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?
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NOTE: The comments page will 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 (right before “Leave A Reply”) and use the Pages Tool, shown here with 3 pages of comments available.
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Good “morning”, Motley Meese! The week begins …
Morning low of -13 degrees in Madison WI with an expected daytime high of -2. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.
Have a great day, all y’alls!!
Sunday Meese. 24 and snowing lightly here in Kingston NY. Don’t expect to get much.
Puerto Rico
That poor, lovely young girl! I hope someone will alert President Biden to the plight of Vieques. It’s been ill-treated for years, with the goddamn U.S. Navy blowing up dolphins.
Sunday Music
Rec’d & shared
Good morning, once again Austin is having the weather that gets people to move here: a chilly morning, and a sunny afternoon in the 70s. I got in a short walk yesterday, just a mile. Going to aim for more this afternoon, mix in some running. I made next week’s lunch yesterday: pasts with spinach & artichoke hearts. This morning, I need to make next week’s tea and cook the veggies for dinner.
Good Sunday morning, Moosekind. Woke up at 7:30 to a winter wonderland of snow frosting the landscape with great big white flakes. I know this doesn’t mean much to Jan and Dee, but here it’s a once-a-decade event. The huge snowflakes, having exhausted much of their energy, have settled down to much smaller flakes now. It’s very enjoyable to watch if you’re an overprivileged old bag with nothing better to do.
Today is Younger Son’s 46th birthday. That he’s alive at all is a miracle, considering the trauma of his birth. They thought he would die the day he was born. But he arrived during the Year of the Rabbit, so he survived. (Rabbits cling with great tenacity to life.)
It was on a snowy day very like this one that we brought him home after he’d spent his first two weeks in the hospital. He has been a joy.
We’re having a quiet Sunday during which we will go NOWHERE. I’m enjoying the thought of President Biden and Dr. Jill enjoying their own home this Sunday, probably with the dogs. My own Super Bore menu is planned: Vegetarian samosas with Major Grey’s chutney, bourbon wings with coleslaw (not made by me, bought from the store), and a beautiful fruit salad, which I will assemble.
I would have known Chinese New Year is on the way without even Googling, just by looking at next week’s menus. All Chinese! General Tso’s chicken, jasmine rice, the lot!
Otherwise, the day will be spent doing work—the work I didn’t get done yesterday because of various interruptions. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.
{{{Diana}}} Happy Birthday 🎶🎉🎂🍨🎁✨🎶 to your younger son. (We rabbits do tend to be tenacious about life, don’t we? 😁😁😁)
My younger son (Year of the Tiger) will be 47 on the 22nd. Younger sons and February…at least they’re more comfortable to carry in the cooler month. moar {{{HUGS}}}
Thank you, darling!
Diana, our youngest son nearly didn’t make it either and after all these years I still remember the trauma. Makes his birthday an even more important day. And this year our twin babies will be 50 yrs old. How can that be!
So you too are a member of the Lucky Mums Club, princesspat! I feel so grateful every day that he’s here, doing well, and bringing up Miss Pink Cheeks and Mr. First Grader. Sometimes the human heart can’t seem to contain all the love it feels, as we know.
It’s 29 heading for 39 and cloudy. The 10-day shows solid clouds until next Friday. And some clouds Friday. sigh. We got enough over 2 KWHs yesterday to bring the m-t-d to 46. That’s on track for usage – won’t be even that by tomorrow – and nothing else.
Biden’s people gotta find legal ways around ICE’s contract & union crap. The bastids are still deporting people, still separating families, & still working on that paen-to-twitler wall. Presidential orders/stays have been blocked by a Deplorable judge so they are legally continuing their evil. But it is both evil and a “nanny-nanny-boo-boo” from the Deplorables. Biden’s gonna lose a chunk of political capital along with already too many lives if he can’t get his orders enforced. But it’s got to be done in such a way as to not hand a weapon to the Rs to use on us – and I don’t mean politically – next time they’ve got the power.
