A Day Of Coping

 Last night after I finished my post I took everything off this old vanity in the hallway, cleaned everything off, kissed my favorite Virgin of Guadalupe on her pretty little lips, and dusted and oiled the wood and shined up the mirrors. Then I put everything back. I used to call this an altar but I have moved past even that at this point in my life. Now I just call it a place where I put some of my very favorite and most meaningful pictures and things. 
Whatever we call it, it looks so much better. 

I got up early today, although it was not dark due to the time change, and drove to town to Jessie's house and then we went to where the pottery class is held but to our surprise, but not shock, the studio was closed today due to the election. The building that houses the studio is also a polling place and it was busy. 

So. There we were at 9:45 and what should we do with our time? We had to keep busy, keep moving, keep doing. So we went back to Jessie's house for a little while and took a tour around her yard to see things and...

...to cuddle a few chickens. Oh, how I loved it. I snuggled them right up to my bosom and sniffed their sweet little heads and gave them a few kisses. I could not help it. Jessie is ready and willing to give me a hen and a rooster and hell, I don't know. I might take them. 
My time with them today was so calming, so soothing, as chickens always are to me. And I stroked Sophie's sweet, furry head for a very long time and that, too, was just what I needed. She looked blissed-out herself. 
Therapy animals. 

Jessie has some beautiful things going on in their yard. Here are a few of them. 

The Firespike is fierce. Look at that scarlet! And it's in a place where it gets a lot of direct sunlight which I guess my poor plants are sorely lacking in. 

Bananas? Hello! Why can't I grow bananas like that? I have not had one dang bloom this year. Pathetic. 

This tree is so heavy with fruit that it needs propping up. We are not quite sure what this citrus is. At first, we were calling it Meyer's Lemons but I do not think that's what they are. Whatever they are, they are delightful and make the best lemonade you've ever had. Lemon curd? Look no further.

So all of that was fun and then we decided to go to Target to find birthday presents for Levon. His birthday is Saturday which is also the day of the wedding. If you recall, my original plan was to have Levon's name quilt done so that I could give him that as a present but, well, I guess I got busy? What the hell have I been doing? I don't know but that name blanket is nowhere near done. 
And off to Target we went. If I've been to Target twice since Covid, I'd be surprised. It was rather shocking to see all the new clothes, not Goodwill clothes or online clothes. We wandered around for quite awhile, fondling fabrics and laughing a lot. We stopped in the infant section and lost our minds over the tiny newborn outfits and absolutely darling little slippers that would not stay on a baby for five seconds but I'd buy them anyway if I had a baby to put them on in order to kick off. We found Levon some birthday presents and I also got two things for both of those boys for Christmas so hurray! I have started my Christmas shopping. 

When we browsed through the book section and were in the cookbook area, I had to arrange three cookbooks and take a picture of them to prove a point. 

If you are a woman and write a cookbook, you have to be blonde and thin and have a big smile with a lot of teeth to get it published. If you are a man who has written a cookbook though, you can look like that dude and I am not saying he isn't attractive in his own manly way, I'm just saying that the standards sure are different. 

We did not buy any cookbooks. 

I did buy two down pillows for the guest room bed, a dress, a string of star lights to replace the ones I've had plugged in in my kitchen for at least ten years, in case they ever die, and...what else? Maybe that was it except for the boys' presents. I told Jessie that I was making up for all the time I haven't been to Target to spend money. Jessie bought a few things herself. I swear, we must have been in that store for at least an hour and a half which is an unheard of amount of time for me to be in any sort of public retail establishment. But we were in our own little world and all was well. 
Both of us were having a hard time concentrating on anything today. Jessie had her first and only (I think) real panic attack when she woke up the morning after the 2016 election to find that Trump had won. We remembered how smug we'd all been the day before the election, absolutely certain that we were about to get our first woman president, only to find that no, we got our first rapist game-show star president who had less political experience than the person who mops the floors in the House of Representatives. 
My medication increase has helped with my anxiety for sure. I am not walking around in a state of panic. However, I feel emotionally numb and have been disassociating for days. I probably should not have been driving today. 

We are all dealing with this election in the best ways we can. I am sure that everyone's coping mechanisms are out in full force. And that is fine. This is what coping mechanisms are for. We probably won't know shit tonight but perhaps tomorrow morning we will, although of course Trump is going to declare victory before the polls on the west coast are closed. 

We shall see what we see. Personally, I can't even imagine what the outcome of this will be. 

Take care, y'all. This is some crazy stressful shit. I believe I shall go cut up okra and tomatoes. 

And this. There are places of peace and comfort no matter what. 

Big Love tonight...Ms. Moon