Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: July 28th through Aug. 3rd

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 (usually Saturday night with a Sunday date). 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!
 

 

21 Comments

  1. Friday Meese.

    66 going up to 87 and sunny here in the Catskills.

    I was not planning to write a diary yesterday – and certainly not late in the day – since I go to bed early, however when I saw the picture of Pelosi and Omar in Ghana on twitter (it got a lot of attention there) – I couldn’t resist – checked at Orange to see if anyone had covered it – nope. The activities of the Black Caucus rarely get coverage except in Black Kos

    So I posted this:

  2. Good morning, meeses! Friday …

    My weather widget is not working but my phone says it is 57 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 84. Sunny skies are in the forecast.

    Will Hurd will not run for re-election making him the 6th Republican House member – and the third member from Texas – to retire from the House in that past week. When he leaves, the Congress of the United States of America will have one black Republican member – Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina. So only the self-loathing Scott is willing to embrace the white nationalism that his party espouses. Nice look, Tim! I wish Hurd leaving was a harbinger but it was really just inevitable – he won his district by less than 1,000 votes each of the last three elections cycles. No one in their right mind would want to run a grueling campaign they know they are going to lose. Lest we think Hurd is some hero, he voted for nearly every terrible Trump policy as a House member. He is a Republican – from his statement it sounds like he plans to “wait out” the Trump years, believing like Joe Biden does, that Donald J. Trump as the cruel and ugly face of the Republican Party is an aberration. He will be disappointed.

    I am watching what is going on in Puerto Rico; apparently the hand-picked SUCKcessor is not going to get his vote before the governor steps down. I also saw something about the Trump administration withholding funds – to punish those who rejected the Republican governor? – and need to find that article. With the House on August recess, there is no one to raise a ruckus.

    See all y’all later!

  3. Puerto Rico

    This is a good read:

    Rarely do you read any discussion of the political party Victoria Ciudadana, or Alexandra Lugaro :

    For now, the island’s two largest political parties have little credibility. The protesters who rose up so effectively have little trust in any status quo politician, even Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz of San Juan, who plans to run for governor in 2020.
    Carmen Haydee Rivera, an English professor at the University of Puerto Rico, believes whatever happens next is in the hands of the younger generation. “They are the driving force.”
    Some political watchers are looking to Alexandra Lugaro, who ran for governor as an independent in 2016 and is affiliated with the progressive Victoria Ciudadana, or citizens’ victory, movement. She “may be one of the emerging leaders of Puerto Rico,” said Jorge Duany, director and professor of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University.
    Lugaro received only 175,000 votes in the 2016 election, or about 11%, but that was the biggest showing for an independent candidate in decades. Her path won’t be easy. The island has a long tradition of passing power back and forth between the Partido Nuevo Progresista, which advocates statehood for the island, and the Partido Popular Democratico, which does not. But some Puerto Rico watchers believe the recent demonstrations have changed the calculus entirely.

    • Mayor Cruz’s embrace of bernerism turned me off – it shows a lack of judgement. I hope that the Victoria Ciudadana party gets a chance to make its case – Puerto Rico deserves a stable government committed to helping the people living on the island.

      • Carmen is under a cloud in San Juan – because of conditions – many people feel she spends too much time on the mainland seeking attention – while not doing her job at home

  4. Another hot morning. Weather guy said there’s now a 40% chance of rain Saturday night — and of course there is, because that’s when the Pride Parade is. Austin moved ours from June — when the students are gone, to August when at least some of them are back. But at least it’ll bring the highs down from 100 to mid-90s.

    I don’t know why the only version of this video I can find has Spanish subtitles, but here’s U2 doing New Year’s Day, in a very snowy Sweden. Because it would be wonderful to feel cold.

  5. Good Friday morning, Moosekind! Partly cloudy and 75 F., according to my phone. Indications are it will continue to be cloudy with possible rain this afternoon, with temps. climbing no higher than 83 F.

    Feeling exhausted today. Got up at 8:30, although I woke up at 7:15 for early morning tea and a cruise around the Net on the tablet.