Bad night and my hands hurt. I’ve got online and offline chores to do. I’ll be doing less than usual on both and taking the rest slowly but at least I can listen to the music on Dee’s diary while I do it. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
So sorry about your hands, dear. That’s why I haven’t written you lately, the thought of your using your painful hands to reply is disturbing. May you feel better soon!
Good morning, 42 and mostly sunny in Bellingham. It’s nice to see some blue sky outside my window today. I was outside in the rain yesterday. Pre Covid February birthdays were celebrated in the dining room but now we’ll be outside, rain, shine, or maybe even snow. I usually just let the patios be in the winter but now they are part of our living space so keeping the plants tidy and the winter debris cleaned up is part of what we do now. It’s extra work, but regardless it’s good to be outside.
Busy family phone this morning and the day is getting away from me. Best wishes to all.
That sounds so cool, princesspat! Literally!
Good morning, meeses! Monday …
It is -2 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 3. Mostly cloudy skies with a chance of flurries.
So Arizona censures a McCain and Wyoming censures a Cheney. Yikes! It will be entertaining to watch the Republican Party sort itself out into trumpers and traditionalists. The traditionalists are the haters who don’t say it out loud, they just quietly destroy the lives of those who are Not Like Them by their taxing and spending policies and their anti-regulation genocide. The trumpers seized on the hatred of the Not Like Them (it is very appealing!) and have less interest in the taxing and spending policies. Neither group will win an election on their own but the only group that understands it is the traditionalists. Will they break with the trumpers and try to build a new party or will they rationalize the support of completely unhinged and dangerous people because “lowering the marginal tax rates” overrides everything else in their minds? It will be interesting to see. The first tests, as is always the case, will be in the odd year elections in New Jersey and Virginia later this year. There is no question that the GQP will be running in the primaries. In the districts that are deeply red, the winner of the primary will likely win the general (can’t be voting for Democrats!). So that means that Republican Party electeds, as a class, will become more unhinged, more violent and less attractive to the Great Middle, the center-left and center-right who tip elections. Are there enough R+5 congressional districts left (or will be left after redistricting) to have that translate to picking up seats in the House? Will the optics of the national Republican Party as the Party of Q turn off voters in red and purple states who have Senators up for re-election or open seats like Ohio? I am glad the narrative is finally Republicans in Disarray and look forward to two years of governing – even with thin majorities – to make our case that good government and decency is more attractive than trumpian chaos.
I was hoping for Trumper Tom Brady to lose but I will settle for the humiliation of his old boss, Robert “it was just a massage!” Kraft looking like a complete idiot for dumping him. In any event, I was having a difficult time rooting for the Chiefs because of their racist logos and chants. They need to do what Washington DC and Cleveland did with their racist sports franchise – rename and/or rebrand.
It is the first full week of February and I am ready to carpe diem.
See all y’all later!
Monday Meese. A toasty 10 degrees here in Kingston NY (ha!)
Puerto Rico
Good morning from once-again warm, foggy Austin. I didn’t get outside yesterday, despite getting a head start on my cooking. First thing when I open my work laptop, I’m scheduling in logging off at 4, so I can take a walk while it’s at peak sunshine this afternoon. The good thing about spending so much time cooking yesterday is I have great veggies for meals this week, and next. And good thing it’s nice weather, I’m airing out my apartment from all the cooking. Later this week, we’re supposed to get seriously freezing weather, so I’m enjoying the fresh air now.
Good Monday morning, Moosekind. It’s a gorgeous morning in Ashburn, with pale blue clear skies, sunlight, and a whopping 25 F. on its way up to 37 F. I’m going to enjoy it while I can because we are supposed to have snow showers for the rest of the week, They say.
Gods, as if life weren’t annoying enough, the Managing Editor is having a problem with an article I’d thought was done and dusted. I pitched a series called “Pathbreakers–Women Who Made a Difference,” and he doesn’t like the fact that the woman I wrote about followed a tradition of becoming a Baptist minister. Apparently there has been a long line of female Baptist ministers. He says if there’s a long tradition, then how can this woman, nice as she is, be considered a “pathbreaker”? Well, all I can say is that I grew up in the 50’s, came of age in the 60’s, and became an activist in the 1970’s, and I certainly never saw any women ministers, especially in the Baptist church, whose motto seemed to be, “Y’all women make the coffee and shut up.”
