Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Aug. 11th through Aug. 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 (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!
 

 

29 Comments

  1. Good “morning”, Motley Meese! The week begins …

    Morning low of 64 degrees in Madison WI with an expected daytime high of 79. Light rain is in the forecast.

    Have a great day, all y’alls!!

  2. Good Sunday Meese

    A refreshing 55 here in Saugerties NY, going up to 82.

    Yesterday had a minor disaster – coffee spilled all over my keyboard, and I couldn’t run out to get a new one – since I had a film crew from the city headed to my house. They were here until late in the evening.

    Puerto Rico

  3. Red Summer

    • Glad you are here to educate us on this, Sis. Naturally, the Red Summer of 1919 was never mentioned when I was in school. My last year of high school was spent in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Ugh.

      ‘Course, I was one of the five people in my school for JFK while the rest of the students supported his rival. This was oil country and these kids came from affluent families.

  4. I’ve been enjoying Kamala in Iowa.
    Looks like she is getting a very positive response

  5. Watching the news & chatting on twitter. Got to make a pot of tea, and this afternoon I have to make lunch for the next couple of weeks. It is really hot — 103-107 for the next couple of weeks, and now they’re talking about fire danger. In honor of Pride weekend (Austin does ours late) have Love Is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way. This is the Apollo version, with Bono talking to the people hanging the Pride flag off the balcony: “Be safe, be brave”.

  6. Good Sunday morning! It’s beautiful here, sunny with low humidity, making it a perfect morning to sit on the porch and read the newspooper.

    Currently the temp. in Ashburn is 77 F., with a high of 84 F. forecast for later today.

    Woke up with whatever the grandchildren have had: scratchy throat, headache, sniffles, and so on. Took a pill so I could function, because the Show Must Go On. Will have to alter the plans for tomorrow, because I simply can’t cope with having both kids overnight. Instead Dearly will drive me to Younger Son’s house Monday morning and then drive me home again. He doesn’t regard driving in traffic with the same horror that I do.

    Have been glued to devices ever since I heard the news about Epstein. As a rule I scorn conspiracy theories, but there’s something just a little too convenient about this setup: 1. Judge releases 2,000 pages of Epstein-related court documents on Friday. 2. Epstein, despite having attempted suicide a couple of weeks earlier, is removed from suicide watch. 3. Epstein is found dead Saturday morning.

    Just can’t swallow this and I’m (lamentably) more credulous than most.

    We shall see what we shall see, as bfitz says. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, hope to take it reasonably easy today. Wishing a good Sunday to all at the Pond.

  7. Welp, A/C kicked on yesterday at 5 pm and the weather won’t break until about Wednesday morning. I know I’m lucky – elsewhere the break won’t come until mid September or even mid October. We generated 16 KWHs yesterday, which isn’t quite enough to cover running the A/C so I’m dipping into my credit balance, and the m-t-d is 136. It’s overcast which sux since if we’re gonna have the heat it would be nice to generate the electricity to deal with it. sigh.

    Sucky news from Bobby – he couldn’t find a ride yesterday (person he thought would do it is ill) and found out Uber is like $275 so that’s a no. I talked to him this morning and we kicked around some more ideas. He’s supposed to get back to me. Don Feliberto is depressed – thinking maybe he ought to go instead of living as he is. But his daughter hasn’t been back since Thursday so the likelihood of him being better off in FL and dependent on her is not good. So everybody Hold the Good Thought as your Tradition teaches that this works out. He and Bobby love each other like family is supposed to. Once Bobby’s up there I know they will both have better and more comfortable lives as Bobby can do the handyman stuff Don Feliberto can’t. But…it’s in the lap of the gods.

