. I love the folk artsy-ness of it and I love the soothing greens in it. Even the cacti delight me and no one hates a prickly cactus as much as I do. 
Okay. Probably someone does. I just got stuck too many times when I was a kid, running around barefoot in the Roseland woods. 
So I am grateful for that picture in my kitchen this month which is also my birthday month. Such a nice present to me. 

I woke up this morning with my knee very wonky and my foot on the same leg somewhat painful too. And I guess the ankle. Yesterday I got into some red ants out in the garden and my foot got stung A LOT and it's a bit swollen now so I don't know if the ant bites are the cause of that or some mysterious injury I have incurred. The foot was hurting before the ant bites so who knows?

Speaking of ants, I found an article in the NYT's science section today about Florida Carpenter ants who, it has been discovered, will amputate a nest-mate's leg if it is injured, which, in 90% of cases results in healing and a healthy ant patient. There's a long scientific reason for this but the question is- how do the ants know that amputation is the necessary remedy? The article says that the wounded ant will sit still (stand still?) and let another ant chew off her leg. (His leg?) The chewing ant will then clean the wound by licking it and then off goes the now five-legged ant. Another question I have is this: Are there specific ants which are called on to do these amputations? Like, oh, doctor ants? Medic ants? Surgeon ants? 
Uh-oh! Thigh wound! Call Trisha. She's the surgeon ant on duty today. STAT!

There are so many things we do not not know and I found this article fascinating. When I come across ants, my only thought is to get away from the little stinging motherfuckers because all the ants in Florida sting. Or bite. I don't even know which. 
I just looked it up. They can do both. 

In other insect news we have a horrible black aphid infestation on our just-now-podding-up field peas. We get this every year but we haven't even picked the first pod yet. It doesn't usually happen this soon. In an article about black aphids I found online from the Planet Natural Research Center (sounds legit, right?) it says this:

Female aphids give birth to other females (nymphs) who are born pregnant. Given their incredible adaptation, this pest’s chances of exponential growth in a short time are incredibly high. 

Why do we even try?

Today Mr. Moon and I went to lunch with Lily and her kids for a Boppy Birthday lunch. We chose the pizza place where May works so we would get to see her sweet face. It was a good time, honestly. Glen hasn't seen Owen in a few weeks and could not believe the way he's grown. I've been telling him but the reality is far more amazing than any description. Here's a picture of my darlings before we left.


I'm pretty sure that Lily isn't standing up as tall as she can but still. Can you believe it? 
While we were there, May taught Maggie how to fold pizza boxes. 


A very worthwhile skill, I would say. May can fold a stack of pizza boxes five feet tall in less than five minutes. 
She's bona fide. 

I had an experience today that moved me deeply. I'm not going to go into details in order to protect privacies but I met and visited for a few moments with a woman who, as a grandmother, is taking care of a grandbaby who was born very prematurely and who is a twin. The parents of the baby are with the baby's brother who is getting brain surgery in a nearby huge teaching hospital associated with a university. The woman and her husband are doing everything they can to help their daughter and her husband and those babies and I cannot imagine what they've been through, what they're going through, what they will be going through. The grandmother had ostensibly wanted to talk to me about finding breast milk as the mother's supply is not enough at this point. I used to be in the birthing biz and Glen had told her that. But really, she just needed someone to listen to her story which I gladly did. I had no advice whatsoever except to offer a few suggestions as to who to call for information on breast milk banks. 
It is unbelievable, hearing what that family has been through, trying to keep these babies alive. And oh- did I mention that the grandmother just had surgery herself? 
I will be honest- I did not especially want to talk to her when Glen asked me if I would. I knew I didn't have much to offer in the way of ideas or advice, if anything at all. But like I said, she just needed someone to listen to her. And that I could do. And I could also tell her, "You're doing a great job, Grandma. You're doing an amazing job."
And she is. 

That's what I'm thinking about this evening. How damn lucky I was to have four such healthy babies and five such healthy grandchildren. And it's nothing that I did or we did that made that happen. We just got the good fortune that it did, and this woman whose babies were born 16 weeks before their due-date did nothing to cause that either. It just happened that way as it does. 
Again I say- there is so much we do not know.

That's all I have to say. 

Love...Ms. Moon


27 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. I very much doubt that an ant surgeon would be called Trisha. She would be called Antonia or Anthea. And in the unlikely event that the ant surgeon might be male, he would surely be an Antony or Antonio.

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    1. Mr Pudding- Thank you for making me laugh. It has been so long since I’ve laughed that I didn’t know that I knew how.
      Chris

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    2. Thanks Chris! You should have seen what I put in the deleted comment!

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    3. Well I surely do wish I'd read what you wrote in that deleted comment.

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  3. Ants and bees are fascinating little social groups, aren't they? Sometimes, people are too. Fire ants are awful. So are some people.

