Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Jan. 15th through Jan. 21st

January 14, 2017 JanF Community 94

Welcome to The Moose Pond! The Welcomings posts give the Moose, old and new, a place to visit and share words about the weather, life, the world at large and the small parts of Moosylvania that we each inhabit.

Welcomings will be posted at the start of each week (every Sunday morning). To find the posts, just bookmark this link and Voila! (which is Moose for “I found everyone!!”).

The format is simple: each day, the first moose to arrive on-line will post a comment welcoming the new day and complaining (or bragging!) about their weather. Or mentioning an interesting or thought provoking news item. Or simply checking in.

So … what’s going on in your part of Moosylvania?

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NOTE: The comments page will now split off after 20 or so left margin comments with the most recent comments on the current page. To see the older comments, scroll to the bottom of the page and use the link.

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45 Comments

  1. Good “morning”, Motley Meese! The week begins …

    Sunday morning low of 18 degrees in Madison WI with an expected daytime high of 34. Sunny skies are in the forecast.

    Have a great day, all y’alls!!

  2. The vulgar talking yam is attacking John Lewis because John Lewis dared to question his legitimacy – and will not go to the inauguration.

    While I was gathering up my links to shut down the White House feeds, I noticed this.

  3. Good Sunday morning Meese.
    21 degrees here . Got my coffee and am settling in to do my Sunday chores at GOS.

    Today is the Birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

    Spent yesterday afternoon discussing the Trump attacks against John Lewis – and the garbage from Dinesh D’Souza – who not only attacked John Lewis – but went on to diss Rosa Parks

    Glad to see more Congress critters deciding to boycott the inauguration.

    Seeya later

    Resistance!

        • My Congressman, Mark Pocan, is not going. I am certain it is because I tweeted at him!! :)

          Rep. Mark Pocan ‏@repmarkpocan
          After reading classified Russian hacking doc & @realDonaldTrump offensive tweets to @repjohnlewis I will not be attending the Inauguration.

          “It’s time for Donald Trump to start acting like President Trump, not an immature, undignified reality TV star with questionable friends and a Twitter addiction.” Like Rep. Pocan, I am not holding my breath. The vulgar talking yam is simply incapable of being a decent human being.

  5. Up for church & hospital visit. Rain & thunderstorms this afternoon & tonight. Got a response from a Trumpster to something I said on Twitter. Trying to decide if I care enough to respond. I asked if anyone defending Trump’s demand for deference from the press remember a guy named Sam Donaldson. Conservative, and not at all deferential.

    Anyway, enjoying a quiet, lazy morning. Brain is playing music. INXS, because Michael Hutchence’s sister launched an effort on FB to get a statue of him in Sydney, I commented about Austin’s Stevie Ray Vaughn statue & we had a nice exchange.

    • And what do you suppose would happen if a Dem. Congressperson yelled at Thing during his first SOTU message, “YOU LIE!” That Congressperson would be summarily hauled off to jail by the SS and roundly castigated by the MSM, which, as I remember, was silent when it happened to our president.

      I’m sorry, I know it’s wrong to hate, but I hate Rethugs. They show no evidence of simple humanity, nor any compassion or tolerance at all.

  6. Good morning, Moosekind! It’s a bright beautiful day now that the early morning mist has cleared off. Current temp. is 34 F., going up to 44 F. Sunday breakfast has been cooked and eaten and would you believe, yrs truly found parsley merrily basking in the herb garden? Used some of it to garnish Dearly Beloved’s Full English. Not only that, but the oregano seems to have jumped into what was a flower container last summer and is making itself comfortable. This in mid-January in the mid-Atlantic?

    We received a sudden, late-breaking request for a 4-hour babysitting gig from Elder Son. It seems that he and DIL want an uninterrupted 4 hours to work on next year’s household budget. Elder Son is obsessed with money; if there were such a thing as a Democratic Alex Keaton, he would be it. Anyway, we said yes. Luckily the new tenant isn’t moving in until Wednesday, and his little girl will move in on Saturday. This gives me more time to empty the closets downstairs. I did clean the refrigerator, a very tedious job.

