Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Apr. 1st through Apr. 7th

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 HERE!

 

36 Comments

  1. Good Wednesday Meese
    39 – cloudy here in NY going up to 57 with rain

    Overslept this morning and have to see if I can find video of the whole event yesterday with Bill Clinton

  2. Walked again — 1.03 miles. It was cold. Before I say what the temp is — let me first say that for the past couple of weeks, the morning lows have been in the 70s. Yesterday it was definitely short sleeve weather. So this morning it was suddenly 50. So yeah that felt cold. I thought long sleeves & pants would be sufficient. I was wrong. I stopped walking just as soon as the building opened & came inside to get warm.

    So of course you know what today’s song is: Pride (In The Name Of Love). I loved my boys from the first notes I heard of I Will Follow, but their admiration for MLK was the thing that…. I don’t even have words. The link is to the live version from the 1987 tour. There’s story from that time: Remember how the MLK holiday was controversial? That some states didn’t even observe it at first? On this tour, some racists decided they didn’t like this song, and some nutjobs in Arizona said they’d kill them if they played it at the stop in Tempe. It was a credible threat. The FBI actually sat down with them & their security people & told them so. (it was something along the lines that a sniper would make sure Bono didn’t finish it if they started) So of course they played it. B-man starts the last verse, on his knees, doing it as a prayer. He opens his eyes to see Adam — who never strayed away from his spot, just stood there & played his bass — had strolled up to the front of the stage & was standing square in front of him. That is why I love him. I may try to leave work early, find a parking place near-ish to campus & visit the statue.

    If you haven’t heard – today’s google doodle is Maya Angelou reading And Still I Rise. They played it on the local morning news. Hard to get dressed when you’re crying.

    • {{{anotherdemocrat}}} Hope you get some more walking in. Yeah, MLK day was so controversial in AR that it didn’t pass without a concurrent Robert E Lee Day celebration – which only got unlinked last year. I thought that was Maya Angelou – yeah, that one gets to me. :) moar {{{HUGS}}}

  3. Good morning, 42 and raining in Bellingham. I enjoyed seeing Black Panther with the girls yesterday but I’ve reached my activity limit so Ron and Ava will take their cameras to the tulip fields today and I’ll rest. Ava is very enthusiastic with her camera so I’ll have fun seeing the day through her perspective later.

    Time for coffee. Hope it’s a good day for all.

  4. My PV weather widget says it’s 27 & feels like 16 – as well it may on the roof where the panels are – but the bird water is still water so I’m hoping it didn’t get cold enough to damage the cherries. The last two springs have had late frost so I got no cherries. There are blossoms all over the tree right now so as long as this frost didn’t stop the fruit development I should have enough cherries for both eating and jam! It’s finally sunny again – good for production, good for my mental/emotional health. Already got 2.64 KWHs for the day and the m-t-d is 14.9 – gonna need a bunch of 20+-KWH days to get over 400 but it’s early yet and still very doable.

    Good news on the elections yesterday – especially the WI one. I usually try to stay balanced about how the 2016 election went down. There were at least 6 areas that were harmful and changing any single one of them would have changed the outcome. But the one that berns the most is the 3rd party voters. They cut Hillary’s margin which was bad, they didn’t vote down ballot which was equally bad. And I will leave it at that on a publicly readable site.

    I need to get some coffee – the cats get a spoonful of kibble when I have my “coffee break” and Charlie is getting very insistent – LOL – then tour the internets. If the biting wind will die down a bit I’ve got some outside work I’d like to do while the sun is shining so brightly. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  5. Good morning, 32 when I got up this morning, but it’s now 30 with snow flurries. I might as well get used to it, since the rest of the week isn’t going to be much warmer, but my inner whine is fierce and loud.

    Diana, I hope your desk arrives today; I’m a regular user of eBay but mostly with smaller, vintage stuff, so I’ve never had any problems. I hope everything gets sorted out sooner, rather than later.

    I’m off to peruse Twitter quickly and then I’m going to concentrate on doing some genealogy work for now. The candidate for MI-10 I’m supporting is starting to gear up her campaign and has clear plans for utilizing precinct delegates (I am one), so for the sake of my sanity and my limited time, I’m trying to focus on that except when there are clear calls-to-action on the national level. The breathless recitation of the latest 45* outrage drains me, and if we don’t flip the House at the very least, not much will change. So while I’m realistic enough to know that my candidate is a long-shot to win in my VERY red district (assuming she wins the primary), that is where my focus will be.

  6. Thursday Meese
    We had horrible wind storms here in NY yesterday – winds still high this morning – and we will be getting a little snow.

