Ay, Yi, Yi!

I swear. I don't even know who I am one day to the next. This morning I had to get up early-ish and go to town to get my blood drawn in preparation for next Monday's annual exam with my doctor. As you can imagine, I am in quite a state about all of this and to my vast disappointment, the comet has not hit the earth disrupting and ending all activity as we know it so there was no putting this off any longer. 

My doctor is part of a very large group although all of the doctors practice independently, sort of, but almost every test you need is done at one central location. I have gone there to get x-rays and mammograms and  ultra-sounds and of course, lab work. There never used to be appointments. You'd just show up and wait your turn. And so I showed up this morning, only to be told that the wait time was two hours and thirty minutes, the waiting areas were full, and people were waiting in their cars. 
And of course I was fasting because it's that sort of bloodwork.
So at first I said, "Well, THAT'S not going to happen but then when I got back to my car I thought, hell, let's just get this over with. So I went back in and got in a queue and was told that I'd get a text when I should come to the waiting room. And back out to the car I went. I had brought a couple of New Yorkers, thank goodness, but I got so sleepy, waiting. I'd had no coffee either. Finally, after about an hour or so, I got called in and then had to wait in two other waiting areas. By the time I finally got into a room with a phlebotomist, I'd been waiting almost two hours. Turns out they are way understaffed with only two techs. They're trying to remedy that situation but for the moment, that's the way it is. One can make an appointment but from what I learned from other people waiting, there are no appointments available until the middle of October. 
They have to fix this. 

When I got out, I needed to eat and went to Japanika! because I hadn't been in a long time and was craving their curried tofu Bento box and that's what I got. It was delicious and I thought about all the times we'd been there when Owen and Gibson were little guys and how much they loved the sushi and miso soup. 

And then I went to Costco and Publix because no matter how often I go to those places, I always need more stuff and I got that stuff and came home and was so tired I had to take a nap after I got everything put away and the kitchen all cleaned up and the bed made and the dead animal which I assume Jack or Maurice brought in and left on the rug on the back porch, taken outside and the rug into the washing machine. 
"What was it?" my husband asked me when I told him about it. 
"I do not know," I said. "I didn't really look. But it had guts." 

And that sort of sums it all up for me as to today. 
I haven't taken a nap in forever but there seemed to be no choice about the matter today. 

Lily is still testing positive and not feeling great. She hasn't seen her babies since last Saturday and is not very happy about that. 

And so it goes. 

Let me know if you hear anything about a comet heading our way. I could use some good news. 

Love...Ms. Moon

My Child Heart Is So Happy

Today was Christmas again in Lloyd. 

Whatever it is that I have done to deserve the friendship of Linda Sue is beyond me but her ability to know exactly what I would like and love and cherish and need amazes me. One of her orphans is now living in Florida! And she came with her own nurse. According to Linda Sue, this orphan, Tilly, was the one who, upon hearing about Florida and alligators raised her hand to volunteer to travel to such an exotic land. And so now here she is, with her own chicken! She has an appendix scar which Nurse has been tending to for her. I checked and the incision site looks absolutely perfect. Nurse knows what she is doing. And the Mexican beauty was tired of the dark and cold days of the Pacific Northwest so she decided to come along too. 

I had the realization today that finally, at the age of 68, I have made a friend I can play dolls with. This is truly a fine thing. I always say that inside of us we have every age of ourselves we've ever been and this new development in my life pleases and tickles the five or six or seven-year old Mary so much. The 68 year old me is charmed. 
And grateful. 
Just so very grateful. 

I introduced Tilly and Nurse to Dorothy Anne and Lucy. 

No. This is NOT a collection. 
It is a family.
And won't it be handy to have a nurse about to help with any and all problems the babies and their older siblings and cousins might encounter? I think Tilly looks absolutely thrilled to be here. She must truly have an adventuresome soul. 

The lovely senorita is now nestled between two other darlings that Linda Sue sent me awhile back who sit on my vanity. She looks a little stunned but that's probably due to the Southern sun coming streaming in the window. 

It has been a good day. I woke up feeling normal for the first time in a week. Truly normal. I made up a loaf of sourdough with starter that I'd fed yesterday and set it to rise and went for a walk. It wasn't a very long walk. I'm having a bothersome pain in my right hip and leg. Perhaps sciatica? Whatever, it is causing me to limp like, well- an old lady with a messed up hip and leg. I dip and I roll. I had thought that perhaps I could walk it out, walk it off, but no. Apparently not. So I've been hobbling about for the rest of the day and when Mr. Moon got home from town and his workout, he had a terrible pain in his back, probably related to a fall he took a few years ago which flares up at times and we commiserated and laughed at our old-people foibles although I think we could have probably both cried if given the slightest encouragement. 

Here are some flowers I took pictures of on my walk. 

Confederate rose. Is there a more girly flower on earth? 

Abelia. One of my favorites. A lovely, old-fashioned shrub with the most delicate of blooms. 

A sturdy line of hurricane lilies in the yard of a long-since deserted house, now on the verge of needing far more than restoration. 