    I managed to get all the Sunday chores done. Ibuprofen, ice, and coffee – in that order because the coffee takes longer to make than grabbing the pill bottle and the ice pack to – required but things are easing up. That’s about the only good news I have for the day. Well, the cats are all sleeping off their mid-morning snack (they get one when I have coffee 😁😁😁) so I guess I’ll call that good. Wings finished three totally gorgeous necklaces yesterday that Aji posted last night – and they radiate so much Power, well, there are some Priestesses I’d give them to if I could afford it. That’s a good in that they’re created and available – but now they need to sell/go to whoever has that spiritual connection with them. Heading off to DK for the Sunday Sermon. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  8. Sometimes I just want to say “fuck hope” – the drop is so very far. Don Feliberto apparently has decided to go with his daughter. Which Bobby found out because Don Feliberto “butt dialed” him and he overheard Don Feliberto trying to sell his truck because he’s leaving. So maybe 12 hours of glorious happy/healthy solution, another 18 of worrying, and then slam into a wall. But it’s more than that – there’s a betrayal there as well. Lap of the gods. Prayers & invocations.

    • I hope I’m being way too cynical, but in my experience, this is a case of elder abuse waiting to happen. The signs are all there: the emotional manipulation after long silence, coupled with the “need” to sell off assets before the care can happen. I hope I’m wrong, but I can’t help but feel sick to my stomach.

      In the meantime, does this mean that Bobby needs $890 by Thursday?

      • Yeah – that’s my feeling, too. But nothing anyone – including or maybe especially Bobby – can do about that.

        Bobby’s been getting donations from folks who gave last month – I don’t know exactly how much money he has but he said he was over halfway there. Well, actually he said over half way to the rent or if he’s lucky he’s got “get out of San Juan” money. He’s checking with various helping & volunteer groups to see if they know of anyone, say an elder or elder couple, especially in the rural areas who might be too proud to accept charity but would be happy to trade room rent for some light housekeeping and handyman work. Which I hope works because he really needs to get out of San Juan as well as that situation. {{{HUGS}}}

  9. Good day, 65 and raining in Bellingham. Our family weekend was very busy, fun for all, and I’m exhausted! Everyone is home now, the laundry is underway, and I’ve got my weary legs up. But I’m smiling, because sharing meals on the patio, hiking along the Nooksack with Ron, going to Boulevard park with my daughter, laughing and watching the dogs have fun together builds memories to treasure. But I need a nap now.

    Best wishes to all.

  10. Good morning, meeses! Monday …

    It is 64 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 79. It is foggy now and the forecast calls for rain.

    Steve Bannon says that Donald Trump is not a racist! Well, there you go – case closed. It is funny to see that Trump hates being called a racist, worried that it will become his “brand.” I am not sure what he expected, possibly that the Teflon coating on his slimey personal life, his fraudulent business practices, and his cognitive decline would extend to his presidency, where there is no local press and no local law enforcement (looking at you, Manhattan DA Vance) he can badger and threaten into submission. He has been a racist for his entire life, learned at the feet of his “KKK adjacent” father and extended into his business dealings and his presidency. The question is whether or not his toxic embrace will turn off enough people to lose re-election. That the religious right is fine with it is no shock – their bible was used by Southern politicians to support the enslavement of and then discrimination against black people. That the Stephen Ross crowd is fine with it is no shock – money trumps everything and he bought their love with tax cuts and the repeal of regulations. It will be up to suburban white voters who wanted the tax cuts but may be unwilling to accept what voting for an out racist says about themselves (psst, it means you are a racist!). The kids know and the kids reject him but they don’t – yet – vote in big enough numbers to tilt a national election in a red or purple state.

    One thing I am glad of from recent events – and lessons of 2016 and 2018 – is that the myth of a great Latino blue wave that will sweep Republican haters out of office can finally be put to rest. The Hispanic vote is not blue and is not motivated by immigration policy – the family of the orphaned baby in the Walmart massacre is Republican and were proud to be seen with Trump . The blue wave will be from the young people, the Parkland students, the kids suing for us to get back into the Paris Climate Accord, the ones who elected Democratic governors in Wisconsin and Kansas and Michigan and would have elected them in Georgia and Florida if they had honest elections there. Our coalition will grow and strengthen as long as we continue to be the party of decency, the party of inclusion, the party of fairness.

    See all y’all later!

