When we moved into this house, almost 21 years ago now, there were lace curtains in the windows. The couple who'd lived here had split up and she'd left many things behind. From what I've heard, she came to the house when her husband wasn't home, thrown everything she wanted into a truck and got the hell out of Dodge.
I feel certain she had her reasons.
She was a relatively well-known writer by the name of Connie May Fowler and I feel certain she'd bought the curtains. They are English and made of cotton, not polyester, and I love them and have kept them in my windows since.
She was a relatively well-known writer by the name of Connie May Fowler and I feel certain she'd bought the curtains. They are English and made of cotton, not polyester, and I love them and have kept them in my windows since.
Yesterday, due to a string of events which involved hanging the deer mount, the curtains all came down for washing and boy, did they need it! It has been a long, long time.
After I washed them, I realized that their age is beginning to tell. Some of them are permanently stained a sort of yellowish color and some have tears or rips in them. Small ones, mostly, but I decided today to mend those little tears and I spent some time doing that, listening to my Stephen King book. It was so beautiful outside that it was almost a sin for me to not be out in it but I was on the porch and could watch the birds come and go and enjoy the sight of the camellias blooming so profusely.
After I washed them, I realized that their age is beginning to tell. Some of them are permanently stained a sort of yellowish color and some have tears or rips in them. Small ones, mostly, but I decided today to mend those little tears and I spent some time doing that, listening to my Stephen King book. It was so beautiful outside that it was almost a sin for me to not be out in it but I was on the porch and could watch the birds come and go and enjoy the sight of the camellias blooming so profusely.
I have taken it very easy today for no particular reason. I've felt fine but I've only done the things I really wanted to do. I haven't read much news but what I have read is so disturbing. And mystifying. Why in the world is Trump so determined to upset the world economy by putting tariffs on products from Canada, Mexico, and China? I really do not understand. This is going to do the opposite of what the Heinous One promised, which was to reduce inflation, and as even he said,
"WILL THERE BE SOME PAIN? YES, MAYBE (AND MAYBE NOT!), BUT WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, AND IT WILL ALL BE WORTH THE PRICE THAT MUST BE PAID.”
And this is his solution for stopping drug traffic and illegal immigration into the country?
Wait.
Wait.
What?
Is this really the way to do that? And how many people slip through the border from Canada? And how much fentanyl is brought through that same border? I'm not saying that fentanyl overdoses aren't a tragic and horribly way-too-common occurrence but for fuck's sake- the American people are going to suffer. The cure is going to be worse than the disease and it is not addressing the main problem which is addiction. It's not going to be a cure. If there is one thing I know, it's that when there's a huge market for drugs, someone is going to figure out how to get the drugs to the marketplace.
Is this really the way to do that? And how many people slip through the border from Canada? And how much fentanyl is brought through that same border? I'm not saying that fentanyl overdoses aren't a tragic and horribly way-too-common occurrence but for fuck's sake- the American people are going to suffer. The cure is going to be worse than the disease and it is not addressing the main problem which is addiction. It's not going to be a cure. If there is one thing I know, it's that when there's a huge market for drugs, someone is going to figure out how to get the drugs to the marketplace.
Is this going to endear him with anyone?
"Oh, sure, a head of lettuce imported from Mexico costs $25 but we're making America Great Again!" And meanwhile, the people who grow and pick the lettuce here in Florida are too scared to come out of their houses.
"Oh, sure, a head of lettuce imported from Mexico costs $25 but we're making America Great Again!" And meanwhile, the people who grow and pick the lettuce here in Florida are too scared to come out of their houses.
I don't understand. I don't get it at all. Honestly? I think the answer may just be that Trump is a mad man and so are the white men who surround him and have taken all the power.
Sound familiar?
Sound familiar?
Meanwhile, as I was looking for something today in my ancient files where I keep everything from our old wills to a baggie with hair from Lily's first hair cut in it, I came across this.
Either Hank or May did that picture back in the early eighties. Terry Joy was one of my beloved nursing school friends and that is a rendering of what she looked like while writing a paper at my old oak table that Mr. Moon just repaired. We are thinking that Hank did it and he could not have been more than six years old. Remember me just a few days ago talking about how a group of us nursing school friends regulary got together at my house and spread out our notebooks and textbooks on that oak table to study?
