Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Nov. 12th through Nov. 18th

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?

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.


Page One of comments is at this link
 
Page Two of comments is at this link


 

41 Comments

  1. Good morning meeses! 54-ish and raining. It’s been raining since about 10 pm last night, which is good. And it’s not a heavy rain, which is also good (less chance of flooding).

    • A nice soaker rain then. Absolutely good – quenches the Earth’s thirst, reduces fires and fire potential, and doesn’t bring it’s own disasters with it. Water of Life. moar {{{HUGS}}} and always Healing Energy.

  2. Good morning, meese! Friday …

    It is 34 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 43. The forecast calls for light rain and drizzle all day long and into the evening.

    Yesterday’s news day was exhausting: African trophy ban lifted, Keystone pipeline spill, tax bill passed that will decimate middle income taxpayers in red and purple states (and take huge whacks at Medicare), Democratic Senator who once worked in entertainment turns out to have engaged in frat boy “humor”, leaving an opening for the Moore and Trump apologists to make false equivalences. I am sure that there was more awful news but that is all I have room for. The ongoing crises continue: DACA deportations, Puerto Rico misery, travel ban, assault on reproductive rights, destruction of our national parks – really, awful people in charge of every aspect of our government.

    You know, it is really simple to figure out, men. Imagine your daughter (or your sister or your wife or your mother) the woman in the action you are about to take and imagine how you would feel if you watched a man do whatever-you-did to her. My guess is that your first reaction will not be “that’s hilarious!” Our country has a lack of empathy, the inability to imagine ourselves as the other person and to do the right thing in our interpersonal relationships. I don’t know if the current climate will make that better or worse but, goddess, we need some relief. The decent thing to do is not hidden in code, it is a basic part of your humanity if you just stop and think.

    See all y’all later!

    • It really is that simple. Even if the reason for the “not with my wife/sister/daughter/mother, you don’t – so I won’t with yours” is purely possessive in nature, it would still stop a whole lot of destructive behavior and keep a lot of victims from becoming victims. Apparently an unfortunately sizable majority of men in this country – all across the political spectrum – think with the wrong head. sigh. But I take heart that the men on our team do tend to “out grow” that, look back in shame on it, apologize for it when it surfaces, and always from the time they recognize it is wrong work to make up for it – even if they’re in their 60s when they do.

  3. TGIF Meese
    39 degrees here in Saugerties going up to 45.
    I’m coming down with a cold and have to go into school early to meet with several students.
    News makes me more miserable – so I looked for something to smile about on twitter

  4. Good morning, Moosekind! Windy and fair this Freya’s day, with a current temp. of 38 F., going up to 52 F. Yesterday evening I had to drive the elder of my little charges to his soccer practice. Why do they play in the DARK? Had to stand in a freezing wind, with the left hand encased in two gloves, the right hand in only one because I had to thumb my phone to read the book that was diverting me from the whole thing. When the boy’s father showed up with the younger child, I fled thankfully home.

    There’s been too much bad news this week, and to top it off I have to go to the dentist at 1 to get a permanent filling. Then home for a nap, considering I woke up at 3, couldn’t get back to sleep, so got up at 4:30, read for an hour, and went back to bed. Ugh.

    Russian troll-bots accusing liberals of sexual harassment, the USA saying it’s perfectly all right to murder elephants, the pipeline spilling thousands of gallons of oil, the tax bill…can we “Bid time return/O, call back yesterday?”

    Coffee with Darling Niece this morning will cheer me up. Wishing a quiet day with no bad news to all.

    • I have awakened much too early for two days in a row – 2:15 both days, today I was able to stay in bed until 2:45, yesterday I got up at 2:30. There must be some sort of disturbance in the force once again. We are coming up on a new moon and it is possible that those trying to find sanctuary this month are making a bit of a racket. Goddess knows that there are lots of people needing protection right now.

    • {{{Diana}}} – Healing Energy. Which sleep will help, so I hope you figure out a way to get some.

      We are at war and most of the news will be bad. We’re winning a few battles here and there, blocking some advances here and there, and resisting everywhere. I think although I’m not going to bet on it that we’ve reached the turning point – but there’s a whole lot of war left to fight. Take care of yourself. Breathe, hydrate, eat nutritious as well as good tasting food, sleep, hug your loved ones – and block off a “news-free” chunk of the evening so you actually can get the sleep you need to keep resisting. We will win. Just not as soon as we’d like.
      moar {{{HUGS}}} and Healing Energy

      • Thank you, sweetie! Just got back from the dentist—Great Goddess, it was quick this time! No numbing, no injection, she just quickly took out the old filling, installed the new, and I was gone in 10 minutes!

        Now I’m going to have a great big nap. See you later!