    • I have tried to point out that “Latinos” may be a demographic box – however it does not predict “Democrat” or “Republican”

      For example, those naive people who are left, or liberals, who have been promoting Statehood for Puerto Rico – assuming wrongly that it would add 2 Democratic Senators – don’t and won’t look at the reality.
      The ruling class in PR is ultra conservative. They are also racist. They have embraced Trump. They, along with their Cuban-American compadres are anti-immigrant.

      • I am glad that people are starting to realize that. It is confusing (to me!) that members of an oppressed group would rather support those who oppress and despise them but that is how we have Log Cabin Republicans, Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, and Marco Rubio. They really see no oppression because their lives are just fine and why don’t those other people just suck it up? What’s a few mass murderers targeting people who look like me??!? I get tax cuts and deregulation and the zygotes are protected!! There is no monolithic voting block for women, either, as we all know. It was very patronizing for white Democrats to assume that Latinos would automatically vote for their party “for their own good.” We need more reality based head counters.

  11. Monday Meese.

    61 here in Saugerties NY going up to 84.

    Puerto Rico

  12. Didn’t make it to the gym over the weekend, disappointed in myself. But I did make a good healthy lunch for the next 3 weeks or so. It is still ridiculously hot: 81 at 6am, highs all week of 105 or so. I brought my gym stuff today, all my cooking & laundry are done for the week. There’s no possible reason not to go to the gym after work. Here’s some happy, bouncy Snow Patrol: Heal Me.

    Oh this is love like wildness coursing through you like a drug
    And this is hurt like kindness breaking you with gentle hands

  13. Well, the A/C wasn’t on when I woke up and didn’t come on while I dressed so I opened the house for a bit to air it out. Something about being closed up for 36 hours…but it’s already 76 outside heading for mid 90s (heat index 3 digits although not as high as anotherdemocrat is getting) so I’ve closed everything except the east window – there’s a cat in it – and the porch window. I’ll shut them as soon as the A/C actually kicks on. We only got 14.7 KWHs yesterday – again not as much as I use when the A/C is on – but it’s sunny at the moment and is supposed to be all day so…we shall see what we shall see. The m-t-d is 136 which is definitely not on track for 500 and not really for 400. sigh.

    I’m worried about some folks – Bobby’s just one of a community that lives in my heart – and other than sending a little cash here and there I can’t really do anything to help them. I’m beginning to wonder if I should stop with the prayers etc – seems everything I pray for, the opposite happens. Seems to be true of the country as well. I’ve known what we should be doing v. what we are doing both politically (incl. human rights) and environmentally for over 40 years now – and watched us take the wrong path at every turning point no matter how hard I worked or prayed. sigh. What is, is. And what will be, will be. But it’s hard watching it in real time.

    Time to check out the internet and get some coffee. Or vice versa. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  14. Good morning, Meesefolk; 66 when I got up this morning with a high of 84 today. There’s rain in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow, which we desperately need. If I had my druthers, it wouldn’t rain tomorrow, so I could spend some time outside, but that’s a selfish wish when we really, really need rain. And if I really want, I can work in the rain…it wouldn’t be the first time.

    It’s Fair Week in my village, which means my Occasionally-Grumpy-Hubby turns into Full-Time-Curmudgeon. I’ll be doing my best to ignore him and prepping the house for Kiddo and SILs’ quick visit on Saturday. SIL has terrible asthma/allergies, so unless our house is thoroughly de-furred, he struggles to breath. That’s why they only visit briefly and only in the summer when we can spend our time outside. I’m spending this week doing deep cleaning while ignoring my curmudgeon’s grumbling about crowds and cars blocking our driveway and late night drunks.

    Good day to and for all!

  15. Good morning, 65 and cloudy in Bellingham. I napped between laundry loads yesterday, went to bed early and slept well, but I’m still tired this morning. Fortunately I’ve got a quiet day ahead with more ;aundry, some desk work, and some time at Boulevard Park this afternoon. The park is just down the hill and being there with Lisa made me remember how nice it is to hear and see the water moving.

    Best wishes to all on this sleepy Monday morning.