Well there you go. Actual proof.
Well there you go. Actual proof.
I asked Hank what the red blob was and he said that maybe it was a flower. I thought about that and agreed. I'd probably picked a camellia for Terry. I have always been more than a little in love with her. I am to this day. I believe I will send the picture to Terry who lives in Colorado now and has three children and one grandchild of her own. I think she will appreciate it.
Life speeds by so fast whether we realize it or not and the things we thought at one time that we'd never forget become lost to a part of our brain not accessible to us after a certain point. But it is good to find, now and then, a tangible piece of proof and reminder that this thing or that thing did indeed happen, especially if the memory makes you so happy.
That's what I have for you today.
That's what I have for you today.
Love...Ms. Moon
Conne May Fowler is indeed famous! Did you ever get to meet her or was she gone by the time you moved into your home?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.conniemayfowler.com/
The drawing by Hank is quite interesting and I think Terry Joy would be delighted to have it. That table could tell stories!
We had a blizzard here in NE Ohio today. Thankfully it didn't last long. Now I'm reading we could break a record tomorrow with warm temps. Nuts around here....on many levels!
Paranormal John
I've met her several times.
DeleteYou are so right about that table and the stories it could tell.
I see it's going to get into the upper seventies here this week. WTH?
There is a thread running through the Twittersphere that the reason the orange moron has put tariffs on Canada is that he wants them to capitulate and become the 51st state. Fat chance, it'll be a cold day in hell before that happens. Most of the produce we get here in Tucson comes from Mexico, should be interesting to see what the shelves look like this week. BTW, the border towns such as Nogales are already suffering, some merchants have lost 50-70% of their business.
ReplyDeleteTrump and his puppetmasters love to see people suffer. That, and making money, is what they care about.
DeleteI love the drawing. Yes, maybe a flower behind her ear!
ReplyDeleteI had some beautiful camellias in that yard too.
Delete<3 the artwork xxalainaxx
ReplyDeleteYou saved my ass today. I got lost in the woods on the trails and was able to use Map My Walk to find my way back. So thank you for that! Another reason to love you.
DeleteThose curtains are lovely. Glad you can keep them going a few more years.
ReplyDeleteMe too, Joanne!
DeleteI love coming across Childhood Art the Kiddos did. I think the Political Theater of the Orange One is a distraction so nobody is paying attention to the bloodless Coup Elon and his Cronies have already begun and are swiftly getting away with and without an ounce of Resistance.
ReplyDeleteexactly
DeleteI agree with you. Well, as to the resistance- I think there probably is some. But certainly not enough.
DeleteIsn't it lovely coming across artwork from all those years ago? Not the same as all the electronic stuff kids work with these days.
ReplyDeleteTrue. I'll tell you what though- Maggie spends a lot of time on screens but she has the best imagination. So it hasn't killed that part of her brain.
Deletelife does speed by so very quickly. It always gives me a bit of a shock, every single time I have it called to my attention, and I don't know why I should be shocked, because I've realized the truth of it over and over again. I am going to the library tomorrow to get Connie Fowler's book. I am curious to read about your house. Have you every felt that it was haunted?
ReplyDeleteHonestly, it is not a great book. At all. It gets way off the tracks. But it's interesting to me in that the house I live in is almost a character in it.
DeleteI have never felt once that this house was haunted. If anything, I only feel a sort of benign spirit about it.
I agree with bohemian about Elon and his mates.
ReplyDeleteI like lace curtains and once had some really pretty ones that were supposed to come with me when we moved but the realtor forgot and sold them with the house. Now the only lace I have is black and hangs in the bedroom window. It goes nicely with the black framed mirror and the black lampshade.
Black lace curtains? That's very goth. Or steampunk or something. I'd love to see a picture of your bedroom.
DeleteIt's been on my blog several times over the years but I could find a couple of shots and email them to you.
DeleteElon Musk at this moment has his fingers on the government payment system and since Homeland Efficiency never received Congressional approval as a bonafide agency, that is illegal. Everyone in this country should be contacting their representatives but hey, no media coverage!
ReplyDeleteI think Terry might enjoy that memento!
Not only that. He and his aides are locking government employees out of the computer system and out of their buildings while they download sensitive security documents that they don't have clearances for, firing people they don't have the authority for.
