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 to view previous pages, shown here with 3 pages of comments available and Page 2 circled.
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So, last night was……way more exciting than anyone needed. We had tornadoes all around Austin. My neighborhood only had thunderstorms, but there is so much damage all around. Homes basically blown up, trees as well, an 18-wheeler overturned…… just a lot. And today we’re back to having high fire danger. Texas.
from a north suburb of Austin:
Ye gods!
OMG, Becky, I thought Austin was surrounded by hills that mostly protected it from tornadoes! Sorry about all the damage. Hope everyone is all right.
It’s 57 heading for 60 and overcast enough I need the lights on. Bizarre widget says it’s sunny. I wish. PV system is at least on. Yesterday we generated 2.775 KWHs and the m-t-d is 227.5 – more lost ground and still over 6, which we’re not likely to get today, to meet the 2.5K system March ’15 generation. sigh.
Somewhere between 4 and 5 hours of sleep last night. Now even the nasal decongestant spray doesn’t seem to be working. Hands about the same. Shingles rash getting better. As usual, depressed and groggy with no sunshine. Oh well. I’m still so very much better off than so many people, people I know and care about, not even counting the world situation.
Ukraine’s still hanging on. (And Deplorables – including “Progressive” Deplorables are still supporting Putin. The latter saying Ukraine applying for membership in NATO means Putin had to invade to prevent NATO from taking over Europe. Nothing’s changed in LW politics and attitudes since the Russian Revolution of 1917.) Putin, of course, will keep getting worse until he’s stopped. One way or another. Unfortunately global warming and covid are also getting worse. And the point at which they could be stopped has been passed. Decades ago as far as global warming is concerned.
Off to twitter. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
I am not sure that Ukraine applied for membership in NATO – they applied for membership in the European Union. NATO is not like an online form you just fill out, I believe you talk to people, get into deep negotiations and then you are invited to join.
True, but they had started those negotiations. It was Putin’s excuse for invading.
Good morning, 47, cloudy and chilly outside my window today. I didn’t get much accomplished yesterday but after a long nap and early to bed I should have more energy today. Desk, outdoors, or a combo of both? Guess I’ll see what happens! Best wishes to all.
Good morning, meeses! Wednesday …
It is 39 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 46. Rain off and on all day; overnight it will turn into mixed precipitation. We seem to be getting our April showers a bit early!
Republican Senators are really showing their racist asses. They are using the Jackson hearing to create campaign ads that will appeal to their white supremacist base. I am glad that Judge Jackson is not putting up with it and is pushing back when she can. If she does not get confirmed – and went through these personal and professional attacks for nothing – I will be livid. p.s. Josh Hawley is a terrible actor as well as a terrible person. His fauxoutrage is more suited for a Fox prime time talk show than a hearing room in the U.S. Senate. I hope Missouri kicks him to the curb in 2024.
I hope that people don’t become immune to the sad images coming out of Ukraine and particularly the siege of Mariupol. The world should be angry that a megalomaniac decided that 70 years of peace in Europe needed to be upended to satisfy his dreams of empire. It will take a generation to rebuild that city – and others -after the destruction wreaked over the past month. Goddess help them.
I got a lot of things started yesterday that now must be finished.
See all y’all later!
Wednesday Meese. 31 going up to 50 here in Kingston.
I love this take.
Ugh.
Puerto Rico
Good morning, sunny and maybe 70 today. I had my windows open all day yesterday, may do that this afternoon. With the sunny, breezy weather there is a high fire danger.
Good Wednesday morning, Moosekind. It’s one of those still, grey, almost-warm March mornings that seem to promise something exciting coming down the pike. The weather after lunch may be exciting: they’re predicting storms. At the moment it’s cloudy and 47 F.
A terrible tornado struck New Orleans, so I checked on the safety of my niece who lives there. She’s OK, says it struck east of her location. Dear Goddess, I hope she finds compensation in living in a place like that. Between the weather and racism, I’d go nuts.
Nothing much is happening here. Dearly has a doctor’s appointment at the very inconvenient hour of noon. Poor guy, he feels terrible because of fitful sleep.
Wishing everyone at the Pond a good day.
It’s 39 heading for 48 and overcast. Damp and chilly and dark. sigh. Yesterday the sun broke through for a bit and we generated 7 KWHS. The m-t-d at 234 is at least more than the 2.5K system did in ’15. We’ve got 9 days left to generate, including today. At least the system is on so we’ll get something.
