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.
…
Good morning, 52 and cloudy in Bellingham. Another sleepy morning, another day of possibilities ahead. Just need to find some coffee and a focus!
Best Tuesday wishes to all.
Good morning, meeses! Wednesday …
It is 61 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 73. Storms rolled through most of the night, it is storming now, and the forecast calls for more storms off and on all day. Some of the early morning storms were pretty noisy which worried my dog who needed to be comforted.
Yesterday the white supremacist who beat up and severely injured the young man in the Charlottesville parking ramp was convicted. Prosecutors are expected to ask for 5 years in prison. It is good to see that there is still justice in some jurisdictions.
In national news, Trump’s doctor of 35 years having his offices raided was a welcome comic break – it was probably not illegal because it won’t be prosecuted. See how that works? Elsewhere, I was watching news about the treatment of protesters in May Day marches in Puerto Rico and couldn’t get a solid source describing the event (I hope Dee tells us). In Waukesha WI, people took to the streets to protest the Waukesha County Sheriff who announced he would be working closely with ICE because “his constituents want him to”. Yes, the white nationalists outside of the City of Waukesha demand that the brown people – and their families – be removed. The city has a vibrant Hispanic community and I am sure that there are more than a few who are not documented. Now they will live in fear so that their neighbors in the outlying areas can have their Fox-induced Anxiety soothed. :(
Busy day here. The calendar flipped yesterday and I am not ready.
See all y’all later!
Good morning Meese
55 here going up to 87
So we go from the icebox to summer in 2 days.
Writing day today – and still shaking with anger about the National Strike in PR – which was a beautiful protest
till at the end the police went into full attack mode. Now the damned US media will cover it
Bobby was able to video tape the police invading his neighborhood – which he posted to youtube (there are 4 vids)
after I finish writing – going to watch the Frontline piece
Thanks, Dee! I’m amazed that someone in NPR had the cojones to ask FEMA that question. Haven’t yet seen any coverage of the strike, but I woke up only an hour ago and Dearly Beloved has control of the front page of the WaPo.
I wish the Powers That Be would do something positive for PR, but they’re so busy persecuting black and brown people that helping PR is on the back burner.
Glad my bootcamp classes are a temporary thing, I’m beat. Though I feel bad taking them knowing I’m not going to join & pay at the end. I am definitely using today as a rest day. Tea. Breakfast. Come on, brain – time to wake up.
So the doctor admits that Trump wrote that ridiculous letter. How is it that this man has had such enablers all his life? The story from early in his career about how he paid people to just look busy at a construction site when he brought investors by; there was some development he was supposed to give NYC money on but he found people willing to take bribes instead (he’d rather pay bribes than what he was supposed to do??) I just don’t get it. Definitely fixing that when I get my time machine. Along with global warming & all that trash in the ocean.
Good Woden’s Day morning, Moosekind! It’s a gorgeous day in Ashburn, with a current temp. of 49 F. Later the temp. will rise to 88 F.! Summer is here for three days, then we retreat to showers and merely warm temperatures.
I think I might rent a rug shampooer this weekend, before I go completely mad. Monty has a doctor appointment today to check his ears; our very own bfitz thinks he might have a UTI, so I’ll ask about that too.
We can’t make any more real progress on tidying the house until we get some containers, so today and tomorrow we’ll focus on that. My pots and pans will have to go to the Treasure Chest, although I’m still not sure about the china. The Treasure Chest at Ashby Ponds, incidentally, accepts donations of excess household belongings and furniture, which it then sells to employees and residents once a month. The money goes into the Benevolent Fund, which is used to pay residents’ living expenses if their own money runs out. No one is ever turned out into the street, apparently.
Was amazed to hear of the raid on Bornstein’s office but completely unsurprised to learn that Thing dictated the letter (he can’t read or write, of course). Feeling encouraged because Rosenstein spoke up and that a subpoena has been mentioned. How long are we going to endure Thing’s takeover and the destruction of this country? Wish I felt more sanguine about the knight riding to the rescue in November.
Anyway, here’s wishing a peaceful day to all at the Pond and Beyond.