    Going to think about Dr. King today and wonder what he would think of our situation today. I think he would be sad but hopeful.

  7. Fayetteville, AR weather is 20 degrees warmer than Madison but cloudy. Wish I thought the clouds would burn off today but I doubt it. They didn’t yesterday – 100% humidity and just warm enough for it to not fall as rain yesterday and today. sigh. Got my weekly baking and chores done. Peanut butter cranberry sauce muffins again to use up the last (I think, I keep saying that then finding more LOL) of the Decorate the Tree at Grandma’s family event leftovers. Younger son and DIL gave me an Outback Steakhouse gift card at that time. This afternoon my friend is taking me to get “outdoor kitty” catfood and we’re going to pick up the biggest sirloin dinner Outback sells to take care of the gift card. I’ll have warm steak dinner tonight and cold sirloin the rest of the week.

    Got my 2nd cup of coffee and a muffin and am heading to DK – read Denise’s diary, the Village “British Breakfast” (roundup of European news either about or possibly impacting the U.S.), and check my community fundraiser things. Weekly (or more) calls and postcards to my congresscritters are becoming my political Resistance routine. Otherwise trying to build community wherever I can to support those who can do more. And just build community because that is how peoples survive and always have.

    Bright the day and wind to thy wings, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  8. Good morning, 32 and mostly sunny in Bellingham. The forecast for this week show temps in the 40’s and rain……normal PNW weather! I much prefer rain and mud to snow, frozen ground and ice, and so do my plants.

    My son and I had fun working together in my sewing room yesterday. He’s justifiably pleased with his work and so am I! We even found and repaired the antique clock Ron’s dad had given me years ago and it looks great hanging on the wall. I won’t wind it because it chimes so often, but it’s interesting to look at. My room is becoming the antique filled, warm and cozy project room I have been wishing for. But I do have to continue to edit fabric this week so there will be less to move when we install the new carpet next weekend.

    I hope I can stay more focused on my work this week and less consumed with tRump. I can’t do my part to make this world we share a better place if I’m literally worried sick. I’ve lost nearly 10 lbs since the election because I just can’t eat and/or digest food. Weighing less is good for my knees, but it’s time to be able to eat dinner again. RonK made wonderful salmon tacos last night, but it was a bit to soon for me to safely eat them. Managing nausea and gerd in the middle of the night is becoming increasingly tiresome.

    • {{{princesspat}}} – Healing Energy. Wish it were as simple to manage as saying to yourself “I won’t give him the satisfaction” – I know it’s not. Putting my attention on ordinary things – house and garden stuff, those sort of things – help me. You do what you can. The blessing of community is that you can trust others to be doing what they can, too, so that ultimately the goal is achieved. You just need to do what you can. You are responsible for your part, not the whole. Moar {{{HUGS}}}

        • {{{princesspat}}} – you are always welcome. Only strong together, always strong together. Small communities are the George Baileys – saving the life of the brother who 20 years later saved thousands of lives in WWII – doing the smaller things that make bigger things possible in the future.

    • Oh, my gosh, princesspat! I’m sorry about your inability to eat and the GERD. I’ve got GERD too but I just take Zantac for it. Hope you can start feeling better soon.

      Love reading about your sewing room. I’m cleaning up my office, too, organizing, throwing stuff away, and so forth. It already looks immensely better! Just have a few finishing touches to add.

      Got a feeling I’ll be spending LOTS of time up here writing so I can escape The Awfulness of the Outside World. You in your sewing room, I in my writing room = sanctuaries.

      • I am trying to figure out a sanctuary. When I de-blogged after the 2012 election, I threw myself into my work and weaned myself off the 24/7 click-cycle. But I still kept up with the doings at the Obama White House because there was so much WIN there and it served as an antidote to the horrible Congressional Republicans. Now, every bit of the news is depressing – I just walked past the TV and the morning show has tRump surrogates complaining about John Lewis and fluffing up the PEEOTUS. Sigh.