However, when I told him that her parents despised her for not being a boy and always treated her differently from the way they treated her brothers, he was stunned. He was even more stunned when I informed him that all women from age three know that we are considered inferior to boys but most of the time that message issues from society, not from our own parents. He now wants me to pursue this line with her. She’s quite open about it, having written about it in an essay and delivered a lecture about it in public, which I attended.
So that is my distinctly unjolly Monday. Goddess bless all here, and bestow a good day on everyone at the Pond and at the White House.
It’s 32 heading for 40 and cloudy. Third day in a row and I was sick of it on the first. sigh. We generated 1.8 KWHs yesterday (m-t-d 47.8) of which I used at least a quarter with the bathroom heater alone when I took my shower and washed my hair. sigh. No. Not on track. But still grateful for whatever I get.
It’s nice to have a poet in the headlines for a change. Amanda Gorman most certainly is carrying the torch handed to her by the last Black woman poet who read at a presidential inauguration – Maya Angelou. Bless her. Long may she write. And have the mic.
My hands are not happy with me or the weather or both. I’m hoping I can manage to at least do my online chores today. But I’ll need to limit the mouse clicks and do as much as I can with the function keys instead. Oh well. This is life. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 39 and partly sunny in Bellingham but light rain and snow is in the forecast for later today so I’ll enjoy seeing some blue sky for as long as I can. I’ve got the beds changed and laundry going so as soon as I pay a few bills I’ll be free to do something more fun. Oh, just remembered I also need to get valentines in the mail to our grand kids. They are older now but still like receiving a holiday card from me so I’ll keep sending them.
Best wishes to all on this sunny (for now) Monday morning.
Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …
It is -11 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 7. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.
So Impeachment Trial II begins. I doubt that I will watch it and hope it ends quickly. Not that I don’t think that it is important – it is vitally important – but because I can’t look at or listen to Senate Republicans and not feel ill thinking about who they are and what they have done. From the moment that they took their leader’s advice in 2009 that their number one goal was to block everything President Obama wanted to do and make him a one-term president, through the extraconstitutional actions they took to block Merrick Garland’s Supreme Court confirmation, through their voting to acquit their president for the clear crime of using his power to ratfk the election, they have shown their disdain for our country and our democracy. I have no doubt that they will acquit their party’s leader again but they will make sure it leaves more sh*tstains on their institution. My hope is that the Raskin video is well done and widely disseminated and that tRump is convicted in the court of public opinion – and that there is an outcry for Attorney General Merrick Garland to charge, if not Donald John Trump, then every one of his advisors and family members who promoted and participated in fomenting the insurrection. Make them spend their ill-gotten gains on attorneys trying to save their asses from prison.
See all y’all later!
Tuesday Meese.
A toasty 21 here in Kingston NY (compared to Jan’s sub-zero weather)
It’s snowing lightly – we are only getting a dusting of 4 to 5 inches today.
Puerto Rico
Ha! A “dusting of 4 to 5 inches today”? We hardy northerners are not daunted by a few inches of snow!! :)
I have been reading a lot about in-person teaching and it is a terrible dilemma. No one disagrees that in-person is the best learning for most students and that the education gap is only going to get worse as children living on the edge who don’t have the technology or good Internet or whose parents can’t stay home to manage their online education are going to fall even further behind. But it is grossly unfair to put teachers health – and the health of their families – at risk during a pandemic. Even if they vaccinated all the teachers, administrators and staff, the science is still not clear that you can’t carry the virus around and infect others even if you are vaccinated. People expect teachers to sacrifice while at the same time voting in legislators and school board members who cut their pay and benefits and treat them like crap. I am not sure what the solution is but “force teachers go into unsafe schools” can’t be part of it.