67 heading for 80 and not as cloudy as yesterday – got a little over 8 KWHs which is definitely a slow start to the month, but early days yet. Yesterday was a very weird and not particularly helpful day all around. Beside police gassing peaceful protesters in Puerto Rico and the mini-tornado that took out the west half of Aji’s stable my little problem of being locked out of twitter starting mid-afternoon is nothing but an irritant. (It’s why I didn’t RT Denise’s Black Kos twitter roundup and Aji’s Patreon & Ko-Fi tweets.) And I’ve now got my twitter back so I’m back in the RTing business while the folks in Puerto Rico still have gassed lungs and busted heads on top of intermittent to no power and a bankrupt government that can’t declare bankruptcy (& Aji has a stable to rebuild when she can get the money to do it). Irish luck is survival luck – a bunch of folks had Irish luck yesterday.
So. Gonna do my tour of the internet then get back to shifting wood. It seems the evening fire season is over so I need to move the wood to the spot on my carport for summer storage from my “have it at hand” space on the porch. Although I always do keep at least 2 evening’s worth on the porch for late May/early September cold snaps – but not a week’s worth. Irises are blooming across the street – mine are later by about a week – but we’re definitely moving out of Spring and into early Summer. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 49 and sunny in Bellingham. Yesterday was a very discouraging day for me as I couldn’t find the energy to do anything. But I slept 12 restful hours last night and have a glimmer of energy this morning so I’m hopeful for a better day.
It’s a Dr. day too……the yearly follow up for my kidney cancer requires a renal ultra scan, chest x-ray and lab work and that happens today. I see Dr C next week for the results. So that will be my afternoon.
Best wishes to all for a sunny Wednesday.
Here, Diana. This guy is running against Comstock.
Thanks, Jan! I hope people are paying attention to this!
Good morning, meese! Thursday …
It is 59 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 66. Scattered showers and thunderstorms throughout the day. We had some pretty fierce storms last night but they passed through quickly and were mostly done by the time I went to bed.
I think the wheels are coming off the Trump White House but I am not sure we survive the end times. Lawyer Ty Cobb appears to have quit because he was sick of the daily drama. Same! Now they don’t have any attorneys on board who have passed a security clearance so they will likely get waivers and another group of ethically suspect people will have access to our country’s secrets. Rudy Giuliani’s contribution – if there is a strategy, which I am not sure there is – seems to be political rather than legal: to pump up the base by trashing Mueller’s witnesses and motives. There will be a core of people – 35-40% – who believe that Trump is the victim of a witch hunt. They are an immovable object – the witnesses of Trump’s shooting of someone on 5th Avenue who not only didn’t care but who cheered him on!
In case you missed it, the Republican Party strategy for the midterms is starting to come into focus – they are going to run on “Democrats want to impeach”. If we help them with that, we will lose. Congressional districts are still gerrymandered and Trump voters are packed into the districts of incumbents who will survive the blue wave if they think their leader is endangered. We would be wise to tamp down talk of impeachment. We have plenty to run on – health care, saving Social Security and Medicare, building up the safety net, rule of law, nukes. As satisfying as it might sound, removing Trump from office is a distraction.
See all y’all later!
Totally agree with you about impeach – I’ve been saying that since the beginning. Actually I’ve been saying that on two counts – don’t waste time, energy, tax dollars while energizing the Deplorable base on impeaching somebody you cannot remove from office AND don’t impeach while Pence will move into the job. We’re dealing with a loose cannon – very dangerous but as long as we keep an eye on him we can get out of the way – but Pence is a targeted missile aimed directly at all of us who aren’t male cis WASPs. We need to run on their record – we always need to run on their record. Heaven knows they give us enough to run on.
The real problem is not now and hasn’t been at least since the late 1970s what we say we’re going to do or what we actually run on. The media will portray us as they are ordered to. If we work our butts off locally we may pull off that blue wave by a squeaker in most districts – but even then it’s only going to be if the media owners let us.
Good Thursday Meese
63 degrees here going up to 87… Yup 87. Really weird weather for NY in spring
Watched the Frontline stories on PR. Wasn’t particularly impressed – though I’m glad to see any coverage.
Terrible tragedy in Georgia where the Puerto Rico ANG plane crashed, killing 9 crew members:
The plane was on its way to Arizona to be retired – obviously one flight too late. :(
Oh, dear Goddess, that is so awful. So tragic.
