Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: May 28th through June 3rd

May 27, 2017 JanF Community 91

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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32 Comments

  1. 60 just after dawn, already at 70 (heat index 77) but not expected to get out of the 70s – at least not air temp – today. The lovely sunny day we had yesterday generated just over 22 KWHs and that put us just over the May 2015 monthly total. The way today is starting out, we’ll top May 2016’s monthly total – and with any luck (and sunshine) at all could crest 500 KWHs for May 2017 tomorrow! Not counting chickens – or sunshine to generate electricity – before it happens, but W00T! anyway. :)

    It’s another day ending in ‘y’ so another Evil slimeball plan by the Rs – as hard on the nerves as our current situation is though, I’m hoping it or something else that keeps the R Congress too dysfunctional to actually pass any of their evil plans keeps going until we take Congress back. It’s also a day to call congresscritters, of course. There was supposed to be a fundraiser diary for Aji today but I think they’ve decided to do it later this week. I’d planned to do a fundraiser diary for ramara on Thursday so as to not step on Aji’s but I’ll have to rethink that. Meanwhile, I’ve got at least 2 and maybe more who are on my list but don’t have diaries planned and need rent money by Thursday. Dang! I wish Publishers Clearinghouse would come through! But I’ll do what I cant to get The Word out, add my “mickles’ to make the “muckle” – and pray/light candles/hold the Good Thought for everyone.

    Gonna visit the Villages then get back to work. Bright the day and wind to thy wings, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  2. Good morning, 58 and cloudy in Bellingham. My plans for an easy day planting a few flowers changed when I really looked at the containers and realized deferred maintenance was due. So the root bound yew tree on the front porch was wrestled out of the pot and replanted where it will hopefully recover, and the pot is ready for a new and smaller tree. I want to find a plastic pot that will serve as a liner before I replant though. The heavy pots are to hard to manage now, but with a liner I can lift the plantings out when needed. And I can take the liners to my favorite garden shop where they will plant them for me.

    I have five large terracotta pots on the pavers by the back entrance and they all needed new dirt, so they are now empty and as soon as I find the liners I will plant begonias, ferns, inpatients, and astilbe. This is a deep shade area and even though it’s right by the back door the deer still eat some of my favorite plants so no more lime green heuchera…..damn deer!

    So it was a muddy hard work day, but with the new arthritis meds I was able to do it, yay! Being outdoors is my best antidote for tRump angst.

  3. Good morning, Meese. Not sure what kind of day it’ll be in NoVa, but we’re waking up to drying streets and rain on the panes. Last night there were thunderstorms but the electricity stayed on. Current temp. is 61 F., going up to 79 F. today.

    Yesterday, because of fatigue from Monday’s cookout prep., the sprinkly morning, and looking after Toddlerlicious all day, I did not pull any weeds from or plant any beans in the triangular garden bed. Today I’m having lunch with two friends so I doubt much will get done today, either. Picked a few strawberries yesterday but they were too waterlogged to have any taste. If we could get some sunshine I’m sure everything would start growing instead of just standing there.

    On the political front, well—what can one say. The alphabet soup agencies just sit on whatever they’ve got and do nothing. I’m upset about the people who are going to lose their health insurance, the people who are going to be murdered by our thuggish police force, the fact that climate change is HERE, and Goddess knows what else.

    Wishing all a good day and hoping that better times will come.

  4. Good Wednesday morning Meese

    Woke up to covfefe – not coffee.

    Isn’t anyone in the WH monitoring this guy?

    I really like Ted Lieu.

    • Do you think he messages his minions to bring him coffee and forgot he was on Twitter? Doesn’t he have a pull cord in the bathroom so that they can bring him whatever he needs while he is sitting on the “throne”?