    Got all my writing done yesterday so today I can relax a bit.
    Puerto Rico

    I have been following Bill Clinton’s efforts in the Caribbean – which are being ignored here

    While Barack and John talk of MLK

    Sanders goes to Mississippi and drops some “shade” against Obama

    Was interesting reading this:

    • That’s an interesting morning post, Dee! You’re right, Bill Clinton’s venture has not been getting much coverage at all. His heart’s in the right place.

      There was a major front-page story in the WaPo this morning about the power grid in Puerto Rico and how shamefully the recovery has been mismanaged. I hope some action will be stirred up by the story.

    • Someone said that Sanders’ presentation in honor of King included lots of video of Bernie Sanders rallies! Rude and disrespectful – and keep President Obama’s name out of your mouth, left-wing trump.

      • I am so friggin tired of Bernie and his cult following.
        We need to be fighting Trump and Co. with all of our time and energy

  7. Good morning, meeses! Thursday …

    It is 16 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 39. Sunny skies are in the forecast, clouding up overnight. I don’t see temperatures over 40 for the next week. Not very springlike!

    Today’s news looks like yesterday’s news which is a bit of a relief. I admit to laughing out loud at Chuck Assley crying about “farmers and ranchers” bearing the brunt of the trade war. Good! They voted for a man they knew to be ignorant and their representatives in Congress refuse to restrain him. Decent people cry for the millions suffering under this oppressive regime who have no voice except via the courts. And STHU pious Republicans pretending to care about civil rights on a day of solemn remembrance of the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. The only difference between now and 1968 is that in 1968 the Republican Party’s white supremacy was a dog whistle instead of a bullhorn.

    See all y’all later!

  8. Good morning, Meese! The sky here in Ashburn is partly cloudy and the sun is rising. The current temp. is 33 F., going up to 50 F. later today. The online Herndon Patch is hysterically predicting an 18-inch snowfall for Saturday—dear Goddess, don’t those folks ever get tired of it? Anyway, walking the dog was most unpleasant yesterday: the wind felt as if it were straight outta Siberia, and Monty himself has to be bribed to go for a walk. What is wrong with that boogie-woogie beagle boy?

    Anyway, we cleared out some more stuff, although there is still a long way to go. I’m still trying to find my checkbook. Found the checkbooks for the other two accounts but not for the account I really need. Cue the boxcutter!

    Will be deeply glad when order is achieved here. I want to devote some time to my protagonist, young Nicholas Frayne, and the extraordinary changes that are going to happen in his life when he accepts that position at FreedomFashions. Woke up at 4 in the morning and could not get back to sleep for thinking about it all.

    I smell coffee! Off to breakfast and trash-gathering (today is pickup day), so will see you all later.

  9. Walked this morning — dressed for yesterday’s temps when it was about 5 degrees warmer, I did not need the sweatshirt. 1.16 miles, not bad. Since I get to sleep in tomorrow, I’ll still walk, just after the plumber leaves. Diary scheduled at the orange place for 11:45.

    • {{{anotherdemocrat}}} – sorry I was an hour late getting folks in to boost your signal – I kept getting phone calls & forgetting why I needed to log in to DK. But at least we got you some movement even if not as much as I’d hoped. moar {{{HUGS}}}

        • W00T!!! We got there eventually, even if we couldn’t get you on the rec list. moar {{{HUGS}}}

  10. Yesterday was beautiful if chilly (never got up to 50) – generated 22.8 KWHs and the m-t-d is 35.5 which would be a lot better if it weren’t an overcast 5th day of April. I need about 18 more days like yesterday to reach 400 and I’m not sure I’m gonna get them. Which isn’t good for my SAD or my electricity generation.

    Many good tweets on MLK yesterday, even more “shut your mouth, you aren’t worthy to even say his name” ones. The Evil Ones got/are still getting a lot of push back. None if which will be listened to by either group doing it. But I hope it’s bringing people out of depression and despair. Anger is energy and energy can be channeled. Just like the Parkland survivors have been channeling their grief and fear into anger and then doing something with it, the rest of us can do the same. Only real way to honor the man is to keep trying to reach his “dream” and get us to that promised land.

    Gonna tour the internets then see if I can do anything outside. Not likely but whatever. Need some coffee anyway. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  11. Good morning, 46 and raining in Bellingham. RonK and Ava took their cameras to the muddy tulip fields yesterday, but I stayed home and rested. Our grandson will be here tomorrow for a visit so I have to pace myself. He’s in a Running Start program this year so this week was high school spring break and next week is the community college break, and he gets a long weekend in between.

    A wise decision…….

    A national parks fee-hikes victory: Keep speaking up to defend what’s ours

    Americans should remember the way public outrage changed the outcome of this misguided plan and keep voicing their opinions strongly when their government makes plans with which they disagree.