    When Younger Son and DIL came to pick up Mr. Kindergartener last night, YS asked me to child-tend tomorrow evening for four hours. I’m not up for driving long distances at night, so eventually we’ve decided that Dearly Beloved will drop me off at their house in Fairfax for the gig and Younger Son will drive me home after their dinner engagement.

    School starts in three more weeks, thank Goddess. Next week I’ll have only Mr. K., but the two weeks after that I’ll have Miss Pink Cheeks as well. I’m so exhausted I can hardly bear to think about it.

    Going to do a précis of my short story, “Temps in the Eighties,” with the idea of turning it into a one-act play. Received some encouragement for this idea from one of the people involved in theatrical productions here at The Home.

    This morning I have to interview a resident here who spent the entire month of June in Normandy for the D-Day commemorations and help sort school supplies for the Backpack Brigade. I’m still in my dressing-gown and slippers at this writing, so I’d better get to it!

    Wishing all a good day at the Pond.

  6. 70 was the “overnight low” and current temp. The rain chance has moved off according to the widget but the clouds haven’t and it’s drizzling. Only got 10.5 KWHs to start the new month. Early days yet. Cats are starting to calm down which is nice. I was out of Murf’s Kitten Chow though so I needed to visit the Credit Union for August household cash and do a grocery store run. I’ll do the Tractor Supply tomorrow for litter and the kibble the other guys eat after the Market.

    Another of the evils of Moscow Mitch keeping everything off the floor. My minuscule google search skills found a list of legislation “sponsored or co-sponsored” by Kamala Harris on Native Americans. It’s the latter for her, none of it was written by her. But she’s co-sponsored Bills for Native American voting rights, for addressing the Murdered & Missing Indigenous Women, & for Tribal Food Sovereignty as well as half a dozen resolutions recognizing, honoring, committing, etc. None of which show up anywhere else because they’ve never been voted on. So there’s the easy to find negative of some of her, well, basically anti-Native work as CA AG and really hard to find anything positive. But I’ll keep looking – and hope the campaign gets back to my.

    Meanwhile I need coffee. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  7. Good morning, Meesefolk; 54 when I got up and headed to 81. Tomorrow is still looking hotter than hot, but Sunday should be like today; I may get some garden work done after all!

    I’m still reeling from news Kiddo shared with me last night. One of her HS classmates was just diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. I can’t remember if Emilie was in the same class, or before or after, but the bottom line is that she is just barely 30, if that. She was a dance major/vocal music minor in high school, and continued to dance in college, although I don’t think it was her major. She’s now married and IIRC has a young daughter. I don’t engage in “it’s not fair” kind of thinking, because few things ever are. But that doesn’t stop me from grieving because a young woman that will now be forced into battle, when one always hopes someone that age is still unscathed and unscarred by the vagaries of health and wellness. About the only silver lining in this is that she does have insurance, and so, for the moment at least, the financial burdens will be manageable.

    Good day to and for all!

  8. Good morning, 66 and partly cloudy in Bellingham. I enjoyed time in the garden yesterday, clipping ivy, watering plants, and just being outdoors. My creaky joints are not happy this morning but my thoughts are more at ease re the Dems ability to counter tRump. The debates left me feeling very worried.

    I’ve got lilies blooming in the garden so I think I’ll wander around with my clippers and see what kind of arrangement I can make with what ever I find. Creative puttering around!

    Best wishes to all as we enter into August.

  9. Good morning, meeses! Saturday …

    It is 64 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 84. Sunny skies this morning and a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon into the evening.

    Puerto Rico has a new governor, at least for now. No one is quite sure that he was chosen in accordance with the law and their courts will try to sort it out.

    Early polls in our 2020 nominating contest show that name recognition is still winning. A majority of people polled think Joe Biden is the most electable and they may be right. That “beating Trump” is the number one goal of every Democrat is not really debatable but there is a lot of time between now and next July to decide who is the best person to do that. I am looking forward to the next debate where the top candidates will be on the stage together and there is a better chance to compare them and picture them going toe-to-toe with tRump.