      He is really and truly a laughingstock. As Rebecca Solnit pointed out:

      This one imagined that the power would repose within him and make him great, a Midas touch that would turn all to gold. But the power of the presidency was what it had always been: a system of cooperative relationships, a power that rested on people’s willingness to carry out the orders the president gave, and a willingness that came from that president’s respect for rule of law, truth, and the people. A man who gives an order that is not followed has his powerlessness hung out like dirty laundry. […]

      He is, as of this writing, the most mocked man in the world. After the women’s march on January 21st, people joked that he had been rejected by more women in one day than any man in history; he was mocked in newspapers, on television, in cartoons, was the butt of a million jokes, and his every tweet was instantly met with an onslaught of attacks and insults by ordinary citizens gleeful to be able to speak sharp truth to bloated power.

      There is literally no one in his circle of family and friends who will tell him that it is time to finish sh*tting and get off the pot. Go home, Donald.

  5. Good morning, meese! Wednesday …

    It is 52 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 68. The forecast calls for sunny skies.

    I scanned the news and it appears that the world has survived another morning without the laughingstock of the free world nuking something. Yesterday’s “papers” were filled with sad stories about how The Donald did not expect presidentin’ to be so hard and how America is making him fat. Well, then quit! We won’t mind. We’ll even let you keep the ill-gotten gains you and your demon spawn amassed since your electoral college win.

    See all y’all later!

  6. Walked before work this morning. 3rd day in a row of more than a mile. Monday was mid-day, yesterday was after work. There’s a big group that works out at the Capitol…. I’d seen a few of them when I was coming in, didn’t know it was a really big group. But I just did my thing & got my 1.26 miles in. I don’t know that it’ll help the insomnia, but Runner’s World & a FB group I belong to are both doing a “mile a day” thing till July 4 so why not try? A mile is totally do-able.

    I wonder if T’s tweet is a sign the dementia is getting worse? I hope for all our sakes that is isn’t gradual when it happens, that it’s sudden & obvious — and that he gets help. Just help involving somewhere quiet & peaceful. And that the dirt on Pence comes out first, so he’s either impeached, or no one will help him with his Republic of Gilead plans. President Ryan will be less awful, because by the time we get down that far, no one will want to do any damn thing, just tread water for a while.

    Got my brain off the U2 song by listening to Love will Tear us Apart several times. Also, it’s a good tempo for walking. And thanks youtube for putting Father Figure off to the side of this…

  7. can’t stop laughing

    <blockquoteclass=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”>

    Wakes up.
    Checks Twitter.
    .
    .
    .
    Uh…
    .
    .
    .
    Lookups fo…
    .
    .
    .
    Regrets checking Twitter.
    Goes back to bed.

    — Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) May 31, 2017

  8. Today marks the Anniversary of the burning and bombing of Black Wall Street in Oklahoma on 1921. Was not planning to write a diary today – but felt I had to.

    • Denise, will bookmark your diary to read after my lunch date. I used to live in Goddess-forsaken Oklahoma. During the four years I endured there (1960-1964), no one ever mentioned the Tulsa race riots.

      Damn white privilege!

  9. 58 at dawn of a fairly clear day heading for mid 80s. Last night before the system shut down we reached 488 KWHs for the month – edging out the previous “winner” Map 2016 – and we still have a day to go. It is out of the “very possible” and into the “more than likely” about cresting 500 KWHs for May 2017. YAY!

    While the clown gets all the attention, the Evil Ones are about their business. Three mergers are underway that if not legally stopped – World Court here because it’s international – will put all of the commercial ag (fertilizer, pesticides, and GMO seeds) into the hands 3 mega-corporations of 3 countries. The U.S., China, and Germany. Hunger in the world has never been a problem of not enough food. It’s always been a problem of not enough food people could afford… Acts of loving kindness include buying local from organic farmers. For those who can. (And, for those who can, doing like Vetwife’s team who have a garden plot where they are growing organic vegetables to give to vets on food stamps.)