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    1. Yes. Ants and bees have amazing colonies. I wonder if they work and run as smoothly as we think they do. Are there outliers who refuse to follow the rest of the community and just want to do their own thing? I wonder.
      I guess fire ants are just doing what it is they were made to do in order to protect themselves and their communities. Still, they are awful as are some people.

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  4. That baby story undid me. I went to google to see photos of babies born that soon- tiniest sprites, plugged in to machines that help them breathe and develop...TWINS! holy cow. Birthin'' babies is a crap shoot- it is a wonder any one gets born healthy, full term. Luck of the draw.
    Florida bugs have way too much enthusiasm.
    Family looking as charming as usual- kids getting tall!!!

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    1. Can you imagine a baby who weighs less than two pounds? I mean...they really are more spirit than child.
      Florida bugs know they're the emperors of their universe and they act like it.
      Kids are getting tall.

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  5. Replies
    1. Oh yes. They surely will. And if they all suddenly disappeared, we humans would die.

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  6. Those babies were born at just 14 weeks???? 26 weeks premature?? Oh my lord. I can't even begin to imagine how tiny they are. Praying for them and their family!

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    1. That would have been a miscarriage. I think there's a typo. Born at 26 weeks, probably.

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    2. Yes. You are both right. Actually, the babies were born at 24 weeks. just over half-way done.

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  7. Your family always make me smile. Fascinating about the ants and Trisha. Do you have any aloe vera growing? GREAT treatment for those stings. Actually I don’t know why I’m asking, I’m sure you know how to take care of it.

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    1. I have WAY too much aloe growing. Way, way, way too much. Ant bites only hurt and itch me for awhile and then they leave a little tiny sore and heals up and life goes on.

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  8. I'm guessing the babies were born AT 26 weeks, not 26 weeks before their due date and I hope very much that the surgery goes well and the grandmother finds a source of breast milk. Failing that, some formulas these days are excellent though expensive. Are there any nursing mothers nearby who would be willing to share milk?
    Owen is almost as tall as his boppy!! Love Maggie's dress.

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    1. 24 weeks. There are several surgeries planned for both babies. It's just this coming-up brain surgery that is the scariest, I guess.
      The grandmother is looking into milk banks. They were giving the babies some sort of supplement but they were not tolerating it well. Owen still has about nine inches to go to be as tall as his Bop. I like that dress of Maggie's too. I'd wear it!

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  9. There is story I am following on social media here about twins that were born 5 weeks apart. The first, Ivy was born at 23 weeks, and her twin Ella stayed put until 28 weeks. They are both home now, (but it is still before their due date) and one of them is having eye surgery today. I am also grateful that my boys and grands didn't have any significant problems.

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    1. Yes. Those of us who babies were born healthy and hale are the lucky ones.

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  10. I can't imagine how tiny at baby born at 26 weeks would be, especially a twin. That poor family and because they're in the US, there are also medical bills.
    I'm very thankful I don't have to deal with ants like you have. I would be very tempted to douse them in gasoline. Not a fan of being bitten or stung.
    Owen looks like he's getting close to his poppa's height.

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    1. 24 weeks. Organs not entirely developed at that point. I cannot imagine what the medical bills are. Probably in the millions.
      Can't use gas on ants in the garden! And honestly, I've never seen anything but extremely toxic pesticides that could actually kill an ant colony.
      Owen's got nine more inches to grow before he's as tall as Glen.

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  11. You have scary insects in Florida, Mary! Owen will be as tall as Mr. Moon before you know it!
    Nice of you to listen to that grandma. What an ordeal for that family. I used to give breast milk to the hospital for preemies back in the day. I hope all turns out well for that family.

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  12. I'm not surprised that ants know how to tend and heal injured ants. why do we think that that's amazing? human arrogance, that's why. we think we are the end all and be all of creation. ants are pretty fucking amazing. they build structures they live in, they farm, they tend the injured, they defend their property, they communicate with each other.

    I think Owen is going to be as tall as Mr Moon before it's all over with.

    my twin grandgirls were born about 6 weeks early, weighed just over 3 pounds each but fortunately didn't have any health problems, just had to stay in their little incubators until they put on weight.

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    1. You are right. Human arrogance absolutely holds us back from the facts about what animals and all kinds of critters are capable of. It's sort of like those ancient alien theories because we don't think that humans thousands of years ago could have figured out how to build and do what they did which is ridiculous, of course.
      I think Owen will be as tall as Glen too.
      I think these babies weighed a little over a pound apiece at birth.

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  13. Born Pregnant, well, that's an adaptation I'm sure glad skipped us Humans. *LOL* Ants are fascinating Creatures, good thing they're so tiny or they'd probably Rule the Earth.

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    1. GAWD. Me too. And they don't need a male to reproduce. Obviously.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.