I got sleep last night so I don’t know why I’m so groggy. I started to check in over an hour ago, got sidetracked on twitter when I boosted Dee’s twitter things, and just got back. Still have some shingles rash and the muscle ache is noticeable. Not enough to need even Ibuprofen, but noticeable. I can’t get the vaccine until all the symptoms are gone. My hands are surprisingly OK considering the temperature drop from yesterday. But then the Raynaud’s – which is flaring as expected – isn’t the cause of my stiffness or tremors. I need to get on the treadmill for a bit. That will help raise my core temperature so I won’t feel so chilly.
Nothing new. Whether global-warming-caused weather disasters or Rs being racist Deplorables trying to block Dem nominations to SCOTUS or fascist dictators starting wars – or friends with health and money issues having emergencies regarding either health or money – just nothing new.
So. Treadmill then back to twitter. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
{{{Bfitz}}}! Here’s hoping the day will go better for you, dear one!
{{{Diana}}} and for you.
Good morning, 50 and cloudy outside my window today. The temps are getting warmer but it’s still wet and chilly outside. RonK is starting seeds indoors and moving the new plants to a small covered shelf unit in the garden so he will be ready to plant when the soil warms up.
I think I’ve found replacement pots for the classic terracotta ones that cracked this winter. They are a fiber pot, painted to resemble terracotta so it’s a big change. But, the shape and size is what I was looking for, they have an inner lining to protect plants from frost, the bottom is weighted so I can plant the tall plants the hummingbirds love without fear of it blowing over in the wind, I can lift them, and the price is right. Can you tell I’m trying to be a practical old gardener? I’ve ordered them so will make the final decision when they arrive. As always, I’m grateful to have such dilemmas.
Best wishes to all.
That’s good news, princesspat!
Good morning, meeses! Thursday …
It is 34 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 39. The forecast calls for rain turning into ice pellets then back to rain. I hope it stays rain – I have a short errand I have to run this morning and do not want to encounter ice pellets either dropping from the sky or under my tires.
The open racism and hostility towards Judge Jackson is stunning; tRump’s party does not even bother with dog whistles any more. Thank goodness for Cory Booker, celebrating the moment, and fk all those who thought it “unseemly” that Judge Jackson cried when the names of those who came before her and paved the way for this historic nomination were spoken. I hope the Senate hurries with the confirmation vote – if ailing Clarence Thomas can’t return to the bench and the Supreme Court appears poised to return to a 5 to 4 court with Chief Justice Roberts swing vote, Republicans will do everything they can to thwart this confirmation and go scorched earth on the Thomas replacement.
Ukraine is not rolling over for the Russians. I sense that NATO and the West are not going to get bored and walk away; they will keep sending arms and aid to the Ukrainian army until Putin withdraws – they know that their own survival is in the balance. The only question is what will Putin do when he realizes he has for all intents and purposes “lost.” Goddess help us if he unleashes chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.
See all y’all later!
Clarence Thomas has now been in the hospital for six days. I wonder whether he’ll ever come out. And yes, the Rethugs are so loathsome I don’t know know what to do.
I think you’re right about Putie the Brutie. We can only hope he is defenestrated before he can release nukes. Surely hhis generals will refuse to launch them, knowing what will happen if they do.
Cold, for Texas in March – I actually needed my coat. Supposed to be gorgeous this afternoon. I’m in the office, so I’ll see it through the window. If you’re on Twitter, read Brian Schatz’s thread about Madeline Albright. I can’t copy and paste on this tablet. She was family, and he has sweet memories.
Good morning Meese. 35 here in Kingston and raining, going up to 47.
Posted:
Puerto Rico
Luisa Capetillo, first woman in Puerto Rico to wear pants. Distinguished for her fight for women’s equality and workers’ rights
WHAT a woman! Thanks for telling us about her, Sis, I’ve shared it in three different places. She wore trousers because they’re comfortable and freeing, as I wrote in my novella, Turnabout. You can run in trousers if you have to. In temperate climes like that of the northern and midwestern USA, they keep your legs warm. Moreover, nasty men can’t “upskirt” you to look at your underwear if you wear trousers.
(To me, “pants” means what you wear under your slacks.)
Her feminism, labor organization, and free love attitude are going to stay on my mind all day.
Delighted to introduce her!
Good Thursday morning, Meese. It raineth, it drippeth drop, and it’s cold at 47 F. here in Dullsville this morning. Never mind, we need the rain. I woke up at 3 a.m. and have been awake ever since. I plan to jolly well take a nap before departing at 10:40 to get my nails done.
Nothing much is happening except that I’m still behind on my work. I keep getting sidetracked by politics and the war. What those scumbags (male, Rethuglican, white) are doing to Judge Jackson is SCANDALOUS. I haven’t had the stomach to watch. There are days when I’m emotionally strong and days when I’m not.