    Need to visit the Villages then do something with this mess of paper on my desk. If I can. Most of them are waiting for somebody somewhere else to update something or approve something or both. But there are some I haven’t dealt with because of interruptions (or needing more space to spread stuff out in) – I’ll try to deal with those today. Bright the day and wind to thy wings, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  10. Good morning, 56 and cloudy in Bellingham. It’s just after 8:00 am in the PNW and I need a lamp on to see the keyboard. When it’s cloudy all the time I don’t notice as much but after a few days of sunshine it seems very dark this morning.

    Nancy LeTourneau, at the Wa Monthly…..

    The Senate Republican Who Could Stand Up To Trump

    Maine is home to about 1.3 million people, which makes it the ninth least populous state in the country. The state’s voters could hold the keys to whether or not Collins stands up to Trump. Given the results of the last election, she has some room to maneuver in a way those from deeply red states do not.

    Will her experience watching then-Rep. Cohen guide Collins in having the courage necessary to put country over party? That is certainly something to keep an eye on.

    P.S. Given his history, it would be fabulous if one of the few Republicans in Congress to stand up to Trump was a woman. Just saying…

  12. this thread about the Kathy Griffin thing:

    <blockquoteclass=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”>

    1/ The Kathy Griffin incident speaks to a clear, simple truth: liberals are goddamn terrible at standing up for ourselves. (thread)

    — Charles Clymer (@cmclymer) May 31, 2017

    • I don’t think it was funny and most liberals didn’t think it was funny. But when Rush Limbaugh makes “jokes” about killing people and Ted Nugent openly calls for people to kill Barack Obama – and Hillary Clinton – and Republicans emailed photos of lynchings to each other as “humor”, they never pay a price. The only people fired for crude jokes are those whose crude jokes are aimed at Republicans. Until that changes, I cannot summon any outrage over a person who made a mistake and issued what appeared to be a sincere apology for it.

      And the bullshit about “Barron being horrified” – STFU! No one crying now cared that the Obama girls saw photoshops of their father – and mother – being depicted as the victims of violence.

      • yep – exactly– KG was wrong, and how anyone could think that was funny is beyond me, but we just had 8 years of seeing both of the Obamas hung &/or burned in effigy, so the right can just chill

  13. Thursday morning – first day of June

    After a hail storm last night – when my dogs virtually destroyed my office trying to hide under the furniture – I’m pooped – and I stayed too long in my diary yesterday dealing with the inevitable onslaught of “economics trumps racism” crowd. I have to admit to being tired of people who insist on “schooling me” about Dr. King and (now) Rev. Barber.
    I didn’t get a chance to finish up writing for next Sunday – and since my deadline is noon today – I better get back to work.
    Seeya!

    • It is simply embarrassing that in 2017 America, when millions of people whose very existence is in danger simply because of their race and/or religion, the focus would come off of that for even an instant.

      Yes, we can do several things at once but if you can’t prioritize civil rights at the top of your list, you are doing it wrong. If you ignore race, your calls for economic justice ring hollow – and look suspiciously like complaints about “not enough for me” from atop the privilege pyramid.

  14. Good morning, meese! Thursday …

    It is 46 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 73. Sunny skies are in the forecast. Perfect weather!

    I was gone the better part of yesterday and when I returned, Twitter was unbearable. Between the Hillary bashing, the embarrassing spectacle of people thinking that the orange shitgibbon was “endearing” and “cute”, and the reaction to a comedian’s tasteless joke (which was somehow the fault of Democrats), it was a parade of awfulness. I think the worst part was the joking about the typo because – JHC! – people are going to die from this man’s actions! Actually, I take that back. The worst part was seeing folks I used to respect saying that those of us who do not find anything about him amusing were the problem.

    Today the shitgibbon will host a reality TV show in the Rose Garden: The Unveiling of Donald J. Trump’s Decision on the Paris Agreement. He has turned the White House into a seedy carnival and he is the Barker-in-Chief. I would not be surprised if he came out and said “Planet Earth, you’re fired!” The good news is that like all Trumpian decrees, it will be more bark than bite because states and companies in the United States will still be part of the accord – and big pieces of it can’t be rolled back until 2020. All he will really have done is pump up China’s standing in the global community and diminished ours further. And pleased his already locked in base, the 30% who will never turn on him.

