Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Nov. 11th through Nov. 17th

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!
     

  • Page Two of Comments is HERE!
     

30 Comments

  1. Good morning, Good morning, 49 and cloudy in Bellingham. I’m sneezing and aching this morning…..bad timing for a cold. I’m also a bit discouraged because TMJ progress is slow so no night guard yet. My stress management skills are being stretched!

    My garage floral arranging space needs a cleanup today so my friend’s daughter can work there tonight. She is an official florist for one of Seattle’s best shops so she knows how to function regardless, but it helps to have a cleaner and less cluttered space. She is making several large arrangements for a family funeral this weekend.

    Take care everyone.

    • Sending Healing Energy and Good Thoughts. As to the cold, 500 mg vitamin C every couple of hours and some garlic soup if you can manage it to boost your immune system. (Which might help with the TMJ issue – the immune system is connected to everything.) Hope working in your floral space, even if only tidying it up, lifts your spirits. {{{HUGS}}}

  2. Started the day with 22 windchill 15 but sunny – windchill is still well below freezing but we are heading for 52 today which is nice. If we can get 8 KWHs today, which is likely actually, we’ll be back on track for a 180-KWH month. Worried about friends with health issues – which of course are being exacerbated by money issues – praying/Channeling Healing Energy is a way of life. Hopefully an effective as in brings about good effects way of life. The 5 white dudes need to shut up. But at least Nancy Pelosi isn’t hampered by an electoral college designed to keep racists in power – she’ll hold her supporters together in a way Hillary couldn’t. I’m starting to wonder just how many of these anti-HRC/anti-Pelosi supposed Dems are in Putin’s pay. Every single time we start to get our hands on the power to make progress they come out of the woodwork and try to stop us. Well, they managed in 2016. I don’t think they’re going to in 2018. Considering the damage them managing to block us in 2016 did, we can’t afford to be blocked now.

    I’m at work and need to get back to it. Healing Energy to everybody shaped to the need. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  3. Good morning, Meesefolk; 27 when I got up and a snowy 30 right now. Last night, the weather forecast was for higher temps in the afternoon, so the snow would turn to a rain/snow mix. But the weather app on my phone isn’t showing that rise in temperature, so it’s anybody’s guess what’s going to happen. I’d much rather drive home in snow than a mix, so if Mother Nature is counting votes, she knows my preference now.

    Yesterday was consumed with Kiddo drama…the good kind. She’s been wanting a good bookcase for her Sherlock Holmes collection for ages; she has lots of bookcases, but they’re not the high-end sort of furniture she’s been dreaming of. We’ve both been scouring Craigslist, resale stores, antique stores, and eBay for quite awhile, but either the price was sky high or the shipping logistics were impossible. Tuesday night she found a vintage Hooker bookcase on Craigslist from a ReStore store near her and spent a fretful night waiting for them to open so she could see if it was still available. (She shared the fretting with me in a multitude of anxious texts.) Yesterday, she got the good news that it was available; that it had been on their floor for so long that they would drop the price if she picked it up that day; and then, the mad scramble to get a truck, get to the store before it closed, and find folks to help load it, was on. I was receiving texts through every step of the process, because…well, I guess just because I’m Mum? By the end of the day, I was as invested as she was, so I’m happy to report she got it and moved it in to her living room. I’m kind of stunned at the deal she got; it’s massive (about 6′ wide and 8′ tall), in beautiful condition, solid wood, and was only about $300. A comparable Hooker bookcase today retails for anywhere from $2500-$3000. In the grand scheme of things, this is a small, small story, but Kiddo is deliriously happy and that makes me happy.

    Diana, email on the way shortly. I’m going to assume this is a contemporary story; if it’s not, let me know and I can provide you with the pertinent historical details.

      • She’s not usually about Stuff, except when it comes to her books. This is the kid who in 2nd or 3rd grade announced to anyone who would listen that when she grew up, she was going to live in the Library of Congress. The bookcase is the next best thing.

  4. Good morning, meeses! Friday …

    It is 34 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 37. Partly cloudy skies with a chance of snow in the evening and overnight – 1 to 2 inches of snow expected by Saturday morning.