Bidens Alba, also known as Devil's needle, Shepherd's needle, Beggertick, and Butterfly needle among other things. In theory, this is a fantastic native plant. It grows under any conditions, is great for pollenaters and is beloved by butterflies and bees. It has vast medicinal properties. HOWEVER, it produces a "needle" that has tiny hooks on it which will catch on anything. One plant can produce up to a thousand of these horribly bothersome things. There is no one in the south who has not spent hours of their life trying to pick those needles out of socks, pants, skirts, and off of shoe laces. I do want them in my yard but I respect them and am happy to see them growing by the sides of the road which those above were. 

Here is one more picture of a treasure that Linda Sue sent. 

That is a vintage clothespin holder and I have hung it above my washing machine. I cannot tell you how much I love it. 
Pragmatic Woman Art. 
If that's not already a thing, it should be. 

Love...Ms. Moon

 

Slow Dancing Sunday

Here we have a crappy picture of a nice little anole. That is the only picture I've taken today. I have not felt well. I don't know what's going on. I have no fever, no real congestion, but I'm tired and a little achey. My eyeballs feel weird. I took a Covid test but it came up negative so I guess it's not that. If I don't feel better tomorrow, I'll take another. 

So I have not done much. I made breakfast, I swept the hallway, I made the bed. I sat on the couch and knit and watched Call the Midwife. I love how the show's seasons have flowed with the times they were set in, from just post-war to the sixties. If the show had only been about babies being born, I still would have eagerly watched it, but it has covered so many topics from racial issues to abortion to poverty to grief, to prostitution, to joy, to adoption, to domestic abuse, to drug use, to incest, to Downs Syndrome, to aging, to so much more. 

The Weatherfords came over to collect a dishwasher we had in our garage and for Mr. Moon and Vergil to practice with the crossbow, again in preparation for deer season, and although I wasn't going to be around the boys, that didn't quite work out. And what the hell- I was with them for hours yesterday. They wanted me to read them a book and I can never turn that down. It was good to see Jessie. She was at work yesterday. She and August actually walked down to the Dollar General to get mocha drinks and juice boxes. She also bought a cucumber and some other produce that I have already forgotten. Last weekend when Vergil brought the boys out, August was running a fever and I had no children's tylenol or ibuprofen and he ran down to the DG and got some. I suppose I am just going to have to admit that at times the place is going to be a huge convenience. Not necessarily for mocha drinks and juice boxes but for things like OTC meds that would normally involve at least a twenty minute drive both ways. 
Of course I wish that it was not a giant corporate-owned store with sleazy hiring practices and an obvious complete disregard for the environment but there's absolutely no way that a locally-owned establishment could ever offer the sort of selection and prices that they do. 
I am in no way defending the place but here it is and here it is probably going to stay. 

I've very much enjoyed being restful today. I refilled the hummingbird feeder and I've loved watching the tiny things darting and sipping around it. Right now there's a pileated woodpecker in the Bradford pear right beside the porch. I wish I could get a picture but I know I would scare it off if I tried. They are so large and so beautiful. The pecan trees are already dropping their leaves. They are the last to come in and the first to fall. I wonder how they're going to feel about this coming week's heat wave. They are probably as confused as the rest of us are. One minute with tolerable, if not exactly cool temperatures, the next it's going to be in the upper nineties again. 
As if it's not tough enough living in Florida where Ron DeSantis is governor and where Donald Trump lives. DT has to be the Ultimate Florida Man. He doesn't even need meth to qualify him for that honor. But for the moment, at least, he's not making laws and sending immigrants on plane trips to Martha's Vineyard. 

So, so clever, that DeSantis is. How cute. 
How fucking cruel. 

The last I heard from Lily, she was thinking that she has a mild case but that was this morning. I haven't heard from her this evening. She has been sleeping a lot. That I know. 
Lauren posted on FB that she wished the Waffle House would deliver so I guess she's feeling better. 

I think I will go to bed early tonight. I am reading an Alexandra Fuller book and as with all of her books, I am enjoying it from toes to nose and and all points beyond. 
Pack Light, Move Fast. 
What a woman. What a life. What a writer. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Fine Company

 Well, of course now Lily has the Covid. She called me this morning and she didn't even have to say more than, "Hey mommy," and I knew. "Are you sick? Do you have it?" I asked her. 
"Yeah."

Ah-lah. Well, it was pretty much a sure thing that she would get it. She's worked with the public all throughout the pandemic AND her partner got it. Lauren, thankfully, is feeling better and now she can help take care of Lily as Lily helped take care of her. The other grandmother and Jason picked up the kids. Lily is not happy that they will now be exposed but they insisted that they might as well get this over with. I think Jason has had it and so has Owen but of course one can get it again. 
Lily would not let me hug her yesterday and was wearing a mask and I guess I'm glad for that. She says that so many of the people who work for Publix are coming down with it now. 

For right now, though, our little enclave here in Lloyd seems to be free of the virus. Today Mr. Moon and Vergil went back to Lamont to put a motor in a feeder and the little guys elected to stay here with me. 