    • {{{anotherdemocrat}}} – Yay! for the walk. You’re getting in a lot more than i am these days. Our weather for most of this year has either been too hot or too iffy for me to walk home from work. As to the Franken thing, that the Rs and Russian bots are working together to use this against our side just in time for the Rs’ attempt to elect a sexual predator in AL does not make the case against him stronger or weaker. It’s a heads up to us that our team is being targeted and that anything that can be used against us – with or without tweaking – will be and to be ready to put out the brush fires as they flare up.

      The case itself as far as I’ve seen is strong on thoughtless hurtful stupidity and weak on evidence of predatory conduct. Franken’s response is exactly what i would expect of a man who did stupid, hurtful, thoughtless things and matured enough to be ashamed of them and try to make up for them by supporting women’s issues in the Senate. That he immediately apologized, then expanded on the apology and called for an ethics investigation of himself says to me he has matured and while forgiveness is up to the woman in question, we should leave it to the woman in question and continue to support the man he has become even as we deplore those parts of the man he was.

  5. Good morning, 43 and partly sunny in Bellingham. I’m slow and sleepy this morning, but grateful for a good night’s sleep. We made a very rich chicken stock yesterday so maybe the comforting smell countered the day’s toxic news!
    Today’s counter will be doing some flower prep for next week’s dinner. When I buy whole bunches the flower shop gives me a very good discount. They know me well enough to chose flowers as their supply trucks come, and then I clean and clip all the stems, and keep them in my cool garage until next week. RonK will help me cut greens from our garden so that will be fun too. With his help I can reach the ivy with blossoms and berries and cut some branches from our neighbor’s fir tree. Those branches have a yellow color, and will provide background the hydrangeas would have had they survived the snow.

    So my day will be busy and I hope, life affirming. My very best wishes to all.

  6. Started the day at 55, it’s 67 now and will probably stay there the rest of the day. Very cloudy. Yesterday’s 7.6 KWHs was the 3rd highest for the month, today I’ll be lucky to get half that. sigh. m-t-d is 86.7 – year-to-date is 3.78 MWHs and exceedingly unlikely to reach 4.0 (last year’s was 4.43). Still, my annual usage is 2.9 so I’m golden this year at least.

    Today is a “trickle” day – not being slammed but work stuff just keeps tricking in so I’m not checking in as early as usual. Even my coffee break was interrupted – which is what i get for taking it at my desk. But if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be at the computer to check in. heh. Anyway, lunch time so I need to go get my lunch after I check in at the TGIF – and at least read the one at DK. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  7. Morning meeses! 54ish here, no rain in forecast until Sunday. Will be scarce this weekend because I’ll be volunteering at the West Coast Ragtime Festival in Rancho Cordova, CA.

  8. So today was really busy at work, we’re always short handed on Fridays. And we have a project related to our switching to a new catalog system next year….. Then I got a text from my friend with cancer, she is back in the hospital. They may operate again next week. I left work early to go see her, because the hospital she’s in can be hard to get to during rush hour. She was pretty tired. I teased her that she has a month to get strong enough for us to see Star Wars together.

    • {{{anotherdemocrat}}} – Healing Energy to your friend (and also to you). Holding the Good Thought. moar {{{HUGS}}}

  9. Good morning, meese! Saturday …

    It is 37 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 39. Cloudy skies are in the forecast.

    We made it to the end of another week that feels like a year. The good news is that the House Republicans voted to put themselves in the minority – every California congressman but one voted to raise taxes on Californians to the tune of $12.1 billion a year. I guess they want to test the “we can shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue and never be held accountable” rule. On November 6, 2018, we will find out. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans voted the #TaxScam bill out of committee and will present it to their members for a vote. Their version includes “skinny repeal”, another effort to destroy the Affordable Care Act. If it dies, ACA repeal will die until the 2018 legislative session where we hope it stays an electrified third rail. I wish Ron Freaking Johnson was voting against this bill for the right reasons (he is upset because his business does not get the same rate as corporations) because I would call to encourage him. But there is no indication that he will hold fast and if I were more cynical, I would say he is a pretend NO only to get us to let down our guards and not work to get 3 real NO votes. Can we rely on John McCain to press for “regular order” again? Fingers crossed.

    See all y’all later!

  10. A cold Saturday morning here in Saugerties NY where it is 23 degrees.
    Got up very early to write about the horrid situation in Florida – where evacuees from Puerto Rico are facing a housing crisis. :(
    Will post it as soon as I get moar coffee!

  11. The Fighting Back post is up and features a Weekly Address by Rep. Suzan DelBene from Washington state’s District 1.

    Fighting Back: Rep. DelBene – “The Republican legislation is a bill of callous decisions and missed opportunities.”

    Nancy Pelosi had a quote from Pope Benedict’s first encyclical in her floor speech against the #GOPTaxScam bill. Some of the popes adhered to the teachings of their church’s founder and wrote about the dignity of labor and social justice. This was one of those times:

    Pope Benedict quoted the wisdom of Saint Augustine. Seventeen centuries ago Saint Augustine said, ‘a state which is not governed according to justice would be just a bunch of thieves.’ Benedict went on to say, ‘the state must inevitably face the question of how justice can be achieved here and now.’ And he cautioned against ‘the danger of certain ethical blindness caused by the dazzling effect of power and special interests.’