Those poor crew members. It happened out of nowhere on a beautiful day.
That is tragic – and Light to those who died, Healing Energy to their families, friends, & communities. We “give” Puerto Rico the equipment so old even our underfunded Guard units have to replace them. The planes they have left are just as old & 2 of them aren’t even in condition to fly. That this one was considered to be in condition to fly makes me very nervous about the other 3 so deemed.
I saw that and was so saddened. Then wondered if the old planes – are the fault.
Once again, when I went to bed it was supposed to be raining by morning & it isn’t. Sigh. I didn’t hear much of Rachel or Lawrence last night because I was watching live streams of the opening night of the tour on Periscope. Squeeee. (they really went after the KKK) All the fellow fans I follow on Twitter totally lost their minds. I see by the headlines that it’s the usual political 3 ring circus. I hope the Giuliani interview did some damage, but nothing seems to hurt #45.
I noticed that your band is going to be in Milwaukee as the final performers to play at the Bradley Center, the arena where the NBA basketball team plays. They were also the first (or among the first) artists to play there 29 years ago! That seems like a long time for a group to be together.
The Bradley Center is being demolished to make way for a new billion dollar playpen for millionaires and their billionaire owners, built from tax money extorted from Milwaukee area residents. I hate the way sports wins and people in need lose.
They’ve been together since high school. The drummer, at age 14 or so, pinned a note up on a bulletin board. He jokes that he was in charge of things for about 2 days till Bono walked in the door. I love how they’re still really good friends, that makes me so happy.
Yeah, they’re doing the same thing here. The UT stadium is going to lose seats to put in stuff for rich people.
Besides the portrayal of the KKK as literally doing the Devil’s bidding, there was this:
Good morning, Meese, and happy Thor’s Day! We have another beautiful day here in Ashburn, with humidity increasing. It’s 62 F. at the moment, going up to 90 F., so I need to get the dog out for his superlong walkies soon after breakfast. We never did get his long walk yesterday, as he passed out from the medical attention he received in mid-afternoon.
Was going to do some shopping today but that will have to wait until Saturday. This place is a huge mess, and I want to tidy it up. Will have to hit the grocery store later, though, because I’m taking lunch with me tomorrow to visit my friend at a sister Erickson community in Greenspring. I haven’t seen her in six months, what with one thing and another! We have a lot to catch up on, hence lunch in her flat rather than at one of the restaurants.
We are experiencing a LOT of noisy flights this beautiful morning. They’re all coming in to land at nearby Dulles Airport. Two Canada geese also flapped by, honking about what a wonderful day this is for flying.
Am following the news with interest. Might get on Twitter a little later to see what’s happening. Dear Goddess, what a revolting mess this administration is! One longs to be somewhere on a South Sea island, away from it all.
Wishing all a good day at the Pond!
59 heading for 75 and raining. At least it’s lightened up enough that the PV has come on. No doing much but at least on. It was still in night mode half an hour ago. Very slow start to May as far as generation is concerned. 8 KWHs each the last 2 days and who knows today – diddly if the rain doesn’t pass through and the sun come out by 1 p.m. Gonna need some serious sunshine the rest of the month to make up for this.
There’s no way I can stop the HOF “get rid of trump any way possible” sorts of things on twitter but I can stop and have stopped RTing them. Should anybody ask – and they won’t – about impeachment my reply has been and continues to be “not while Pence is veep” – interesting that cis white males don’t thing Pence would be so bad. I’m still hoping we pull off getting Congress back. We won’t be allowed to keep it for long, but any is better than none. It will take precinct-level organizing – basic boots on the ground – and not shooting ourselves in the foot by talking impeachment. The deplorable left hates Pelosi because she didn’t impeach W and they’ll hate her more for not impeaching twitler but if she gets the gavel back there will be some serious damage control and even some repair.