We read some books and then we played a card game called "Garbage" which turns out to be a fairly fun game. Levon was on August's team, which makes things easier. I am always amazed at how well they work together on these team projects. I am not sure that we quite followed all of the rules properly but I wasn't worried enough to go back and rewatch the video on how to play the game. 
And of course, the team of August and Levon won.

After that I made them some popcorn and let them watch TV. While we're discussing popcorn, let me just put in another plug for the Whirly Pop popcorn maker. Of course they aren't paying me. I fucking wish. But after years of making popcorn in the microwave, we got this funky and old-fashioned device and we love it. 

I buy the Orville Redenbacher brand popcorn because it truly does pop better than any other brand I've tried. It is not unusual for every kernel to pop. And the taste is so far superior to microwave popcorn. You can opt to put whatever you want on it and in whatever amount you want, too. Mr. Moon (and the boys) want LOTS of butter and salt and we also use nutritional yeast sprinkled on it generously. Gives it a nice cheesy flavor along with your B-Vitamins. 
I learned about nutritional yeast from The Farm cookbook too, if I remember correctly. I add it to cheese sauces and soups, etc. 

It's an old hippie thing. 

Like me.

I watered the garden today. We are getting no rain at all and there's none in the forecast until a week from Monday AND I can see that it's supposed to hit 97 on Thursday. 
So long, fall! We hardly knew ye! 

Damn. 

Anyway, this is what the row of arugula looks like right now. 

That is the easiest vegetable to grow in the world as far as I know. 

I see that Trumpty Dumpty is openly embracing QAnon which I am sure surprises nobody in the world. They are his people! Can you even imagine believing in a movement that thinks that HE is going to be the savior of us all? 
Holy shit. 
Talk about a cult. I can think of only one way to end the horror but it would not be prudent to discuss that on a public forum. 
Is this a public forum? 
I guess so. 

And I also guess that I have nothing more to say. 
Endings are always the hardest part so I'll just say-

Love...Ms. Moon

Midwives, Soybeans, And Other Important Topics

 Here you are- proof that yes indeed, Florida does have seasonal changes. The banana leaves are turning golden. People come from all over the world to see this phenomena! 
Okay. Not really. But the banana leaves ARE turning golden. Or yellow. Or whatever color you call that. I think they are lovely. 

So. Another day in paradise. 
When I got up, my man was already gone to work in the woods. I got the sheets washed and out on the line and decided to go to town. A minor miracle occurred this past week when Mr. Moon actually came up with an idea for a meal he would like that we haven't had in a long time. 
Soybeans! 
Yes, indeedy. 
I cook the dried ones until they are tender and then serve them over rice with a sauce that I sort of stole from a cookbook sold in the seventies and published by The Farm which was the big commune in Tennessee started by Stephen Gaskin and his followers. Some of you may have heard of the place, and some of you probably have not. Ina May Gaskin, Stephen's wife, is one of my true and real heroes as she was one of the main pioneers of modern midwifery and has had a huge influence on my life and the lives of my children, not to mention women and childbirth all over the world. 
Wow. I sure can go from one subject to another in record time, can't I? 
The very appropriate name of the cookbook was (is) the "The Farm Vegetarian Cookbook." The Farm folk believed staunchly in vegetarianism and were vegans too, for the most part. Now one time when I worked at a local free standing birth center, we were gifted with a visit from Ina May and the thing I remember most about her was that she ate a salad with tuna in it and I loved her even more. 
But this sauce for the soybeans is made from mayonnaise, soy sauce (or Tamari), garlic powder, and vinegar. The cookbook calls for vegan mayonnaise but to hell with that- I use Duke's. 
It may sound weird but honestly- my mouth is watering, just thinking about that meal. 
Good LORD, I have made a simple fact into a entire essay but I had no soybeans to cook for Mr. Moon's requested meal and so I went to town to the Coop to get some in their bulk department. Which I did. I also bought some locally milled grits there which are delicious and large-grained and take at least an hour to cook and are worth every minute of cook time. When I make grits to eat for breakfast on a Sunday, I use the regular "old fashioned" grits that are easily available in grocery stores but when I make something like shrimp and grits, I want to use the good ones. 

But before I went to the coop, I bought myself lunch at a place called the Piteria which is, of course, a Greek influenced cafe. I got what I always get which is the vegetarian platter. It is so good! Hummus, falafel, cucumbers, tomatoes, dolmades, tabouli, Kalamata olives, pepperoncinis, and two beautiful, gorgeous warm pitas. I took a New Yorker magazine with me and it was a fine little party for one, right there on Apalachee Parkway in Tallahassee, Florida. 
I brought home over half the food and tomorrow will be able to enjoy it all over again. 

I went to Goodwill, too. I know. I was crazy. And I actually bought two dresses, one of which is definitely a wear-around-the-house sort of thing but it has pockets, and one which caught my eye because of the beautiful fabric. It doesn't have pockets but by golly, I'll put some in or on it. 