    She went on to point out that the Republicans are not even bothering to hide that this bill is a gift to their donors and that their votes are out of fear that the money spigot will be shut off. They are truly “a bunch of thieves” in service to their thieving masters.

  12. Good morning, Meese, on an overcast Saturday. Current temp. is 40 F., going up to 58 F. later.

    Lots to do as usual. Need to go to the gym, work on the garage, visit Office Depot for labels, and so on. Tonight I have a child-tending gig from 6 until 10. The parents are having a “date night,” which is something Dearly and I never were able to do when our children were growing up. There was an absolute dearth of child-minders in those days.

    Still upset about Puerto Rico but slightly reassured about the proposed elephant murders. Seems as if that law won’t be revoked quite yet.

    Wishing a good, quiet Saturday with NO NEWS to all at the Pond and Beyond.

    • The tRump “pause to review” is #FakeNews that he hope buys him favorable coverage for a few days while it blows over. I am sure the captive press will oblige. The permits to start doing the trophy killing were given out over a month ago. You can’t “unkill” those animals.

  13. So, today will be really busy. Got an office opening for Beto O’Rourke’s campaign — he’s running against Ted Cruz — mid day. Need to visit my friend in the hospital, and KathTx is back in town for a day, having a get together. And I really need to go to the gym. Luckily, since I cooked last weekend & it’s a short work week, all I need to do is thaw stuff out. But right now, I’m watching the news & waiting for Joy Reid’s show.

    • o.m.g. — the low Monday morning is going to be 39. Right now, it is tank top & sandals weather — high today of 81. Front overnight tonight, jacket weather tomorrow. I’m seriously considering skipping my walk Monday. That’s just too cold too suddenly. For y’all where it’s that temp already – it’s been cold for weeks, right? We don’t really get a chance to adjust, it’s just “whoosh” – cold.

  14. Good morning, 47 and cloudy in Bellingham. It’s a winter view outside my window today. The sky and water are lovely shades of bluish grey and white, framed by the bare branches of my old maple trees. I love seeing the subtle colors of lichen growing on the bark.

    Time to find some coffee. Take care everyone.

  15. 51 and dropping throughout the day to 30 about sunrise tomorrow. And cloudy. Got 5.6 KWHs after all yesterday and the m-t-d is 90. I didn’t know when I left for the Farmers’ Market that the 65 it was at the time was the high for the day. I got a clue as I was arranging for egg delivery over the winter with one of the Market vendors whose daughter’s apartment is just across the freeway from me. I didn’t have my coat with me. (Thus not following one of Momma’s rules in the winter – “I don’t care how warm it is when you leave the house, take your coat.” OK, that was in Houston but anotherdemocrat knows what she was talking about. heh). Said “See you next Spring” to my regular vendors and got 1/2 peck of mixed Granny Smith and Macintosh apples (they’ll stay good in the fridge til New Year’s if I don’t eat them first).

    Got to the Co-op and found my back order GF flour was not in, the weird weather we’ve had this year has decimated the carrot crop and aside from a single 25-lb bag of carrots at the old price, there were only 2-lb bags at double the “normal” price. I grabbed the 25-lb bag and hope to heaven they’ll stay good as long as it takes me to eat that many carrots (about 6 weeks). Got a free-range turkey for Thanksgiving at my son’s house – they’ll provide everything else – that the manager sweetly discounted since my GK flour order still isn’t in.

    Scuttled home and started a fire, put the bones I had in the freezer on for stock, put a small pork roast I also had in the freezer in the crock pot to get me through til Thursday (and also for the “Mexican” refried bean and rice soup I plan on making tomorrow). Divided the carrots up into 6 slightly over 4-lb bags in the hopes of making them last longer. Brought in more firewood, gave the “we’re starving” kittehs a snack, got coffee, and sat down at the computer to check in. :)

    There’s supposed to be, well not exactly a live blog, but a wedding celebration blog over at DK today so I’m going to see if I can find out when and be there. I do have to go out again – need to pick up my new glasses and get milk – but not until kick-off time. Game day traffic is horrendous until the game actually starts and then there’s a 2-hour window when everything’s quiet. :) Anyway, over to DK to at least read some diaries and see as best I can how my DK family is from the comments. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  16. Good morning meese. High 40s, should hopefully be in 60s. Day 2 of volunteering for the festival. Tired but having coffee and breakfast to hopefully perk up.

    • {{{basket}}} – well, if you’re not having breakfast until now, no wonder you’re tired! Get that blood sugar level up – and sustained – with some protein. :) Enjoy the festival. moar {{{HUGS}}}

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