    It sounds like the Florida governors race is over and the racist trumper will be governor. The good news is that felony disenfranchisement was repealed and 1.4 million former felons will have their voting rights restored. If the Florida Democratic Party does a good job of outreach and voter registration and GOTV – if even 1/10th of those individuals vote in the next election and vote for Democrats, there will be no more close contests, 2020 could change the legislature and make Florida solidly blue. The hard work begins.

    The Florida Senate race will go to a hand recount and, based on the numbers we saw out of the machine recount (little change), Marc Elias and his team must be convinced that there are a lot of ballots that were rejected by the machines because of accidental overvotes or other flaws that can only be discerned by manual review. He seemed certain the votes were there to put Nelson over the top. The good news is that unlike Florida 2020, there are no statutory requirements to seat a Senator – if you recall, it took until June for Al Franken to be sworn in after his close race. The 53rd Republican Senator or the 48th Democratic Senator is not going to impact any close votes in the 116th Congress. There are really no wins for us or losses for the Republicans hanging in the balance. We just need the seat to get us closer to a majority for 2020.

    Meanwhile, we picked up another California House seat and got closer on another one. It is possible that our pickup will be 40 seats. Someone on Twitter noted that Orange County now has no Republicans representing it in Congress. Turns out that there is a price to pay for voting to take away health care (and raise the taxes on your constituents by 300%) in service to an ideology of greed and hatred of The Other.

    Busy day here as I try to wrap up the week and plan projects for Thanksgiving week. I am hoping that the days off at my clients’ offices will give me quiet time to work on projects that require focus. I have been a bit scattered since the election and trying to rebalance – that will probably include less news reading but right now I am enjoying reading about Democrats planning their takeover of the House. Invigorating!

    See all y’all later!

  5. Friday Meese.

    Snowing and 31 degrees here in NY’s Hudson Valley. We are under winter storm warning till this afternoon.

  6. While all the bullshit getting thrown at Nancy Pelosi continues – what gets lost is that Barbara Lee, supports Pelosi and is running for caucus chair.

  7. Didn’t freeze last night but I left the plants covered — still in the 30s, not good for succulents. Looking forward to lighter traffic next week, and since I’m using the boss’ parking space, a later start. Drinking tea, eating my overnight oats. Youtube had this in my suggested videos, not gonna argue with them: Disappear. It also had Your Song, because I watched that John Lewis commercial.

  8. Good sunny Friday, Moosekind! Yesterday’s snow that was supposed to turn into rain did not turn until late in the day. We received far more snow than was expected, so much that most of the schools closed, workers telecommuted, and half the wait staff at Ashby Ponds did not come to work. Understandably, because the roads were a mess and a man in Stafford County died when he lost control of his car.

    However, at the moment sunlight is gilding the woods across the way and blue sky is showing behind white clouds. It’s 36 F. right now, going up to 43 F. Fairfax County schools are on a 2-hour delay so road crews can clean off everything.

    Today I have the Progressives’ luncheon, preceded by the Political Book Club, so my morning and early afternoon are filled. I’m sorry about Bill Nelson’s loss of the Senate seat. Why doesn’t someone indict Voldemort? He caused a big stink with a Medicare scandal years ago, right? Still, it’s encouraging about the pickup of House seats. I wish we didn’t have constant reminders of how much old white men hate and fear women. All this stuff against Pelosi makes me feel like sending her roses.

    Wishing a peaceful day to all at the Pond. I’d like to believe it’s Mueller time, but I don’t think it is.

    • Nelson hasn’t lost – yet – the manual recount is going to start now and Marc Elias is still hopeful. Andrew Gillum has lost his governor’s race, however. The difference was within the margin for a machine recount but not a manual recount and the machine recount netted his opponent 1 vote.

      I saw someone – someone who should know better! – say that what is happening to Nancy Pelosi should warn Democrats away from nominating a woman in 2020. To hell with that nonsense! We will nominate who we want to and not let Republican concern trolls and butthurt white men determine the future of our party. They also warned against nominating a black man and that worked out fine. Hillary Clinton actually won and if she did not have the weight of 25 years of right-wing lies to overcome – and Russians and Mark Freaking Zuckerberg – she would have probably won the electoral vote. We got this.