    • How lovely to have a park just down the hill – and yes, it is nice to hear and see water moving. {{{HUGS}}}

  16. Good morning meese, it’s 71 with a projected high of 96. The weekend was pleasant with the ragtime festival on Saturday and then a birthday dinner celebrating someone’s “forever 29” (she turned 90) although I was pretty tired by the time I got home last night.

    • {{{basket}}} – that does sound like a very pleasant if tiring weekend. Glad you had a good time. moar {{{HUGS}}}

  17. Tuesday Meese. A muggy 70 here in Saugerties, NY going up to 82 with rain.

    Got up early – saw this tweet – and was appalled.

    DSA seems to think mocking the reparations discussion is a good idea. They clearly don’t know their own history (they tout black socialists on their website – like Ron Dellums (co-founder of the house Progressive Caucus), who co-sponsored the original reparations bill in Congress with Conyers)

    The position of the DSA to only support Bernie is par for their suicide course.

    Just read a copy of Al Giordano’s Newsletter – he describes Sander’s and Biden as two white roosters.

    “We saw this tendency surface again last week when the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) voted at its national convention that it will only support the Democratic nominee for president if it is Bernie Sanders. Not even Elizabeth Sanders meets their purity test (and that just makes many of us love her more).“Nice nomination you have there, it’d be a shame if anything happened to it,”is the gambit. (It’s a short stroll from there to, “but if you leave me I’ll hurt the children,”and it says more about the one making the threat than anyone else. P.S. In the real post-2016 world, the children have been harmed.)At the same time, it’s all a grift. Do what they urge you to do and follow the money, but this time follow their money. DSA counted with just 5,000 members before 2016. Now it has 50,000(still not enough to fill a stadium but a lot for a sectarian organization). Annual dues are $60. First time members pay $45. Self-declared “Low income” members pay $27 (clearly atribute to Sanders’ claimed average contribution in 2016) and students pay $20. Even if all 50,000 of them pay $27 on average that’s an annual budget of at least $1.3 million dollars for
    an organization that had nothing before Sanders ran for president.

    DSA’s entire survival as a group with any relevancy at all is linked to Sanders having an endless campaign. If Bernie Sanders were to disappear from the national stage, as eventually he will, DSA will go back to The Island of Broken Toys, a marginalized sectarian groupuscule with few members (and if he lingers past his expiration date it will self-destruct anyway due to internecine power struggles and character assassination attacks between its members fighting for control of a ghost, two of the only skills left academic groups teach their members these days). DSA needs Bernie more than Bernie needs DSA. The DSA just wants to be the dominant hen alongside the white rooster that they see in Sanders, that’s all.”

    • Excellent reply by Al! The DSA is the epitome of selfishness, the “take our support and stay home” crowd. The votes of their 50,000 members won’t tilt a national election but their social media presence will do a lot of damage, targeting the #BasketfulOfGullibles who think that the DSA “movement” is worth destroying the country for. People should block/mute – not engage – as engaging them simply gives them more attention than they deserve.

  18. Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …

    It is 70 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 77. Chance of storms is in the forecast.

    The Trump administration is determined to destroy everything on their way out. Look at the title of the rules issued by the Interior Department gutting the Endangered Species Act:

    U.S. Department of the Interior: Trump Administration Improves the Implementing Regulations of the Endangered Species Act

    JHC on a popsicle stick! “Improves”. It is enough to make decent people scream which I suspect is part of the plan. As Charlie Pierce said, the reason Republicans vote for Trump is because he is the president that they have been waiting a lifetime for: he gives voice to their bigotry and everything he does is designed to own the libs.

    The news is easy to skip today – it is all Epstein, all the time. I am not sad that a terrible person is dead but I wish someone would care about the hundreds of inmates who die in jails due to neglect and despair. No one killed him – he knew the life he had created for himself was over after the courts refused bail and he realized he could not use his money to save himself. Now, let’s talk about the babies in cages, the Justice Department coddling white supremacists, and the cuts in SNAP what will mean that many kids who used to get free and reduced lunches will no longer have one meal a day they can rely on.

    See all y’all later!

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