Going to crawl back into bed soon and hope for better news when I wake up. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!
I only watched the clips of the hearing from Twitter that I knew were safe. Yesterday, when I was driving around, I had to turn off my NPR station (which is SUPPOSED TO BE Classical Music) because they had a recap of the hearing includings the whiney petulant voices of Hawley, Cruz, Graham and Blackburn. Silence is 1000% better.
“Silence is golden, golden…” says the song. I frequently turn off the radio too.
It’s 37 going to 55, overcast, and I’m groggy. We generated all of 3.6 KWHs – m-t-d 238 and are likely to do about the same today. Reaching 400 for the month isn’t possible and reaching 300 is iffy. sigh. No rain. Just clouds.
Except that we’re all still breathing there’s not a lot of anything optimistic in the world. From Aji’s & Lisa’s pain and fatigue to Russia’s war on Ukraine (that we need to stop at Ukraine) to COVID to global hunger to global warming. That all of it – all of it, from global warming down to Aji’s & Lisa’s pain and fatigue – is caused by Deplorable people in a Deplorable culture taking, using up, destroying what’s not theirs is depressing as hell.
Well, being depressed doesn’t get the cats fed or the litterboxes scooped or the twitter boosting done or Dee’s diary read. So. Off to do all that. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 41 and the sun is starting to break through the fog and clouds. Now my inner fog needs to clear! I muddled through the day yesterday, but I hope to do better today. Best wishes to all.
Good morning, meeses! Friday …
It is 34 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 45. Mixed precipitation, starting with showers, is in the forecast. Yesterday’s mixed precipitation was mostly rain but occasional big fat snowflakes that fell and melted. Thankfully, my errands were not impacted. I have several errands today but none are appointments so I can slot them in whenever it looks clear.
The plot thickens! One wonders if Ginni Thomas’ frantic shrieking about the 2020 election is because she knew that her husband was not in great shape and she was desperate to have his seat filled by tRump. Certainly his lifestyle puts him at risk – he surrounds himself with anti-vaxxers and appears to not have a beating human heart. In 2000, Sandra Day O’Connor voted to overturn the Florida election because she wanted to retire to take care of her husband and did not want a Democrat naming her replacement. Republicans understand the power of the Supreme Court and vote for every Republican, Democrats fall in love with unelectable candidates and then stay home pouting when their first choice is not on the ballot. Until Democrats can be made to care about the mid-term elections and the Supreme Court and the impact that a Republican president has on our lives, we are at risk.
I have a half dozen projects started and I need to finish some and then pull together the threads of the rest of them in case I get interrupted.
See all y’all later!
That’s interesting, Jan! I will never forgive Sandra Day O’Connor for what she did, the bee-yatch.
Good Friday morning, Moosekind. A sunny, golden Friday is dawning at this hour of 8 o’clock. I know that I can never live anywhere but here because of the spring and autumn colors. From the misty green of weeping willows to the pink froth of the cherry trees, driving around town is an intoxicating experience as “blossom by blossom the spring begins.” In a few weeks we’ll be seeing the white wedding-veil lace of dogwood trees, and I can’t wait.
Feel quite wonderful after 7 1/2 hours’ uninterrupted sleep because of DRUGS. I’ll eat some berries to stave off Alzheimer’s. This morning I want to spend my aunt’s generous birthday present on makeup for me and Cadbury Creme Eggs for Dearly Beloved.
We must enjoy the day (weatherwise) while we can, as a “wintry mix” is predicted for March 31. Crud. Thought it was over. This morning the Garden Club meets around the corner. I’m not growing anything this year. Without my delightful next-door neighbor, who died last October, the pleasure has gone out of it. She loved those little Sungold tomatoes.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond, a successful day to all in Ukraine, and help for all the displaced millions!
Your part of the country is surely beautiful:
I remember being in Washington DC (Arlington VA, actually, no one really stays in Washington DC) in April when the cherry blossoms were blooming. It was also raining and then snowing on one of the days of our stay!
When I depart for the Desert Southwest, I will miss seeing the crabapple trees blooming in the spring and the fall foliage, particularly the maples along the I-94 corridor which can be stunning. I will have different natural beauty to behold – cactus blooms and mountain sunsets and clear skies outlining the phases of the moon. I am looking forward to falling in love with nature all over again exploring my new habitat. I am fortunate in that I don’t have any Wisconsin connections to weep over – I did not grow up here and many of the friends I have had moved on, literally and figuratively. My extended family is more likely to visit me in the Desert Southwest than the Frozen Tundra and cheap airfare with better connections is more readily available in a big city than in Madison WI.