    • In 2016, a lot of us kept quiet – planned to vote for Hillary but did not speak up except in safe places. That turned out to be a mistake because the voices that needed to push back and speak up were silent. When people know that they are not alone, when they see lots and lots of people believe as they do – like the women’s marches and the gun violence marches and the ACA townhall swarming – they are energized. Right now a lot of people are angry at the government and a lot of people realize that the way we fix that is to change the government. It is never quick – our constitution, for better or for worse, gives power in two year increments. But unless we speak up, no one knows how we feel, how many of us there are. And then someone decides to run for office and then she wins.

  12. Good morning, meeses! Friday …

    It is 30 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 34. Partly cloudy skies, clearing later this evening.

    I am on #PruittWatch! Although I don’t expect that minor grifting will be punished when Scott Pruitt is the star destroyer in the Trump “Administration” – a guy who owns liberals with his every move – one tweet I saw last night may hold the key. Pruitt wants to be Sun King and there is only room for one Sun King in a Trump-branded White House.

    Found on the Internets …

    See all y’all later!

  13. Friday Meese
    24 chilly degrees here in NY going up to 45 with rain

    The storm continues in response to Bernie Sander’s diss of Barack Obama when Sanders spoke on the day of the assassination

    For those who are not aware – Bakari’s dad Cleve was an important civil rights organizer activist – mentioned here in this tweet

    This is my favorite response to the red rose swarm

    Puerto Rico

    Good news – in case you missed Bobby’s diary
    https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/5/1746126/-Puerto-Rico-Hope-and-Happiness-One-Heart-at-a-Time

    • I saw that Selena Adera tweet. The purity wing of the party has been destroying America for decades. The only people who insist we must never settle for “good enough for now” are those who are protected by their privilege. They will not lose their housing when HUD stops protecting from discrimination, they will not lose their health care when Medicaid and Medicare are defunded, they will not lose their retirement security when Social Security is destroyed, they will not go fight in wars of choice to soothe the narcissistic injuries of tiny brained men, they will not be shot and killed when the Justice Department dispenses with the notion of justice, they will not die in back-alley abortions – they literally have no skin in the less-than-perfect American experience and can afford to wait for what has never happened and will never happen: “millions will turn to the pure ones to lead them.” Progress has always been incremental and it starts with being in power then gaining mass and then voting in change. Why do we have to relearn this every 8 years? :(

      • Yup. You nailed it – progress is incremental. Purists steeped in privilege never see that

  14. Good morning, Moosekind! Cloudy and 44 F. here in Ashburn at the moment, going up to 65 F. later. We’re supposed to experience a weather front that will bring snow tomorrow.

    Very busy day ahead after a wasted day yesterday. Our Internet and TV went down, which meant waiting around for the Comcast guy. We unpacked a few more boxes, got rid of a few more bags of wrapping paper.

    The shred truck is coming at 10, and we have lots of errands to do, so we’ll put Monty in doggy play care for a good bit of the day. Wishing all a peaceful Friday with no bad news and LOTS of sunshine in Fayetteville and Bellingham!

    • I am not sure why Internet access has to be so complicated! Someone needs to figure out smarter routers that connect to devices automatically; I am not sure how people without in-house technicians are expected to navigate the technology.

      I hope you are beginning to see the results of all your hard work and will soon be able to spend your mornings sitting around sipping coffee instead of running to and fro. Reading about your travails makes me realize that I will need to downsize sooner rather than later. I won’t have as many helping hands as you do – my relatives all live out of state – and I can’t imagine doing all that work when some days just sitting at my computer exhausts me!

      • Jan, we’re not at the “sipping point” yet, but we have decided to focus on tidying the flat today rather than going out. We got rid of enough stuff yesterday that we can improve the looks of this place.

        If I were you, I’d empty one drawer, one closet, one cupboard a week without fail. It will make your life so much easier in the end. We had far too many photo albums. We should have started giving them to our sons ages ago.

  15. Home today because the plumbers are coming — talked to neighbor last night & she’s pretty sure they will need access to my place. It’s really warm today, highs in the 80s but there’s a cold front coming & tomorrow it won’t get out of the 50s. That’s February weather. Glad I can’t afford to drive out to Blanco for my team’s training ride (yes, I could catch a ride with someone, but I’m sooooo much slower on the bike than everyone, I’d already decided it wasn’t worth it) because it’ll be in the freaking 40s in the morning. Yesterday I got up to my goal for the fundraising part — I don’t know if I got any of the matches, but either way that was great.