    Meanwhile, 23 million people are still poised to lose healthcare, millions of undocumented immigrants live in fear, women will no longer have access to birth control, and Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III is rolling back the Civil Rights Act. Haha not.

    See all y’all later!

  15. Good morning, Meese! The fact that we have sunshine and blue skies with mackerel clouds makes me feel perkier than usual. Current temp. in NoVa is 60 F., going up to 80 F. later.

    H’mm. Would I be arrested and jailed for posting contraceptive recipes on Twitter? Rue, pennyroyal, and black cohosh are all emmenagogues. (I’m pretty sure the wingnuts don’t know what the word “emmenagogue” means.) This month’s story at Goddessfiction.com is titled “Mayhem at Midsummer,” and is about the knock-down, drag-out fight that ensues when a bunch of women meet to discuss the uses of herbs, including contraception.

    In other news, will this be the day I get the beans planted? We had an evening thunderstorm right before dinner last night but the electricity stayed on, thank goodness. Glad I wasn’t on Twitter a lot yesterday. Spent last night uploading the story on the website and composing ads for Facebook.

    Our three-year-old grandson will be here today for lunch while Daddy has lunch with Miss Pink Cheeks at school. This will be the last time Younger Son can do this for a while, as he starts his new job on Monday.

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond, and wishing the metaphorical Trumpster Fire will swallow up the villains.

  16. When I saw the hilarity on Twitter over the typo, this is the Tweet that stuck with me. Laughing and crying at the same time – and pointing out the evil of Ryanism.

    This poor guy, Matt McDermott, got ripped for pointing out that there are more important things than a vulgar talking yam probably falling off his toilet and leaving a bowel movement on this twitter stream.

    If the typo tweet was the only mockable thing tRump had ever done – and we had no other fodder for our humor mill – then fine, have at it. But, really, filling Twitter with 70 million tweets about that while the shitgibbon is assembling a bot army to drown out our tweets on Georgia CD06, ACA repeal, sanctuary cities, civil rights violations no longer being investigated, birth control being taken away, seems foolish. And picking on Matt for expressing his outrage is hardly a show of progressive values.

  17. Left work early yesterday because I felt lousy, having woken up at 4:40, got up & walked before work thinking that would wake me up. Didn’t , and I left at lunch & napped most of the afternoon. Woke up at 4:40 on the dot again this morning but I stayed in bed for another few minutes. Came in to work, though I still feel weird. Waiting to see if the caffeine kicks in. Lawrence O’Donnell is staying at MSNBC, yay! I pulled the one good thing from the firehose of news. I just can’t keep up. This is one of the songs coming on the next U2 Album — you’re the best thing about me

    • Dear Goddess, anotherdemocrat, hope you aren’t getting that thing that felled half my family! It begins with a sleepless night, a sore throat, and a bad headache. Hope you aren’t experiencing the latter two symptoms.

      • no headache, but I’m losing my voice (though I lose my voice when I’m tired, so…)
        I’m tired & irritable. Trying not to choke a co-worker who dumped some of her work on my without asking. For the nth time this year. Smiled and said “you’re welcome” extra super sweetly to her. She didn’t get it.

  18. Wow, gorgeous thread of tribute to HRC from Anne Rice (yes, that Anne Rice)

  19. Good morning, 57 and cloudy in Bellingham today. Yesterday was another deferred maintenance day. Removing the tree from the front porch revealed very dirty walls and windows, and scrubbing them means we now have to repair some paint. We should paint the floor and steps as well but that task needs several sunny days so it’s deferred again. The porch is enclosed on three sides but still open to the weather, and the sea air is hard on paint.

    I was away for my computer for most of the day and I agree with Jan……when I checked in with twitter I got a headache! So I’m looking for some good news this morning.