And there's more! I went to Publix, the one where Lily works, and I got to see her interact with a customer which is not unusual but somehow, it literally made me cry. She is the kindest, most attentive, hardworking woman and she is my daughter. I am so proud to say that. She is going through some rough times in many ways but she is carrying on, taking care of three children, maintaining a healthy and loving relationship, working full time in a physically demanding job, doing all of the things that women do. I look at her, so tall and so beautiful, and I am simply amazed that she came from me. 
And of course I'm crying again. I am ridiculously emotional. 

I started watching a documentary this morning and although I haven't finished it, I have to say that it is profoundly moving me. It is about a 90-year old midwife who lives in a small, remote village in the Yucatan and the life she and her family and their fellow villagers live there. 

You can watch it HERE if you want. 

I have to tell you that I consider midwifery to be a holy calling. To be a midwife is to live a life of utter sacrifice, eternal vigilance, never-ending learning, courage, and complete dedication. A midwife's days and nights are not her own. And a midwife in a primitive and remote place like the village in this documentary has to be a doctor, a nurse, an herbalist, a therapist, and a mother and grandmother to all. 

At one point in my life I thought I wanted to be a midwife. I was involved for years with birth, first at home births, and then at the birth center where I met Ina May. That interest in midwifery is what took me to nursing school. But I did not have the stamina nor the dedication and I did not have the courage. I just did not. But I am glad that I got to help the women that I did help in childbirth and I am eternally grateful that I was able to have most of my children at home, attended by midwives. To have been at the home births of my grandchildren will always be one of the biggest honors of my life. 

Well. Once again that is not what I came here to talk about. Funny how this always happens. 

Happy Friday, y'all. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Fun With Fabric!

Well, there you go. This morning I discovered that indeed, some of the seeds I planted on Monday have sprouted. You can still see the birth dirt on these turnips if you look carefully. The entire row of arugula has come up. Arugula has a very strong life-wish. It just does want to grow and I am so grateful for that. I am imagining focaccia baked with tomatoes and a little parmesan, topped with the freshest arugula salad dressed in a little salt, garlic, a slurp of olive oil and a few shakes of balsamic. 
THAT is heaven. 

I decided to take a health day today. Mental AND physical. Mr. Moon left early to go do something in Lamont, a little bend in the road a few miles from here where he hunts with some guys. There is a great deal to do before hunting season begins and I have to tell you that these men must love hunting more than anything in the world because it is a LOT of work getting things ready. 
Do not ask me what it is they do. It involves deer stands and food plots and clearing and...okay, that's all I know. Trail cams! Those too. 

So I just didn't feel that well. I think I may have overdone it yesterday trimming the palms and weeding. Whatever, I decided to stay in and play with dolls. 

And that is what I did. 

Last night I washed Lisi's hair. You may recall it had been in two rough braids, bound with plain old rubber bands so I cut the rubber bands and untangled the hair. Lisi has real, true human hair with is a little weird but she has a real true human face, too, so there is that. 
I washed her hair in the sink, apologizing when I got shampoo in her eyes. I used my own shampoo and then after I'd rinsed that out, a little bit of my conditioner and when it was all dried and brushed, she looked like this. 

Damn! My own hair should look so good! 

And my plan today was to make her one last dress before giving her over to Magnolia. I had thought to use some of the tulle I have for a petticoat but I quickly determined that cutting and sewing tulle was not something I am interested in doing. So I used some fabric that I had bought for masks and some satin blanket binding and this is what I came up with. 

It's her fancy dress! 
I think she looks a bit overwhelmed and I don't blame her. It's...a lot. 

But maybe Maggie will like it. 

I still have a tiny bit to do in the back with fastenings and so forth but for the most part, it is done. 

I don't know when I'll see Maggie. Lauren has tested positive for Covid and so things are a little closed down over at Lily's house. I feel so bad for Lauren. Lily says she's basically just very, very tired but then again, she did just work nine days in a row so one would expect her to be, Covid or not. Lauren is a hard-working woman. 

As I worked on that saloon-girl dress today, I listened to yet another few episodes of Mormon Stories. 

Yes. I am still addicted. 

I just love the very, very long form episodes, some of them lasting more than five or six hours. Today I was listening to one in which John Dehlin and his wife, Margi Dehlin, were interviewing a well-regarded Mormon historian and scholar and I won't go into it but it pleased me so to hear the man say that he truly does believe there must be a religion gene and that he has it. 
For many years I've been saying that I believe there's a religion gene and I DON'T HAVE IT! 
It was a very fine interview. 
And I will add that humans are weird. 

Mr. Moon is home and he had a wonderful day in the woods. He's going back tomorrow. I'm going to cook him some of the fish he caught for his supper. I have no idea what I'm going to be doing tomorrow. I sort of apologized to my husband for spending all day making a doll dress and he said, "There's no one telling us what we should and should not be going these days. If it makes you happy, why not?"

He is so precious. I am so lucky. 

Love...Ms. Moon

And Just Like That- Fall Arrived

I got up this morning to find that it was sixty-seven degrees on my back porch. It was delightful, shocking, delicious, and lovely. So of course I had no excuse whatsoever not to take a walk and I did. It had warmed up considerably by the time I got home and I was sweaty and tired but I didn't feel like I might die which is a huge improvement. 