        Writing can be a good escape but the only thing I know how to write about is politics and right now there is no comfort in that. Maybe I will try to find positive stories about our earth to research and post about.

        • There are positive things to find. In the “all politics is local, all local is politics” any of the Resistance things would be good to track, be they marches, food drives, or safe spaces being set up by communities (cities, churches, whatever). My focus is community building – the foundation of getting back on track – and rejoice in any strengthening of an older group or creation of a new group to carry our progressive goals (you know, Hillary’s platform) forward. We’re still alive and while we are, there’s hope of getting out of this mess.

          • No, I mean I don’t want to write about politics, positive or negative. I am going to look for other types of stories.

          • Works for me. The only thing I want to know about politics is what can I do to make things better. I have no desire to waste my energy in OMGHOF stuff. I don’t have that much energy.

        • There’s got to be SOME good news, Jan, somewhere! In fact, I used to know someone who created a news network that disseminated only good news, every day.

          For starters, I just read that Finland wants to give everyone a guaranteed minimum income and that Scotland has started copying Finland with “baby boxes.” You’ve heard of those, right? All expectant mothers receive a big box filled with baby clothes, blankets, etc., and the box itself can be used as a baby bed if the mother needs one.

      • Thank you Diana. I seem to need a sanctuary now, and I’m pleased to know you have one too. My daughters are attending marches in their communities, but it’s time for me to find a way to participate more quietly.

  9. Good morning, meese! Monday …

    It is 25 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 34. Rain is in the forecast including freezing rain this morning. No school for the kids but many businesses will be open.

    Yesterday #OurFirstStand rallies were held across the country, demonstrating against the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. People are refusing to accept that they have to go back to the bad old days and I hope we see more of this: Republican congressman sneaks away from constituents demanding health care answers:

    On Saturday, his open meeting to chat with constituents at the Aurora Central Library was overwhelmed by voters particularly concerned about the fate of their health care if the Affordable Care Act (ACA, also known as Obamacare) is repealed — a plan Coffman supports — without a replacement put in place. Rather than meet with most of them or even address them, he left the event via a back door and escaped in a waiting vehicle.

    Among those who never got the chance to speak with Coffman was Berthie Ruoff. She told 9news, “I am potentially going to lose my health insurance. I’ve had a preexisting condition. I’ve had breast cancer. What’s going to happen to me? My spouse who had health insurance passed away. What do I do? You know, what am I supposed to do?” One of the hallmarks of the ACA was its provision that insurance carriers could no longer deny coverage to applicants because of pre-existing conditions like asthma, diabetes, and cancer — as many did prior to the law’s passage.

    The ACA did more than just provide help to buy health insurance, it guaranteed that your insurance coverage was portable – it wasn’t tied to a spouse or a spouse’s job and it could not discriminate against people for age or gender or how sick they were or are. Republicans with their perfect lives and fat wallets simply do not GET how important this is. President Obama made access to health care a right and people are not going back.

    Today is the celebration of the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which was actually yesterday. A week ushered in with a reminder of the fight for Civil Rights, of the pushback against Jim Crow laws, the KKK and institutionalized racism in America will end with the inauguration of a man whose party, in a ghastly perversion of history, still carries the name “Party of Lincoln”. I am going to try to put up a post about the 1963 March on Washington later this morning.

    See all y’all later.

  10. Up to go to the MLK Day march. Storms blew through & are gone. Going to visit my friend this afternoon — they encourage people in intensive care, in case she wakes up she’ll have a familiar face.

  11. Good Martin Luther King Day Monday Meese.

    We need to rescue Dr. King from being sanitized.

    Kudos to Paul Krugman

    Kudos to the ACLU for continuing to fight.