  9. Good morning meese. At the moment it’s 39 with a projected high of 68 today. The smoke and haze was really bad yesterday, and all signs are that it will persist into today. Going to try and limit my outdoor time since I don’t have a mask currently and do not wish to fall seriously ill.

    Will be busy with ragtime festival today and the weekend, so I’ll be scarce. But I will still try to check in 🙂

    • Definitely limit your outside time until the smoke clears. Hopefully they’ll get the fires under control and then out soon. Have fun with your ragtime festival. Healing Energy & {{{HUGS}}}

  10. Warming spelling Fayetteville, AR – it’s 44 and even feels like 44 and we’re heading for upper 50s. It’s mostly sunny at the moment with a few clouds and a bit of fog in the low-lying areas. Generated 7.2 KWHs yesterday which brought us to a hair under the 90 needed to be on track for 180 Nov. goal. If we do as well today we’ll be more than on track and bank a kilowatt or two against future cloudy days.

    As usual I’ve got some folks I’m concerned about/Channeling Energy to – for people who live on the edge it takes just one unplanned for expense and they’re over it. For people whose health is compromised and live on the edge that is an all-too-effin’-regular a situation. The political news isn’t good but it’s promising. The tunnel is still long and dark and we can’t see the end of it yet, but there’s a lantern lit up ahead. Healing Energy to everybody shaped to the need. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  11. Good morning, 49 and cloudy in Bellingham. My hobby floral space was transformed last night with boxes of greens, lilies and roses. When a real florist goes to work it’s amazing! She worked until midnight and was back at 4:00 am to finish. The service is today and I know her family will appreciate and be comforted by the gorgeous arrangements.

    I’ve got the essential T Day prep and housekeeping done so now I can resume my Christmas sewing. If I can keep the news turned off and the music on it should be a good day.

    Best wishes to all.

  12. Good morning, Meesefolk; 30 this morning with a high of 36, so the snow that accumulated yesterday and overnight will be melting and slushy soon enough. The weather app on my phone informs me that golfing conditions are very poor; what would I have done without that information?!

    I’m supposed to be very busy this weekend with meetings and events, but at the moment I’m leaning towards blowing it all off, staying home, and just catching up on things around the house. Beyond the usual housekeeping, I have a bunch of little projects that are almost completed, and it would be nice to finish up a few of those. Of course, if I stay home, I may end up just curled up with a book and some hot chocolate, but that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world either. I do intend to avoid politics to the extent possible. The fire and fury being directed towards Leader Pelosi is irritating, but predictable, and since I have a R rep, I’m not sure what I can do at this point. So finishing new bathroom curtains or just reading a cozy mystery seem like reasonable alternatives for my weekend.

  13. This one really hurts, maybe more than any of the other ones. If the votes are suppressed, if people are not allowed to cast votes, “counting every vote” doesn’t help. Thread.

  14. Saturday Meese
    38 here in Saugerties going up to 45 and hopefully the snow will melt.

    Puerto Rico

    Sorry – these stories are in Spanish – since nobody has bothered to report them in English – the photos tell the story

  15. Good morning, meeses! Saturday …

    It is 28 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 32. It is snowing lightly now and it appears that we did not get the 5 inches of snow predicted. That’s good! People are already driving like maniacs – I have no idea where they are all going! – and the snow would make it worse.

    The last bit of election news is not good: we appear to have lost the lead in the UT-04 seat and Nelson is done (the undervotes in Broward County were indeed people not voting for Senate, not a machine error). The Senate will be 53-47 (short of a Mississippi miracle) but in my mind that is no different than 52-48 because we had no hope of peeling off even 3 Republicans to block a mouthbreather from getting on any of the courts – one more won’t make any difference. Goddess, please keep Ruth, Sonia, Elena and Steven safe from harm. Senate 2020 will be more difficult – we will have to pick up 3 seats instead of 2 (assuming we win the presidency and have a VP tiebreaker vote) – but maybe Georgia will be in play. Once Stacey Abrams takes stock of her political future (I think it is bright) maybe the U.S. Senate seat will be in her sights.