DeleteI swear to god- this is unbelievable. And who is going to step up and get the process rolling to arrest this group for treason because that is what it is.
DeleteThose are lovely curtains. I have old curtains in my living room/dining room area that I haven't washed for years and years and now I am afraid to as I think they might fall apart.
ReplyDeleteI love looking back to the drawings and papers I have saved from my kids' earlier days. Brings back such sweet memories.
You could probably soak the curtains in a bathtub with a little detergent and baking soda or oxi clean in the water and just sort of gently swish them around.
DeleteIsn't it wonderful see the world as our children once saw it?
Must be the week for going through old paperwork. In my case it was very rough. I found old letters I'd saved from my son who died suddenly in October from a heart attack at the age 46. And then I found letters another son sent from Army boot camp in 2001. One, written a few days after 9/11, recalled him getting the news about the attacks from their Sgt later in the afternoon (they didn't have access to news or outside sources during training). For him it was terrifying because he knew I was to be in NYC on business, but didn't know if I had returned. In fact, I had flown home late the night before into DCA--flying in over the Pentagon--which by the next morning was partially in flames. I was at my desk in DC office on 9/11 getting calls (until the phones stopped working) from other family members telling me to get the hell out DC since I worked near Capitol Hill and at least one plane was still unaccounted for at the time. Rumors were rampant in town, but I just stayed in my office. The Army finally let my son call home later that evening and when I picked up the phone he burst into tears of relief. So yes, sometimes tangible proof does remind us that time flies by so very fast. And sometimes it stops us in our tracks and makes us cry.
ReplyDeleteOh my god, Mary! What a story! First, let me say that I am so sorry that you lost your son. What a terrible tragedy for him to die at such a very young age.
DeleteAnd I am sure that your other son must have been absolutely terrified that you'd been one of the 911 victims. I am so glad that you were not.
My mom always scoffed at trying to keep net curtains in Florida. "The sun will rot them out of the windows!" she'd say. Clearly this isn't true, at least in North Florida, but maybe it was more true where she lived farther south. She bought heavy drapes from JC Penney and kept them closed so the house wouldn't get hot.
ReplyDeleteThese tariffs seem like a terrible idea all around, but that's not very surprising, is it? I hope they piss off all the people who voted for Trump because they were upset about inflation.
That's a great drawing, and what a terrific memory. I'm sure Terry Joy will appreciate it. I wonder where Edward J. Bernacki is nowadays?
Oh yes. Were your mom's drapes lined with that almost-rubber stuff? The sun can rot fabric but we have so much shade in this house that I think it's more age that's have caused my curtains to begin to tear.
DeleteDr. Bernacki was my friend Lynn's boss at Tenneco where she worked in Houston and she'd bring us paper they were discarding for the kids to draw on. I'm sure he's dead now.
I have a story to tell about something my daughter said Saturday but I'll do it on my blog. You finding that drawing brought it to mind.
ReplyDeleteWhile we focus on Trump, Musk is conducting a coup behind the scenes. I notice it's all the rich guys who won't be affected by the pain are the ones saying it will be worth it. If he pushes those tariffs through I think it will be the beginning of the end for him. Canada is already removing red state liquor from their shelves and canceling orders.
I am looking forward to hearing this story.
DeleteI am thinking more and more that Trump is nothing but a puppet for the billionaires. And what Musk is doing is unthinkable.
I didn't realize that an author lived in your house before you guys, or how she had to leave. I think I'll look for the book.
ReplyDeleteAs for trump and musk, I spit on them and their names.
Well, as I said in another comment, it is not a great book. But my house is definitely in it, as well as places like the Hilltop. Very inspired by this area and her time living in Lloyd.
DeleteI immediately saw a flower in her hair. That’s an excellent drawing. Does Hank have artistic talents/interests? What a treasure for Terry Joy.
ReplyDeleteI can’t begin to make sense of Drumpf and his horrible cronies. All selfish interests, of course, but who knows what’s really to come? Frightening.
My mother had silk lace drapes in her living room. They were stunning. After more than 20 years, she took the drapes down and put them in the bathtub to give them a gentle and much-needed washing. They disintegrated. All that time hanging in the sunny room was just too much for them. I’m glad yours survived the washing!