It’s a transitional weather day in Austin, it’s in the 50s & will stay that way all day. Tomorrow that arctic weather the rest of y’all are having will get here, we’re expecting freezing weather for the end of the week — 3 nights of freezing weather, even down to the 20s. just, wow.
Good Tuesday morning, Meese, and Goddess bless all here. It’s now 31 F. in Ashburn, heading for a high of 50. There may or may not be rain. It’s very ugly outside, with a whitish layer of cloud covering the sky.
I have to hurry up and get dressed because I’m going to interview someone at 11 a.m. in the main clubhouse. As far as I know (prayerfully clasping hands together), the Baptist pastor story has been put to bed at last. Wish I could interview a Wiccan priestess.
Began an email discussion with my daughter about why I don’t really want to continue living here if I become a widow one day. It sounds like a rather ghoulish discussion, I realize, but Dearly is already 90. Younger Son and DIL, now that Son has a job (he starts tomorrow) are thinking of looking for a new, much bigger house this summer, with an in-law flat. I must say I’m rather thrilled at the thought of living in a house again, without elephants doing aerobics upstairs, but with garbage disposers that actually work. Here, we are forbidden to dispose of eggshells, fruit peels, or anything except water in our disposers.
However, back to business. We’re still keeping close to home except for taking the dog out and going to the grocery store. We’re still wearing masks even though we’re now well and truly vacc’ed. We have to go again to get supplies, as They Say it’s going to four-letter-word from Wednesday night all through the weekend. As usual, I’ll believe it when I see it.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond, to the Democrats on the Hill who are impeaching Thing, and a bad day of roiling stomachs to the Rethugs arguing for the defense.
It’s 26 heading for 32 and yeah it’s cloudy still. sigh. We got one whole kilowatt hour yesterday. We might even get another today. more sighs. We won’t see sunshine until Sunday. Maybe. We won’t see temps above freezing or overnights in the 20s again until the middle of next week. And we’re getting very little of the precipitation in any form. Just cold and gray. But not as cold as the northern folks. I can at least run out to the mailbox or put out birdseed & food for the outside cats in my sweater. I don’t have to haul out the winter coat and suit up to keep from freezing to death.
Goddess I hope our team can manage to get enough done we can hang onto power and keep doing it. And yes, there must be accountability for the traitors. There hasn’t been for over 150 years and we are reaping the whirlwind that refusal to hold accountable sowed. It needs to stop here. Now. I am not vested in any particular way for that to happen. Prison for income tax evasion is still prison. If we can’t convict on treason, then get them on one of their other crimes. But it’s got to stop now. Just like President Biden’s orders to ICE must be enforced now. And the officers/employees who’ve continued to abuse, threaten, deport, and kill must be held accountable. Not just fired. They’re committing war crimes in our name. So many things that must be done and done quickly. I know it takes time to do this. And that the Rs deliberately trashed everything as much as possible to delay in the doing of it. As they are doing in the Senate right now. But people are dying right now. People are starving or living on the streets right now. And the longer it takes to do what needs to be done, the more will die – quickly now or slowly later of the damage caused by hunger or being on the streets or being w/o their meds.
This is not a good day for me. The gray is depressing (yes, my lights are on – no, it’s not helping), but on top of that my eyes are having trouble focusing and my hands don’t want to work. I’ll get through it. I obviously have before. And my ills and issues are nothing compared to other folks I know. But I don’t have to like it. So much I want to do and so little I actually can right now. Anyway, I can boost links on twitter and hopefully that helps. Yes, I keep hoping. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 26 and cloudy in Bellingham. Snow is in the forecast, starting tomorrow, but our outdoor birthday for RonK will be chilly. Fortunately our family is ready for distanced fun regardless. Just hope my old creaky joints will cooperate!
So many Covid unknowns…..Can you visit loved ones after getting a COVID vaccine? It depends, experts say
“We can and should allow ourselves the pleasure of looking forward to the days when we and our loved ones are vaccinated, because our risks of being together will be so very low and the benefit to our mental health high,” McBride told the outlet. “The currently available vaccines are incredibly safe and effective, and being vaccinated is our ticket to a better future.”
Best wishes to all.