    • {{{Denise}}} – the Powers That Be distort all historical “greats” – make them gods to worship rather than people to emulate, dismiss the hard work, preparation/foundation, and the risk – the actually paying a price in health, safety, and sometimes life itself – of doing that work. It discourages “ordinary people” from even trying when all progress is magic because they know they aren’t gods or magical, even though of course they are. Real historians of whatever title have always had to fight conventional history – and real change makers of whatever title have also had to wage that battle so that ordinary people would actually act and use the power they don’t know they have.

    • I have the Krugman piece up in a tab to read but have not gotten to it yet.

      The Republicans (it is not just tRump – Pence is trashing John Lewis, too) don’t realize what they have done by making John Lewis the face of resistance. The power of the history – of oppression and resistance – and his part in fighting it are creating unbelievable energy.

  12. For a morning not at work, I’m getting a lot of interruptions in my internet time. Telephones and cats. LOL Well, it looked like it was clearing off – I saw the moon early this morning for the first time in a week – but we’re totally gray again now, darn it. Too warm for a fire, too chilly without – I compromised by turning the furnace up to 64. I’d prefer to burn the no-net-gain wood to the adding-to-the-carbon-load natural gas, but when the inside and outside are about the same temperature the smoke doesn’t rise unless I get a really hot one going and even I am not that comfortable at 85. :)

    Community building is my thing – it’s always taken groups of people working towards the same goal to make any progress. Doing it online right now. The ones I’ve tried to work with locally over the years have been a bust – getting together to vent has always been a part of community but it can’t be the only part, especially venting at/tearing down members of our own team. And that’s as far as my local groups go. (And with them I’m still up against what I was on the QC – I’ll say my piece in the meeting but I might as well be a ghost. If they heard what I said they certainly gave no indication of it.) So online and see if we get any further. I know the Village over at DK has got multiple members who are attending whatever marches they can get to. Others are helping set up spaces to be away from the inaugural hype on Thursday – at least one Quaker/Friends meeting house and one UU church. Most are calling and/or writing their congresscritters, some are tweeting as well. Community is the foundation. We’ll see what gets built on it. And the knowledge and information I get between DK and MM are some of the building materials. We all play our parts.

    Need some more coffee. Barometric pressure changes give me headaches and mess with my joints. Coffee helps with the former. If the sun doesn’t come out again I’ll need to build that fire anyway as only warmth helps with the latter. Bright the day and wind to thy wings, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  13. Good morning, 36 and cloudy in Bellingham. My sensitive joints feel better with the warmer temp this morning.

    We attended a health care town hall meeting with Rep Rick Larsen yesterday. The meeting room was in the new community health center, built with funds from the ACA, and was filled to capacity. Unfortunately that meant about 100 folks left because there was no room. His remarks about the legal and congressional steps required to revoke the ACA were reassuring. The legal process takes time.

    He is collecting health care stories to share with his R colleagues, so I will write him re our family’s experiences with the ACA. He shares our outrage with the ideologically driven R’s, but was very honest about what steps we can all take in response. One suggestion is to contact anyone we know in states and or districts with R representatives and ask them to contact 5 more constituents. The R’s are starting to feel the local heat.

    He also asked me to write to him about our family’s experience with the ACA. As you all know it’s been complicated the last few years, too much to relate in a brief public comment. He says the information is helping him work with his R colleagues…..changing hearts and minds matters, especially in congress.

    I’ll send a summary of his remarks to Ron’s brothers today and ask them to contact their representatives, because they both live in R districts.

    • Great that your congresscritter wears a “white hat” and not a white sheet. The steps at law to do and undo things are sometimes irritants but there’s a purpose behind them. They give time to stop bad things from happening even as it’s slower than we’d like in getting good things to happen. And as more and more of the cen-rights find out that ACA=Obamacare – and more and more of them let their own congresscritters know they know ACA=Obamacare – well, let’s just say we’ve got a much better chance of stopping the destruction of the ACA than otherwise. Your family’s stories add to the weight on the side of progress and that’s good even if the situations that required ACA to help were not. Moar {{{HUGS}}}

  15. It’s Tuesday Meese – good morning.
    31 degrees here in the Catskills.

    I had a big smile on my face watching POTUS in this video – and I’m not even a baseball fan

    • He is one of a kind – his humor, his thoughtfulness, his effortless connection to other people.