    Froma Harrup, at the Seattle Times……

    We can move past Trump on climate change

    Were California a country, its economy would be sixth-largest in the world. Entrepreneurs in this science and tech powerhouse are already making a ton of money finding ways to reduce emissions. Clean energy now employs more people in California than coal employs in all of America.

    It is from this seat of power that Gov. Jerry Brown takes obvious delight in taunting Trump and the climate ignoramuses around him. “Erasing climate change may take place in Donald Trump’s mind,” Brown quipped, “but nowhere else.”

    • That is indeed good news. Exxon shareholders are insisting that Exxon report the impact of climate change and global corporations are not going to tailor their business models to one rogue nation – ours!

      Ha!! Great dig …

      “Erasing climate change may take place in Donald Trump’s mind,” Brown quipped, “but nowhere else.”

      Well, probably in EPA director Scott Pruitt’s mind also but he is unlikely to take that as personally as tRump will.

    • Here’s more on that:

      President Donald Trump may abandon U.S. pledges to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to global warming, but that step seems unlikely to stall the push to adopt cleaner forms of energy.

      Around the world, coal-fired power plants are being shuttered as governments and private companies invest billions in wind turbines and solar farms.

      Even in regions of the U.S. where coal is plentiful, electric utilities are increasingly shifting to cheaper, cleaner-burning natural gas. In the absence of federal action to address climate change, some left-leaning states such as California and New York are moving ahead with ambitious clean-energy policies of their own.[…]

      “A U.S. withdrawal from Paris will be a disappointment to the climate community, but it may also embolden other countries to fill the void left by the U.S. and take on a greater leadership role,” said Glen Peters, a Norwegian scientist who tracks global carbon emissions. “The declines in U.S. emissions in the last decade have largely happened without strong climate policies, and a withdrawal from the Paris Agreement may have minimal effect on U.S. emissions but give a hit to international morale.”

      So tRump, international pariah, coming out against the Paris Agreement will actually make it more appealing!

      Regardless, the clean energy innovations, and jobs, will be created in states that reject the vulgar talking yam’s policies and sell their products and services to other countries. No presidential decree can stop that.

  20. 63 at an overcast dawn although it seems to be clearing off now – heading for mid 80s – maybe but probably not rain (we got a just enough last night to wet the streets – along with a lot of threatening thunder) – finished out May at 508 KWHs – YAY! – First month of 2017 to beat 2016. Not even close to making up for the previous months, but definitely a start – and I can use all the good omens I can get. June is starting – we shall see what we shall see. June 2016’s 565 KWHs was just under June 2015’s 568 – it’s technically possible to generate 750 in June but that would require clear sunny days every single day which ain’t gonna happen, but it does mean there’s definitely “room for improvement” over the last 2 years. ;)

    As I keep saying, we’re at war. Actually under siege. The enemy is Hate. It is more than regrettable that the enemy “army” is within – is the majority party in Congress and holds the White House – but we are still at war. Their actions are the legal versions of what invaders do to the local populace. Our actions must be those of the invaded populace. Resist as best we can and find ways to support and strengthen our communities to survive it. And strengthen our own army – elected Dems – by circumventing voter suppression laws and activities, running Dems everywhere we can, registering voters, and GOTV.

    Got so many folks in need on my community needs list at DK sometimes i just want to cry – but that would just make my headache worse and not help. With wonderful help of online community maureen’s rent is made – so we can take a breath on her until next week when the phone/internet bill is due. meanwhile i’ve got a diary going up this afternoon for ramara to raise money for mold abatement in her water-damaged bathroom (her insurance doesn’t cover mold). Not sure how much good it will do considering we’ve got several folks with immediate rent issues – but we’ll try anyway. (Next fundraiser for Aji is set for Monday evening – Yas is doing it.)

    Gotta get back to work – after i’ve checked rto’s Village diary – I can at least see part of my desk which is good because the messy project I’ve been putting off is going to take a lot of spreading paper out and checking to be sure what’s been done and what’s still outstanding. Bright the day and wind to thy wings, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

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