    The UT-04 vote will leave tRump with egg on his face but considering the missteps that pretty much define his presidency, it will be hard to spot one more glob of egg. I asked a friend who lives in Utah if Mia Love would consider voting with Democrats to tick off the orange arshole and she said that Mia is a die-hard anti-abortion anti-birth control activist and is a Republican through and through. I will never ever understand what kind of twisted logic would make a black woman choose to be a Republican. They hate her race, they hate her gender – maybe she does too.

    Nancy Pelosi was back at her podium doing Thursday morning press conferences. I can’t wait to read the transcript! We fought back and we won part of what we lost and – in my mind – the piece we needed to get first as everything has to go through the House. The Senate will keep me from having a good night’s sleep for the next two years but having the House might let me take cat naps. :)

    See all y’all later!

  16. Good morning, Meese! Bitterly cold and windy here this Accession Day* in Northern Virginia. The temperature is 41 F., going up to 46 F. later. Even Monty Beagle didn’t want to stay outside when I took him to the courtyard for a morning business meeting; he stayed the shortest possible time and then galloped back to the door.

    There’s a shuttle leaving Ashby at 1 p.m., which will be full of jolly old folks going down the road to vote for Jennifer Boysko at the firehouse primary today. There are actually three candidates for the Dem. nomination, but Boysko is by far the best qualified and has the most name recognition. Afterwards, Dearly Beloved and I will come back here to prepare for dinner. Our friend may join us this evening—I’m waiting to hear.

    *A tweet reminded me that on this day in 1558 Bloody Mary died and Princess Elizabeth, aged 25, ascended the throne of England. Without her, the Spanish Armada might have won, and without her we wouldn’t have had Shakespeare. It’s odd to think that the three longest reigning monarchs—Elizabeth I, Victoria, and Elizabeth II—have all been women. What does that tell you? :)

    Feel devastated about California. What’s going on there is how one visualizes hell. If only Gaia would send PR’s rain to California, but that really would be a miracle.

    Very disappointed about Georgia and Florida, but wishing for the Mississippi miracle Jan spoke about.

    Today I will have to rewrite a section of Chapter 7 of my book in view of some information I received from my horse-riding friend in Devon. I asked her what kind of horse would suit a novice rider, so she kindly supplied pictures as well as a description. It’s excellent.

    I’m now up to 11,000 words, so feel quite encouraged! Hope to write another 1,500 this afternoon. Wishing a good day to all!

    • Hey Diana – sounds like your writing is coming along well. W00t!!! 👍👍👍 💖💖💖 🤗🤗🤗

  17. 49 windchill 47 and heading for 64 today. Partly cloudy. I hope the partly is a small part. Got 6.9 KWHs yesterday which put us back on track for 180 for the month, but just barely – it would be nice to get a good day’s sun as tomorrow we’re supposed to get rain again. Politically speaking, we’re coming down from the election adrenaline rush – we made some solid gains and the losses though painful were pretty much expected. But there’s a lot of work to do. We’re just tired mostly. But we’ll keep on keepin’ on because that’s what we do. And the only way out of this toxic pit we’re in. Holding the Good Thoughts for friends in not-so-good health & financial situations. Healing Energy for everybody shaped to the need. Bright the day Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  18. Ugh, Firefox crashed in the middle of my post. So, I slept in, watching the news. Today’s plan: grocery shopping. Not looking forward to doing that the weekend before Thanksgiving. Going to make flavored sugar for a gift basket being raffled at work to benefit our Christmas Bureau families. Really simple thing — basically, put the thing in a container with sugar.

  19. Good morning, 37 and sunny in Bellingham. Now that the leaves are gone from my old maple trees I can see the bay from my window. It’s a lovely color of blue, with a boat slowly moving towards the shore. The seasons come and go and so does my view.

    I had to get some help unraveling an iPhone/iPad mystery yesterday. For some reason text messages were going to my iPad only and I hadn’t checked, so my family thought I was just ignoring them. Thanks to help from the smart young man at the local Apple store it’s fixed but he couldn’t explain why it happened. Just another magical mystery!

    Best wishes to all on this sunny but chilly Saturday.

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