While I was walking I finally took a picture of part of No Man Lord's yard and I felt sort of slimy. I'm sorry, y'all. I just hate the thought of him feeling that I'm invading his privacy. But this isn't the part of the yard where he has his camper and his fireplace and his chairs. It's off to the side. It looks to me like he's doing another cross building thing. Crosses are a theme for him. 

Every time he starts something new I think about the day I talked to that woman I called Boss Lady in front of his yard. I asked her, "What's Harvey got going on now?" 
"Same thing Harvey's always got going on," she said. I nodded my head in understanding. 

I watered the garden today and can't wait to see the little tiny sprouts coming up. I am impatient! All of the greens look like miniature ears when they break ground and the carrots look like little hairs, almost invisible at first. I have no idea what an artichoke plant looks like as a fetus, but I sure am hoping to find out. 

This afternoon I decided to get out the loppers and garden cart and trim up the Canary Island date palms out front. That was miserable and I didn't do a good job. I actually have no idea how you're supposed to trim a Canary Island date palm but honestly- if they both died tomorrow, I would not cry. 

I also did some weeding around them. There is so much yard work I've neglected this summer but it's still too hot for me to work much more than an hour at a time. As my husband says, we just have to go about things at our own pace now. 

I watered the porch plants and then I came in and did a few things around here. Not a bad day in Lloyd, really. 

I got a text from a woman I've never met but we've been what I would call friends, nonetheless, for many years. We met through blogging. Some years ago she married the love of her life and they have desperately wanted to have a baby but have had fertility issues and her text to me today was, "Guess what?" 
I answered, "NO! Really?!" 

And yes, she is pregnant. I am so incredibly happy for her. It's funny, a woman I know here has had a similar story of wanting a child so badly and seemingly not being able to have one. Just a few weeks ago though, she gave birth to a darling baby girl and that has made me think of my other friend and wonder how her journey was going. 

And now I know. Heartbreak to joy for both of these women and their babies are the luckiest babies. To have been so longed for...
I am thrilled for them both. 

Okay. Two flower pictures. 

Four O'clocks. To me they look like fairy-tale flowers. 

Blue Sky vine, growing on the front fence. 

All right. Those egg roll vegetables are not going to wok and wrap themselves and the tofu is surely pressed enough by now. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Meaning, Magic, Memory

 Damn, y'all. I'm in a funky slump when it comes to having anything interesting to write about. I mean- my life is so uneventful right now that I had a dream last night wherein I decided to get a job. I do not know what sort of a job it was that I was going to get but hopefully something like a librarian whose sole duties are checking out books, shelving books, and reading to small children because I am way too old to be contemplating anything like truck stop waitress or exotic dancer and besides, they tore down the truck stop so forget that. 

Now I realize, having said that, that the universe is probably going to have heard what I said via that Universe Magic and create some sort of disturbance in my peaceful little life which will create chaos and problems. I hope not. And actually, I no more believe in Universe Magic than I believe in The Power of Prayer but I do have my own weird and unexplainable superstitions, just like most of us. My theory is that in order not to feel like complete victims of fate, we humans devise ways with our busy brains to attempt to control something, anything, that is normally beyond our power to control and so we come up with religions where we can petition our gods with prayer, or placate them (gods are always in need of placating, aren't they?) with sacrifices or constant worship and praise or following the rules of whatever god we choose to believe in even if they make no sense and are, in fact, harmful to our souls and minds and so forth. And even if we aren't religious we often say things like, "I'm sending you good energy or good ju-ju or positive thoughts" and I just don't quite understand that either. And there are also those of us who believe that we can visualize positive things and thus create successful outcomes for ourselves and others and honestly, I don't see humans having that sort of ability and power. 
About the best I can do is to tell someone that I am thinking of them with love because I know I can do that and if there is anything that's holy and magic, love is definitely part of it. 

And all of this is not to say that I am not superstitious although when I catch myself being superstitious I laugh at myself and try to convince myself that I'm not, not really. And truly, for the most part I am quite happy with the sort of magic that comes from the everyday and prosaic things around me like sunrise, sunset, rain, trees, babies, the minds of children, sea monsters, and Keith Richards. 

Speaking of the minds of children, when we went to have lunch with Maggie the other day she said to me, as we were eating, "The thing I wonder about is where humans come from. They haven't taught us that yet in school."
Hoo-boy!
"Do you mean how humans came to be on this planet?" I asked her.
"Yes," she said. "Where did they come from?"
Well, since we only had about twenty more minutes I tried desperately to figure out how to explain evolution and how apes and humanoids split off from each other and so forth and so on in a way she would understand in a hundred words or less.
I do not think I was successful and she probably has some truly weird ideas now but I did emphasize that ultimately, we all came from Africa. 

Now if she had asked her other grandmother, I'm pretty sure she would have heard about Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden which is a hell of a lot easier to explain and, for a child to accept and understand because it's such a neat and tidy story IF you don't start asking questions. 

Oh well. If there is one thing I know about Magnolia June, it is that she will question everything and that whatever she ends up believing, she will believe in it with certainty. This is the way she is. 