  16. 50 and overcast at the moment. May or may not get rain today and/or tomorrow. May or may not get overnight frosts the next 2 days. It cleared off enough yesterday that I got 12.7 KWHs bringing the m-t-d to 47.9 – so far the daily average isn’t enough to reach 300 much less 400 but the month’s early yet. Need to average 10/day for the former, 16.7/day for the latter. Hoping for the best. Sunshine is good all around – electricity generation, joints are less creaky, no SAD – so seriously hoping for more of it.

    Enjoyed & RT’d a goodly number of stfu bernie tweets. Only missed one of the ones Denise has above (& have RT’d it now). So very glad Bobby’s OK (relatively speaking anyway) & had gotten electricity & internet to be able to report on Don Feliberto – so very glad he & the crew have been able to help Don Feliberto start to get his life back on track. It seriously takes a Village – even if that Village is an internet one and geographically spread all over the world. One step at a time, one heart at a time – we’ll get there eventually. All together.

    Gonna tour the internets. Not sure what else. Overcast & chilly means joints ache & SAD. But I’ll think of something. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  17. Good morning, 48 and raining in Bellingham. Spring magic happened overnight……green leaves are now visible on my old maple trees! The lichen covered branches are a deep contrast to the grey sky and the green is a welcome bit of color. I love seeing the seasons change in my old trees.

    Progress on the health front too, as I just took a deep breath without coughing. Hope I don’t jinx recovery by saying so!

    Time for coffee. Thanks to all for sharing daily friendship, commiseration and insights.

    • {{{princesspat}}} – more Healing Energy coming your way. moar {{{HUGS}}} too :)

  18. Good morning, meese! Saturday …

    It is 16 degrees in Madison – 5 degree wind chill – with an expected daytime high of 34. Sunny skies are in the forecast.

    Great. An old white guy from a purple state – but white! and guy! – wants to be Speaker of the House and is going to red and purple states to make the case for old white guys running the country. Sigh.

    The Democratic Party’s Weekly Address is by Rep. John Lewis and I will publish it shortly in the Fighting Back post along with other releases from Nancy Pelosi’s web site. For the record, I do not want to replace the party of John Lewis and Nancy Pelosi with the party of Tim Ryan and Steny Hoyer. Sigh.

    See all y’all later!

  19. Good Saturday Meese
    36, and cloudy here in Saugerties NY – going up to 44. At least no snow today – yesterdays snow was slushy and messy and made driving dangerous.

    Tired after dealing with the “how dare you criticize Bernie folks” and the “he was a great civil rights activist” folks….thought I was finished with the uproar – then Kev posted a diary at Orange and Armando raised issue on twitter
    The more I think about this – the more pissed off I am getting
    The man goes to the south – to Mississippi – and then holds a town hall discussion – re MLK and this is the audience:

    #JACKSON — Cries of “Bernie 2020!” accented the conversation between U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba at a town hall on economic justice 50 years to the night since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis.
    #Thalia Mara Hall in downtown Jackson hosted the predominantly white audience, mostly Sanders supporters in T-shirts with slogans like “Feel the Bern” or even one that said “Don’t Blame Me I Voted for Bernie,” among other paraphernalia with Sanders’ face on it. Some arrived an hour before the doors officially opened at 6 p.m.

    Bernie boosters are posting false descriptions of the event online to make it seem like this was a black filled event. Grrr. Will this shit never end.
    I know I shouldn’t let it bother me – but I’m tired of Bernie pimping MLK for his own purposes.

    Anyway – turning to Puerto Rico

    The Federal attack on Puerto Rico continues

    My topic for tomorrow’s Sunday morning piece will be charter schools, vouchers and the destruction of public education in PR

    • I am looking forward to reading that! I have been following the school closure news, unsure what it exactly means.

  20. Good morning, Moosekind! It’s a gray morning here in NoVa, although we haven’t had any precip. yet. Current temperature is 41 F., going up to 46 F.

    We were exhausted after our day of visiting the dump, Goodwill, and Costco. Today we’ll stay home and tidy up. We did manage to get rid of a lot of stuff. We’re going to eat in all day rather than going out. By having dinner here in our flat, we can finish in time to go to the movie in the next building. It’s one I’ve longed to see, “Goodbye, Christopher Robin.”

    Today is the birthday of Political Granddaughter (currently working on a campaign in Ohio), our niece in Australia, and the anniversary of the day my mother died 10 years ago. In that 10 years four great-grandchildren have been born. Wish she could have lived long enough to see them.

    Hoping today will be a good day for all at the Pond and beyond.

    • I hope that your day will be filled with pleasant memories of those who are no longer with us on this earthly plane. My grandmother died over 15 years ago and I still think of her daily. I know I am lucky that I can pick up the phone and call my mother and we can share our complaints about our local baseball teams.

    • {{{Diana}}} – Healing Energy and have a pleasant day filled with good memories. moar {{{HUGS}}}

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