    I still wake up every morning, scan the news, and wonder if we will be able to make it to January 20, 2021 – there is so much bad going on: the unfit judges being given lifetime appointments, the administration rules being rolled out that will shred the safety net, the damage being done to our economy by an ignorant man being allowed to set our trade policy, the damage being done to the planet because the political party in charge is intent on killing environmental regulations and accelerating climate chaos. I guess we have no choice but I wish I could peek into the future to see how this story ends so that my anxiety would be reduced.

    Today’s Fighting Back features Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) and House and Senate Democrats pushing back against the Republican Party’s junk insurance and their American-hating lawsuit repealing the ACA’s protections.

    See all y’all later!

  10. Saturday Meese. 71 here in Saugerties, going up to 83 with thunderstorms. I haz a sad – since today is my annual women’s gathering at my friend’s home nearby – where we enjoy the pool, great food and sisterhood. Sigh. No pool today.

    Woke up to #ILoveKamala trending and added my 2cents

    • Retweeted! Indeed, it is a safe bet to follow the lead of Dolores Huerta and Barbara Lee. Character matters.

    • I hope you get the sisterhood and great food today even if you don’t get the pool. {{{HUGS}}} – & yes, I look at who is backing, who is working for, a candidate before making a decision. KH is getting a whole lot of the “right” people.

  11. Up & watching the news. Yesterday was an exhausting day at work. We were super short staffed, so even with what was probably a normal number of calls, I just felt slammed. I asked for Monday off, to have an extra day to rest. When I opened a tab for youtube, it had this mellow oldie in my recommended videos: Regret by New Order.

    I would like a place I can call my own
    Have a conversation on my telephone
    Wake up everyday, that would be a start
    I would not complain ’bout my wounded heart

  12. 73 and sticky here – the rain shifted to later in the day (like now) which allowed me to make my Farmers Market run (peaches, green beans, cucumber, & an early apple the peach guy gave me), Tractor Supply run (160 lbs litter, 40 lbs sunflower/birdseed, 18 lb kibble, & 12 suet blocks), & dairy store run (milk, cheese) before it started. It may or may not get any hotter. I hope not as sticky as it already is.

    I came into the kitchen this morning to find a canister of kibble – the Kitten Chow, of course – dumped out on the floor. ahem. At least they’re cats. If it had been dogs, they’d have eaten it all. As it was even the 5 of them didn’t eat more than 1/3. I put the rest back in the canister – if it’s a little dusty, too bad. So I gave everybody their TBSP of diluted canned food – that’s for the water anyway – & didn’t feed anybody any kibble. Cats. sigh.

    I will be glad when this election cycle is over. I devoutly hope somebody somewhere has the smarts & ability to shut down this 24/7 forever-campaigning with the media. They’re driving this. They’ll have to be broken up or more firmly regulated or both to stop this crap. I still think we have time to save our society. Not our planet, but our society. Of course once I’ve said that I’ve also said “save our society for now” – but each day at a time. Kamala Harris has such good plans over all I can’t not support her. I’m also behind Julian Castro – in specific areas he’s got better plans but not across the board. Of course I could change my mind on either one (although I doubt it) – Kamala’s still got Native issues to deal with & Julian keeps saying he’s the “only” on criminal justice reform which is not true – but so far these two are it for me.

    Anyway. Coffee. Fighting Back & #KHive posts. Tour the internets. And deal with the food I brought home a bit ago. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  13. Good morning, 63 and mostly sunny in Bellingham. It’s very quiet…..no hammering from the job site, yay! I enjoyed lunch with my grand girls, their mom and my sister yesterday. After lunch they went to the beach and I came home for a long nap. I did make a quick bouquet using the lilies, white hydrangeas with a touch of burgundy, and salal with deep burgundy berries. The scent from the lilies has filled the house, and so far no one is sneezing :)

    It’s to nice to stay indoors today so the garden is calling. Best wishes to all on this sunny August day.

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