So I went to town today and had lunch with Jessie which was a joy, of course, and we did a short Costco run and then I went to the library and to Publix and then I stopped at the Bad Girls Get Saved By Jesus Thrift Store where I bought nothing, not so much as a saucer. And that was my big day. I drove home a back way down a road where I used to live with my first husband when Hank was a baby. We lived in a house that rented for $75 dollars a year (no shit) and it had primitive electricity but no running water. We had a pump out back and I washed dishes outside and we had an outhouse and as I have said many times, I am very glad I had the experience of living there because there were some things about it that were wonderful and beyond that, I will never, ever take running water or floors and walls that you can't see through for granted. That house burned down a long time ago when some asshole tried to run an AC in the bedroom which of course caused some major electrical problems. Somehow, no one died. 
But it was a trip down memory lane for me to drive that backroad. Some things have changed, some are still the same. Trailers have replaced some of the shacks, some of the land alongside the road has been cleared. But as I drove I remembered things and times and people from over forty years ago and some of that was good and some of it is still painful. 

And that's life. 
How did humans get here? Hell, don't ask me. I can barely tell you how I got here, living this life I lead now. 

Every day fall feels a little closer. And of course it is. I noticed yesterday that the Confederate Rose is putting out buds for its autumn glory blossoms, which is related to okra, hibiscus, swamp mallow, and a bush we call Rose of Sharon. There was one planted at Maggie's school and I pointed it out to her when we were walking to the cafeteria and I told her its name. 
"How do you know that?" she asked. 
"Well, I know a few things," I said. 
And I do. I've probably forgotten more than I remember but I do remember when I lived in that old house, a friend came out for lunch with her daughter who was about Hank's age and she brought me a Rose of Sharon in a pot to plant in the yard. I had made a tuna and pasta salad with whole wheat macaroni in it for us to eat. 
And for whatever reason that is something I will probably never forget. 

Humans are weird. And yet...here we are. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Now We Wait

So I planted the garden today. Mr. Moon had made me such well-delineated and cleared rows to plant in that it really wasn't hard although the heat just about killed me. I had to keep stopping and coming in the house to cool down. I just cannot take it the way I used to. BUT, before the day was done, I had planted carrots, mustard greens, collard greens, arugula, a kale mix, two different types of lettuce mixes, turnips, chard, broccoli, and the artichokes. 
I wonder what will and what will not come up. I also wonder if this is the year I will finally gird my loins and thin the rows the way I should. 

Yeah, probably not. 

And now I'm tired. Worn out. I've got nothing to report, no real news, good or bad. It's all just life today. Another day I've lived on the planet, another day closer to the day I won't be living on the planet. As much as I think I have been quite aware that one day I will stop living and really don't seem to be too concerned about that, it is shocking when I stop and think about the fact that if I get ten more good years it'll be something. Ten years goes by like a dream now, just whooosh, gone. And like most of us, probably, I hope that my death will be like that too- just a flash and then gone. Not even enough time to grasp what's happening. 
I should be so fortunate.

Anyway, here's a picture of Lucky whom I am 99% sure is a rooster. 

He hasn't crowed yet nor has he laid an egg so...

The other day when I went to let him and Grace out of the hen house, he sang a song several times that was pretty fancy. There were seven of the same notes, all in a row, and then three different ones. He repeated this, as I said, a few times, always exactly the same. I was quite impressed. I sang it to myself a few times and should have come in and figured it out on the piano. I could title that song, "Requiem for Liberace," whom I am quite certain is the father. 

Thunder is rumbling in the distance but I don't think we're going to get any rain which would have been so welcome to water in my seeds and get that process off to a good start. I'll water if it doesn't rain tomorrow. 

The red roses planted in the garden are still blooming. I'm not sure they ever really stop. I took this picture today while I was out kneeling in the dirt, getting ant bit and mosquito bit, and counting out tiny seeds to press into the ground, my faith at least as great as a the size of the mustard seeds, the proof of which is that I planted them. 

Love...Ms. Moon

I'm Crazy But Still A Fairly Decent Grandmother

I got a nice little visit from these two today. Jessie was at work and Vergil came out to do a little hunting season prep-work in the woods with Mr. Moon. August and Levon chose to stay here with me which pleased their old Mermer greatly, even though I am aware that what they mostly wanted was the possible opportunity to watch some TV. 
I showed them the new doll and they have named her. Her name shall be Lucy. This, too, pleases me as one of my favorite children's books is "Little Bear's Friend" and in that book, Little Bear meets a girl named Emily who has a beloved doll named Lucy. 

Lucy even has a bonnet! 
Perfect, as Kathleen used to say so often. 
In the picture above of August and Levon, they were eating cherries and the one August was eating seemed to have an extraordinarily large pit. Levon was checking it out. 

While they were here August built some Lincoln Log houses and we read some books and they ate a little lunch and then they got to watch some TV. 
It was fun. 

Before their visit, Mr. Moon and I got serious in the garden. I finished up the weeding and even pulled the rest of the okra and he raked and tilled some rows. I was only out there for about forty-five minutes but that was plenty for me. He worked longer than I did and was soaked through with sweat by the time he came in. I was a bit worried about seeing him and Vergil go off to do more outdoor things but soon after they left a rainstorm came up and they were home in record time. 