If it weren’t for Denise’s diaries (& twitter roundups I can RT) I’d stop going to DK. It’ll be 6 months come Sunday since I was banned. I’ve gone to keep track of people dear to me who aren’t here, SN, or on twitter – but I am no longer a part of their lives or routines. It may be time for me to “bless and release” them from being a part of mine. I haven’t managed that yet, it’s hard to let go of folks I care for. But communication is critical to maintaining a relationship. sigh. And I don’t even know some of the folks on the current needs list. We shall see what we shall see. Meanwhile I do have online stuff to do and had best get at it. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Have you asked again for re-instatement now that the dust has settled somewhat? I know that in the past a number of banned users have come back months after their banning – some of them were real head-scratchers as their offenses were clear violations and their abuse was directed at people who were still posting regularly on that site. From what I remember of site management (and my own NR status from 2012), the key would be a willingness to accept blame (rather than re-litigate), a promise to avoid whatever it was that got you in hot water – and to not question their right to ban anyone they feel breaks their rules. It may not be worth it but before you “bless and release”, you might try one more time for re-instatement.
The real problem with that approach is that I didn’t do anything wrong to apologize for and say I wouldn’t do it again. They never actually made an accusation – in public or private (I’d opened private tickets hoping they would tell me something) – they dropped a couple of insinuations about how colluding offsite to attack DK with zombies is not a good idea and let speculation run riot after that. Since I haven’t a clue how to make a zombie or a sock puppet either that part’s laughable. And anybody wishing to attack DK with them wouldn’t need my help, ask me, or even talk about it around me simply because I was so involved with supporting and building community there. So an insinuation, stimulating rather than shutting down on speculation, and refusal to respond to my 4 attempts discuss it. Hard to deal with, but basically somebody or group of somebodies wanted me gone for reasons that have nothing to do with the rules. And I can’t fight that.
I wonder who it was, and why. It’s their bloody loss, though. Thank Goddess we still have you at the Pond and the Nest!
{{{Diana}}} – Pond and Nest are homes of my heart. DK stopped being so long before I realized it. moar {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 52 and sunny in Bellingham. I have another day of medical appointments, with a blood pressure and asthma consult today. I would prefer to be outdoors, but getting and staying healthy needs attention too.
Best wishes to all.
{{{princesspat}}} – Healing Energy.
Good morning Meese. 54 and sunny with a projected high of 79. I need to get to writing my one paragraph bio and send it in, together with a photo, so that I appear in the program for an old-time piano contest at the end of this month. Eek!
{{{basket}}} Eek! indeed. LOL. You’ll be fine – you always are. You’ll be wearing the cuffs Wings made and that will give you Spiritual Armor – the rest is concentration and you know you can do that. moar {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, meese! Friday …
It is 55 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 68. Showers ending this morning then mostly sunny skies.
Good news out of Missouri – the legislature has convened a special session to consider “disciplinary actions” for their governor. Those actions may include impeachment. I am not sure that the Lt. Governor is any great shakes but having a soon-to-be felon running the executive branch of your state is not a good look. That guy expected to be president some day! Bullet dodged.
The Giuliani Phase of the Trump Presidency is not going to be any calmer than the previous phases. Based on the last two days, they will be pulling out all the stops to protect his right to do pretty much everything he wants. It is sickening to see it tied to the North Korean “negotiations” as if the Mueller investigation will result in thermonuclear war on the Korean Peninsula because it will “distract” him. JHC! He has a 3 second attention span – how do you interfere with that?
I watched with delight yesterday as the House chaplain reclaimed his post in dramatic fashion, exposing Paul Ryan as a cherry-picking Catholic, one who chooses the parts of his faith that suit his empty soul. He “fired” the chaplain by sending one of his thugs to strong arm him and got exposed. It will be good to see him gone.
See all y’all later!
Good Friday Meese
68 here in NYC going up to 71 with rain
My departments at school are throwing me a retirement party – from 3 to 6 today – I will get to see some of my former students.
Today is my last class – then final exams on the 11th – then grade papers – then I’m free!
Puerto Rico
I didn’t realize you were retiring! Is this your idea or their idea? If it is your idea, congratulations; if it is their idea, bastids!!
In any event, enjoy the party. What will you be doing next?
My idea – sick and tired of the treatment of adjuncts – and women of color who teach at the school.
I will still have health coverage through my husband and the loss of “income” is a joke – since I earned almost nothing. Will make that up in 3 or 4 speaking events per year.
I will miss the students – I will continue to “teach” via blogging and can get active after the primary organizing for the winner – in the fight against John Faso.
I’ll also be working against Cynthia Nixon – the new “progressive darling”
Yay, YOU, Sis!
What Jan said. I hope it’s “happy retirement!”
