A Very Fine Day

It was definitely a hang-the-laundry-on-the-line day. When I first got up, the sky was completely blue and when I looked out at the backyard, I realized that overnight everything was greening up with almost a haze of pale yet intense green that although subtle, screams the arrival of spring if you have the eyes to see it. It was so lovely I almost had a little case of the vapors, right here on the porch. 
For awhile it clouded up and was even a little gray in certain areas but that, too, all cleared away and it's been a superb day, weather-wise at least. 
And I've enjoyed this day. Like yesterday I got a lot done. I must have, if not spring fever, then at least a little spring energy. What sap I have left to rise has risen I guess. My urge to get things planted in the ground has risen with it and although I had not planned on it, I got a sudden message from the goddesses of growth that this was the day to get my rattlesnake beans in the ground. I haven't even had to buy any this year, due to the fact that I overbought last year and had a full, unopened sturdy packet of far more than I'll even need this year. 

So I modified my plan for the day and got out there and re-weeded what needed re-weeding along the fence where I also pulled some of last year's vines. A good friend of Mr. Moon's had sent me two large bags of raked up oak leaves and grass clippings and I spread one of those alongside the strip of dirt where I was going to plant as a mulch and with my hands I sprinkled a little bit of organic fertilizer over the dirt and mixed it in like you'd mix in the ingredients in a meatloaf, made my little holes, and planted my seeds, patting them down like you would a baby's butt when you're trying to get them settled to go to sleep although in this case, I was trying to get them cozy to perform their magic and wake up. I raked the leaves (again with my hands) closer to the planted row, and turned on the sprinklers.

I know I overuse the phrase, "nothing could make me happier than..." but I so very truly feel that way about getting things planted in my garden. 
And it felt good. I have a done a thing that will result in even more pleasure when they begin to sprout and then bloom their little orchid-shaped blooms and begin to form their pods. I did remember this year what I always tell myself when I'm picking quarts of beans a day that I swore I would not plant as much this year and there were two pretty large ant hills in the row and I let those be so there will be at least a few empty spaces. 
Fucking red ants. They can bite my ass. 
Actually, they bite my hands and arms and whatever else skin-covered parts of me they can get to and they can do it so fast you literally don't know they're there until the biting begins. And they are not known as fire ants for nothing. Their bites can indeed make your skin feel as if it's on fire. 
Just one more thing about Florida they do not tell prospective real estate buyers. And never have. Some of the earliest ads to get people to move from whatever northern clime they were in talked about how you'd never have to shovel snow again, how the weather was balmy and fine year 'round. How you could grow vegetables and fruit, even things like pineapples! every month of the year. 
What they did not mention were the mosquitoes or poisonous snakes and plants or alligators or the difficulty of clearing land on which to build and in which to plant, the hurricanes, the winters when it did indeed freeze and orange groves could be devastated. 
Or, in many cases, the fact that the property offered for sale was swamp land with no electricity or plumbing or nearby businesses or even access to what you had bought sight unseen. 
Ooh boy. The people that bought, came here, and stayed were crazy! 
Talk about Florida Man. 

And so the small things we deal with here now are just that- small things. And boy, there sure are a lot of small things that can tear your ass up. 

So many of you commented yesterday on Mr. Moon and his illness, advising him to go ahead and test for Covid and all the other things and that was good advice. He slept in the guest room last night so that his coughing would not keep me awake and when I got up, he was already awake and in his chair, sipping coffee and as soon as I came into the room and asked him how he was he said, "It's a miracle!" and indeed, he looked good, he felt good, and his congestion had all but disappeared. 
I told you he was a beast. 
Meanwhile, his sister has started running a temperature and has laryngitis. 
And he had a normal, busy day with a lot of physical work. In the late afternoon he admitted that his muscles were aching so he took two Ibuprofen and went out to the garage and started working on his truck. 
Sigh. 
Tomorrow he plans to go to Gainesville with a friend for some sort of all-day major drag racing event. 
Sigh again. 

And I'm rather exhausted just from the small amount of stuff I did but I kept at it pretty steady. I've been cooking a pot of pinto beans with a smoked turkey leg all day long and it is just about fit. 
There will be cornbread. 
The bed is all made up with those line-dried sheets, a martini has been made and is being enjoyed, and we just got a very cool phone call from Lily, Jason, and Gibson. 
Seems like our boy was part of the group that just won second place in the district History Fair with their project "How Nintendo Revolutionized Video Games." 
Next up- the state level. 
Here's our boy and the other two project members. 

We are so proud of our boy! 
I have a strong feeling that we are going to be amazed at a lot more of what he does. 
Yesterday this picture came up on my FB memories. 

That was nine years ago. I remember it like it was yesterday, those little guys, their joy, the way I already thought they were growing up too fast. 

Congratulations, Gibson! 
You are a fabulous person and are going to do fabulous things. I am your grandmother. I know. 

Happy Friday, y'all.

Love...Ms. Moon

Oh- today's camellias. 

Swoon.