Glen will NOT listen to me when I tell him he's done enough for one day. He just won't. In fact, I feel fairly certain his last words will be, "I'll be fine. Stop worrying."

I've been cooking a pot of pinto beans and a ham bone with lots of meat on it since I started making breakfast this morning. I swear I think that was the Easter ham remnants and it's been in the freezer since then. I decided it was now or never and chose now because pinto beans with ham is my absolute choice for a Food of the Gods designation. I think I'll cook up the last few remaining okra with some onions and tomatoes to go with beans and I'll make a pot of rice. 
If that ain't a Sunday dinner, I do not know what is. 

So we ended up watching TWO movies yesterday. First the one I talked about in last night's post- "Me Time" and then, "The Beach Bum" which I had seen before with Jessie and wrote what I think was a pretty dang good review of what I thought about it HERE in 2019. I am not sure that even a dozen 

people ever saw this movie, much less liked it, much less loved it aside from me and Jessie, and I'm not sure she loved it as much as I did. But I've been wanting to see it again for three years now and would occasionally google it to see if it was available on a streaming service and finally, last night, I found it was on HBO max which we do have and I was so excited. 
You know what? I loved it again. 
Some people just really do not like Matthew McConaughey at all, ever, in anything he does. I am not one of the those people. 
And the role he played in "The Beach Bum" was as authentic and pulled out of the gut as his role in "Dallas Buyer's Club" was, in my opinion. I have known men like Moondog, his character in the movie, and everything from the hair to the hedonistic, trippy outlook on life, to the misuse and overuse of substances, the undeniable sexual charm, and the complete fucked-uppedness is familiar to me. 
I probably should not admit how much I love this movie because I am sure it says more about me than I'd like to say. It is a vastly flawed movie in many ways with as many unanswered questions on the second viewing as the first. It has butts and breasts, Jimmy Buffet, and Snoop Dogg in it. It has Richard Brautigan's poetry in it. It has Florida sunsets and seascapes. There is an abundance of drug use, tragedy, indefensible behavior, and absolutely ridiculously unsophisticated humor. 

All right. I'll shut up. I doubt any of you would want to see this movie. I have no idea why I love it. 
Here's a trailer but I am warning you- if substance abuse, sex, nudity, and Matthew McConaughey offend you, just DO NOT WATCH IT. 

Otherwise- enjoy!

 

Love...Ms. Moon

Paper Bag Day- Reach In And Find A Subject!

Almost every night Jack is either waiting for me on the bed or else he follows me in when I go to get ready for bed. Last night he came in after I was already in bed and instead of jumping up to be with me, he went over to where I had put the dolls to sleep and began sniffing them. I was not surprised at this as Hank and Rachel have cats and I figured that Jack was investigating the strange cat smell. But then this happened.

He settled in between them and went to sleep. He's never slept with Dorothy Anne on her pillow bed before that I know of. I found it charming that he decided to snuggle them. 

I would say that he's a strange cat but in reality, all cats do things that we humans cannot truly understand. That is just their cat-ways. And I honor and respect that. It is often interesting, sometimes annoying and generally never boring. 

It rained here all day long, on and off. Mr. Moon and I even discussed going to a movie which we do about once every ten years or so. We looked at the movies showing and although one looked fairly interesting ("Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul"), it was only showing at noon (which was too soon to make it) and five-something. 

Nah. 
A Brad Pitt movie ("Bullet Train") was showing but it had gotten bad reviews and there appears to be a LOT of violence in it. 
So, no. 
Other choices were either super hero movies which I just don't enjoy or the the new Top Gun movie and no thank you for me on that one, and one that appeared to be about a guy with disabilities who adopts a monkey as a service animal and I suppose miracles occur and tears flow. 
Nope! 

I am the pickiest movie watcher. 

We decided to make our own popcorn and choose something on offer to us with our ten thousand streaming services and watch from the comfort of our own couch. Of course, the problem is finding something that both my husband and I can watch without one of us hating it which eliminates approximately 95% of all movies ever made. So we ended up with a silly Kevin Hart/Mark Walberg thing and although yes, it pretty much sucked and was ridiculous, there were some good lines in it. The main theme of the movie was gender role reversal and oh yeah, it's so funny when a man is the one who stays home with the children and does all the housework and childcare and PTA and school volunteer stuff and yet still feels somewhat...unfulfilled. 
Tell me about it. 

So that was our big day. 

The popcorn was good but a little too salty. 

We finally got the Birds of Paradise I bought last month planted in the beautiful green pots that Glen got me for Mother's Day. The plants look a little sparse but they will grow. 

That poor jade plant on the right is where Liberace was roosting when the fox snatched him, or so we believe. Anyway, it looks sad. I used to have the most magnificent jade plant but when we moved here, I never found the right place to set it and it failed and failed over the years until finally it died. 
I still feel guilty about that. 
The one good thing I can think of about not having free-range chickens is that I don't have to worry about where I put the plants that they love to nibble on. I can now grow begonias again. 
This is cold comfort but it is something. 