      He and Michelle went to visit the White House swing set that they donated to a DC shelter. We will never see anything like this again, of that I am certain.

        • If you hover over the little birdie in the lower right-hand corner of the video, you will see there is a link to the actual Tweet which you can click. When I have a video, I generally just link to the video because it puts the awfulness of the Twitter replies one off.

  16. Good morning, meese! Tuesday …

    It is 34 degrees in Madison and that is the expected daytime high. We have a lot of icy patches on the road and everyone is hoping that the temperature stays above freezing today as mixed precipitation is in the forecast. There are school closings and delays north of here.

    From the Obama White House, to honor MLK Day:

    I am trying to figure out what Martin Luther King III means by saying that it is the “intent” of PEEOTUS to “represent all Americans”. There is no evidence of that and maybe I am missing some kind of code but suggesting that tRump means no harm to minorities gives him a fig leaf he does not deserve.

    Busy morning … see all y’all later!

      • One of his daughters is anti-LGBT, isn’t she? I refrained from retweeting any of the kids yesterday because I thought I remembered them not being very MLK-like.

        They should listen to Rev. Barber as it pertains to inclusiveness. And resistance.

  17. Wow that alarm was early this morning. Doesn’t look like things went too crazy without me last week. Eating breakfast, drinking strong tea. And my head….I don’t know where this came from, but Coldplay’s Adventure of a Lifetime.

    70% chance of rain today, so I didn’t bring my gym bag. Also, I need to visit my friend in the hospital. Surgery went well, doc says he got it all. Waiting for pathology report to see what’s next.

  18. Good gray damp Tuesday morning, Meese! It’s 40 F. now, going up to 54 F. today. Rain is in the forecast—rejoicing is being heard throughout the land.

    Dear Goddess, what crappeh news to wake up to: Europe clenching its collective teeth, Taiwan upset, China making not-so-veiled threats…the Awfulness is becoming too real. To take our minds off it, we watched the “60 Minutes” interview with our president last night. Although I pretty much despise Steve whatever-his-name-is for his shabby, jabby questions, he did look small beside our tall, handsome, dignified president. I hope the Obamas will love living in their nice rented house, and I do wonder where they’ll end up after Sasha graduates—will it be Hawaii or chilly Illinois? I want them to be happy, loved, and respected.

  19. The Moose is acting up again. I thought I had saved the last half of my comment before I had to Clear History and start logging in all over again, but I evidently didn’t.

    So please take it as read that I wish everyone a good, resistant day!

  20. 33 and felt colder this morning, heading for maybe 50, maybe. Overcast at the moment but I’m generating a trickle. Yesterday got 6.33 KWHs and the month to-date is 69 KHWs. Hoping it clears off and I get another decent day.

    I’m a whole lot not sure whether or not anything I’m doing is actually doing any good. I seem to be helping to keep people’s spirits up in the communities I belong to at DK. If that let’s them go out into the world and get stuff done, this is good, so that’s what I hope. I’m definitely not getting donations for the folks on my list. in fact I had one tell me to take her off the list as she believes being on my list is costing her donations. That was a kick in the gut. But I did as she asked and will hope that fundraiser diaries that fall off the sidebar in 2-3 hours manage to get her what she needs. sigh. Community building, community help IS my “resistance” and if it’s not working I’m not sure what I will do next. The few phone calls and postcards I do don’t cut it. Double sigh.

    I need to get some work done. I do get paid for being here. Bright the day and wind to thy wings, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

    • That’s discouraging, bfitz. I’m sorry. This is such a bad time of year for donations, though. People are tapped out after the election and after Christmas. And now it seems that tax refunds will be late! I’ll be in a better position to donate after we get ours.

      However, considering that we can’t even file until February, it probably won’t be happening any time soon.

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