Aftermath

Well, the shingles shot has kicked my ass but not so hard that I I feel like dying or anything. I was actually feeling pretty okay this morning until I made the mistake of taking the compost to the compost pile which in itself wasn't a mistake but then, speaking of stakes, I decided to tie up the tomatoes that were sending their shoots out like they finally figured out how to grow and so I did that and I looked for cucumbers and I picked a few tomatoes and cherry tomatoes but I absolutely did not pick one bean although I can't help seeing ripe ones even if I'm not picking them, and it takes a lot of strength to avert my eyes and walk away because once you start picking it doesn't end until you've got another jumbo ziplock full of them in the refrigerator. 

Phew. 

Butterflies are dive bombing the zinnias and the phlox right now. Here's a giant swallowtail (I think) with a tattered wing. Poor baby. Didn't seem to affect its dipping and diving though. 

Mr. Moon just got home and he is exhausted. His much younger helpers are probably wondering how in hell this old man can work so hard in this heat. I remember when Glen's daddy built himself and Glen's mama a house one summer on a lot not far from here, and the guys working with him could NOT believe how hard he pushed himself. And them. Glen's always bragged about that and now I guess he's proving he can do it too although he's older than his father was then which is so very hard to believe. 

He was staying with us during construction of that house when we lived in a different house in Tallahassee and I'll never forget him coming in from a day of working, and sitting, just sitting, on the end of his bed in the guest room which was right off the kitchen. I'd make him a pot of coffee because he and Glen's mama drank coffee day and night. I'd pour him a cup and he'd sit there in silence, holding that coffee cup and waiting for Glen to get out of the shower. I think it took all his strength to get up and walk to the bathroom but he did it. 
That's where my husband comes from. 

Meanwhile, I took an hour and a half nap today which is so unusual for me that when I got up, Maurice meowed and meowed at me and I'm sure she was quite disturbed that I had slept in the daytime because I never do. She came up and laid her body along my arm and licked me like I was her kitten who'd gotten lost in the woods. 

God. I guess I better cook something for supper although I sure don't feel like it. I made a very nice meal for myself last night. The salmon patties were delicious.

I didn't bread them or anything, just cooked them in a little avocado oil in the big skillet. Pretty perfect. 

We could have leftovers except for the fact that I ate all three salmon patties. Two for meals and one for a snack. 

We grew the green beans, the potatoes, the tomatoes, and the squash that I did indeed grate into the salmon mixture. I've done a very similar patty with tuna before. I need to remember this. 

I have decided that the itchy rash I have on my face is not poison ivy at all. There are no blisters, it's a flat, dark pink rash and I kept thinking that it reminded me of something and suddenly it came to me- when I was in my early teens, I peeled and ate some mangos which were ubiquitous in Winter Haven, where I lived, and I broke out in an unholy rash on my face. I've never had that reaction since but every time I eat a mango, I think about it and wonder why it was just that one time. I remember distinctly that it was a very stressful time in my life and perhaps that had something to do with it. 
Turns out that mango peel has the same irritant that poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac have. And over the last four or five days, I have peeled and diced three mangos and eaten them. So there you go. 
And here I am. 

Hawk is back again. I have decided that he or she is my protector predator. Have I already said this? Probably. I love the way the bird stands guard every night, watching my back yard and also me, on the porch, with its hawk eyes, ready to use its hawk talons if need be. 
I am safe from mice, moles, and rabbits. Also birds, I guess. 

We all need whatever protection we can get, don't we?

I am not going to talk about how the certifiably insane DT's humiliation over the military parade he threw is going to goad him into doing something insane to prove what a bad bitch he really is. 
I just can't. 

I wish I could send Hawk to DC. 
And that's all I need to say.

Love...Ms. Moon