Lis emailed me this morning with a link to our new house. Lis and I have a long and deep-seated fantasy that she and Lon and Glen and I are all going to move in together at some point. I think this is a very practical idea and we are always casually looking for the perfect house. This could be the one. 

Hopefully, gnomes are included. We've already added (in our heads) a pink coral swimming pool. If you go to the link above, you can see it in its glorious entirety. The house is located in Mount Plymouth, Florida, which neither of us had ever even heard of. 

And with that I suppose I will finally be quiet. I'm going to make pizzas for supper. I had a small cheese-and-tomato toast around 11:45 this morning for my breakfast, popcorn at 2:30 for my lunch, and I suppose I should be hungry now. I'm sure my husband is. 
Just as with not being able to have free-ranging chickens is allowing me to grow begonias, having anxiety definitely will curb an appetite. 

You gotta look for that silver lining, folks! Oh yeah! 

Love...Ms. Moon

Pictures, Pictures, Lots Of Pictures

This picture cracks me up. I suppose that this is how I appeared to Levon yesterday when I was fake-scolding him for taking pictures of me. 

"Give me that phone, boy!"

Oh my god but I am tired. Anxiety is the most exhausting thing I know and it's been a week of it, more or less. Today's trip to Gibson and Maggie's elementary school was the last thing on my list for the week and although it was, as always, a pleasant and sweet experience, I literally wept a little when we were on our way home. This is how small and innocent my anxiety-provoking situations are. 
They really do it up at this school for Grandparents' Day. And there was a very large turn-out of old folks, holding cooler bags and canvas bags and McDonald's bags with lunches for our beloved grands. My problem every year with the event though, is all of the little ones whose grandparents can't or don't come to eat lunch with them. It's so very sad to see those kids sitting at the tables alone while all around them are kids getting spoiled and loved on by their grannies and grandpas. Perhaps they could do something special for the kids who don't have grandparents who can come. I would like to think that this would not be impossible. 

But for the kids who DO have their grandfolks, it is a sweetness. 

We ate in the cafeteria with Maggie because that's where she wanted to eat. There were also tables set up in the breezeway and that's where we ate with Gibson because it was quieter. There's a lot going on in a school cafeteria. Maggie loved her lunch and she liked having us there. 

And then it was Gibson's turn. He was a little worried that I'd maybe forgotten to bring his lunch but of course not! Mermer forget food? NEVER! His other grandmother was able to join us during Gibson's time slot so he was well represented. She also brought brownies so that was especially good. 

I swear- that child has gotten taller since last week. His other grandma said the same thing. So you know it's true. 

Guess what? I got my new baby today! Rachel sent over her grandmother's baby doll and she is just so precious. She's smaller than Dorothy Anne and perhaps a little bit newer and a little bit less loved on. 

The dress and bonnet she is wearing are so pretty and she has a very fine little chemise underneath as underwear. I need to make Dorothy Anne something similar so she won't feel cheated. 
I have to tell you that even Mr. Moon is charmed by her. He may or may not have referred to himself as "grandfather" in her presence. 
(Don't tell him I told you that.)

We have both kissed her and delighted in her and welcomed her to her new home where she is now cozied up to her big sister, Dorothy Anne. She doesn't have a name yet but I'll figure it out soon. 
It's funny. When I first started talking about going back to Monticello to buy Dorothy Anne, Hank told me that Rachel had a doll that was no doubt also going to be mine. I, being a little huffy and not wanting to start any sort of collection said something like, "Well, maybe."
"No," he said. "She will be."

Sigh.
That boy knows me all too well. 
And I could not be more delighted with this new child. Rachel was so sweet to offer her to me. 

But- I swear- I am NOT starting a collection. Two children is enough in this case. 

I spent the rest of the afternoon watching Barbie Dolls sell real estate in Orange County, California on TV, and doing a little fancying up of Lisi's new dress. 

Two more ladybug buttons and some blanket-stitch embroidery. 
I guess I really am of the age to play with dolls again. Oh- who the hell cares? 
I also did a little knitting but then my left hand which is screwed up from when I broke it as a teenager, went numb and it's hard to knit with a numb hand so even that small effort got laid down. 

All right. Here's something I should not say but I just have to. Remember when (now) King Charles III was still married to Diana but sent a letter to Camilla in which he stated that he wished he could be a tampon so that he could...well, you know- be close to her, shall we say? No matter what he says or does after that, that line will forever be burnt into my brain. Honestly, that was a fairly nice compliment but not exactly regal. I am sure there have been many, many randy kings who probably said things to their loves that were every bit as naughty but not in my lifetime. 
Bless his heart. And I say that in the most southern way it can be said. 

And last but not least,  at the intersection of the road I live on and the road I generally take to and from town, there is this. 

A few weeks ago some shit-for-brains took the time to SCRATCH the name of The Orange Enemy #1 into the reflector which pissed me off to no end. But a few days ago, I was happy to see that someone with a spray can took control of the situation. 

Life in Jefferson County, Florida. 

Happy Friday, y'all. 

Love from your faithful reporter...Ms. Moon