Denise, congratulations or sympathies on your retirement, depending whether it was your idea or theirs! Hope the party is lots of fun!
If you know someone who is in the video production business, you could make YouTube videos, drawing on your amazing background of teaching and writing. At any rate, we know you’ll keep writing, thank Goddess!
All the best and blessed be, Sis.
{{{Denise}}} – have fun at your retirement party and enjoy seeing old students. Once you’re finally done, relax for a bit and figure out what you’d really like to do. Then enjoy that. :) moar {{{HUGS}}}
Rest wishes for your retirement Dee. It took both RonK and I awhile to adjust, but we have. He is still involved in education, working with the local community college foundation board, and as you all know he enjoys his photo and nature writing. I look forward to sharing what ever comes next for you!
I plan to work for a Democratic campaign – that should keep me very busy :)
Thanks!
Again, I am so happy the boot camp workouts are a temporary thing. And you’d think I’d be sleeping better. Rachel was great last night — had an hour with 3 lawyers & asked questions, trying to untangle all the weirdness of Trumpworld. Today: I’m sure there is stuff going on. Brain can’t engage yet, need caffeine.
Good Freya’s Day morning, and May the Fourth be with you! It’s cloudy this morning (no mention of that in the weather forecast). Currently the temperature is 68 F., going up to 91 F. later. Rain tomorrow, or so I’ve heard.
Just had breakfast after walking the dog early. Walking him every day at 7 will obviate the necessity of my putting sunscreen on—I hate the feeling of that stuff on my skin! This summer is supposed to be extremely hot and stormy.
Today I’m going to visit my friend. It’ll be good to see her again. It’s a long drive, though. I wish she weren’t tech-averse. She’ll do email and occasionally read things on line, but Facebook video, Skype, or FaceTime are completely beyond her. We do Facebook video occasionally with the Australian relatives and my daughter and I do FaceTime on our Macs for an hour and a half! (We do it rarely, as neither of us has that kind of spare time as a rule.)
Haven’t looked at the news yet, will hear it over and over on the radio as I drive along. Wishing all a good day at the Pond and Beyond!
I hope you have a pleasant visit and an uneventful drive. I used FaceTime last summer when my daughter was on her first “all by herself” trip. It was a wonderful way to see how she looked (you can’t tell much from a phone call or text) but it was tricky to set up, even for someone like me who works with IT for a living.
The news will wait! It will likely be more of the same – Trumpian boasts and lies causing Twittereactions. Now we have Giuliani’s frightening visage all over the Internets – it is more than we should have to bear!!
63 heading for 70 and cloudy again. sigh. got 5 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d is only 22. As in what would be produced in a single sunny day (just under in fact). sigh. I don’t like cloudy weather. The sun did come out yesterday late afternoon – that’s how we got even the 5 – and I got a walk in which was pleasant. Irises across the street are blooming and the peonies are about to. My irises haven’t yet but are getting close. My peonies are thinking about whether they’re even going to bud this year.
Trying to see who’s doing what of my friends on twitter while ignoring as much as possible what’s “trending” since it’s the same ol’ same ol’ – I don’t have the energy for that. More, I don’t think we should be wasting our energy on that. We’re feeding the monster and not feeding our own teams as they try to get rolling for the elections. Not really tracking the fundraisers at DK – there are a few folks I’m helping as best I can but again, too much energy to be doing this sort of thing behind the scenes. When I was first banned, the folks trying to cover it for me (thinking I’d surely be back soon) needed help on the very mechanics of how to do it. It’s almost 6 months. They’ve learned the mechanics and have evolved their own methods. I’m proud of them – they’re doing good jobs – but I’m not part of the team. And as the weather warms up, I’m starting to look at local volunteer opportunities. Haven’t found what I’m looking for yet, but I will.
Need to do my tour of the internet then go back to rearranging firewood for the summer. And coffee.
Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 53 and cloudy in Bellingham. I have another day of possibilities ahead with no medical appointments, yay! So lets hope I use my time well.
My old maple tree’s magical leaf growth I see outside my window has filled the sky this week. I’ve been watching this happen for 40 years but it still seems like a gift from nature.
Best Friday wishes to all.
Lovely, princesspat. Hope your doctor appointments went well yesterday.