Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: May 21st

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 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.

25 Comments

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

    Morning low of 70 degrees in the Desert Southwest with an expected daytime high of 90. Sunny skies are in the forecast.

    NOTE: When the Welcomings Post is published, there may be a brief 508 outage. The Mastodon Share plugin appears to hog resources while it is posting – the outage lasts less than a minute and you should be able to get back into the site after you refresh a few times. I usually publish Saturday evening after 6pm MST which is 9pm EDT.

    Have a great day, all y’alls!!

  2. Sunday Meese. 51 going up to 75 and partly cloudy here in Kingston NY.
    Yes – this:

    Puerto Rico

    • Wonderful news about the new 11th Circuit judge and no shock that Manchin voted against her. His claim that Biden needs to only nominate judges liked by Republicans because the courts are so despised is garbage. The courts are despised because they are filled with MAGAt judges that were confirmed along party lines!! Thank goodness Feinstein showed up in DC.

  3. Good morning. Got my tea steeping, even after a night’s sleep I still feel tired from yesterday’s cooking & cleaning. But I have lunch made for the next several weeks, and clean clothes, so that’s a good thing. Today: church and making next week’s breakfast. Meanwhile, I’m enjoying the smell of my steeping tea and watching the news.

  4. Good Sunday morning, Moosekind! Whaddaya know, I’m actually in a good mood! A decent night’s sleep had I, and Dearly brought me early morning tea in bed. I stayed there drinking it and reading Nancy Mitford’s biography. Also the sun is shining. Why does one feel so much more energetic when the sun is shining? I might even go for a walk! The current temp. in Ashburn is 62 F., going up to 79 F.

    Just looked on the calendar and saw that Tuesday and Thursday are “empty square” days. Yay! I can do what I want.

    One thing I need to do is watch karate videos on YouTube. I’m tired of being the slowest, dumbest person in the class. One lady studied ballet for six years and watching her go through the basic kata is amazing. She doesn’t fumble, she just moves smoothly from one turn-kick-punch to another. After class I complimented her.

    Feeling cross-eyed with rage about the debt ceiling. I wonder whether stupid MAGA females will remember in November 2024 that Rethugs threatened a shutdown (two members of my family are government workers), practically banned abortion, launched a vicious campaign against the LGBTQIA community (I have a trans grandchild), and so on. Saw a little blurb by Jen Psaki on Twitter to the effect that DeathSantis’ policies aren’t as popular as he thinks they are.

    The meeting about how to write a play was extremely interesting! I didn’t fall asleep even once and walked away with some materials. The Preakness, which was dragged out as long as possible, did make me fall asleep, so I missed seeing the moment National Treasure won. However, they replayed it 937 times after I woke up, so I did see the blanket of black-eyed Susans being draped over the beautiful horse.

    My voice is getting so much better that I tried out the first stanza of an Irish pub song:

    “Oh, ye lay there by the juniper
    In the pale moonlight
    And you watch them jugs a-fillin’ up
    The moon is very bright.”

    I almost managed it. How I long for the day when I can once again torture Dearly with rude songs!

    That’s enough from me. Sure, and don’t I wish ye all at the Pond a grand immortal day!

  5. It’s 55 heading for 75 and nicely sunny at the moment. The widget says cloudy today. So far it’s wrong. May it continue to be so. Yesterday we generated 21.45 KHWs – the highest single day since last July. The m-t-d is 289.9 – it gained back a bit of what’s been lost but it’s still not on track for even 450 right now. Although if it gets over 300 by end of day we will be for 450.

    My back and hands are complaining about having done the Sunday cleaning chores, but they’re done. And aren’t scheduled to be done again until next Sunday! Meanwhile, I’d best get started on my daily online boosting chores. LOL. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}

  6. Good morning, 56 and cloudy outside my window today. The breeze is cool and smells like rain so I may or may not plant a few flowers today. I did get the hoses situated and ready to use without being a tripping hazard, not a fun project but oh well. We’ve done a lot of basic maintenance in the garden this spring so it’s all looking more cared for, and planting flowers is the reward! Best wishes to all.

  7. Monday Meese. 48 here in Kingston going up to 76.
    Puerto Rico

  8. Good morning. It’s nice & cool — 65 degrees, practically chilly for here. In the office. Got to deal with Monday. Oh, hey — don’t make any plans for Wednesday evening, I’m hosting Bookchat at the orange place, and my topic is reading and empathy.

  9. Good Monday morning, Moosekind! It’s 60 F. and mostly sunny in Ashburn, going up to 81 F.

    Had a terrible night’s sleep, so as soon as my morning chores are done I shall come home and sleep. Have a dentist appointment in Herndon at 11, then must run by Darling Niece’s house and the nearby shopping center.

    At 5 this afternoon I have dinner with the UUs at one of the restaurants here on campus. After going for a 30-minute walk yesterday morning I really expected the scales to be kinder this morning, but no such luck. Despair!

    Must run to get ready. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!

  10. Good morning, meeses! Monday …

    It is 70 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 93. Sunny skies are in the forecast. I finally got my chance to see the Saguaro Cactus blooms and I needn’t have worried – the process is slow and there are still plenty of blooming and to-be-blooming cacti. I visited a city park and only found one in a place I could photograph and it had the full range of blooming on one cactus – some blooming had already ended, some arms were in full bloom and some arms were still “buds”. There is another city park with many more cactus and I will check it out later in the week.

    Good for the NAACP and Latino groups for calling out Florida for their attacks Civil rights groups warn tourists about traveling to Florida:

    The NAACP over the weekend issued a travel advisory for Florida, joining two other civil rights groups in warning potential tourists that recent laws and policies championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers are “openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.”

    The NAACP, long an advocate for Black Americans, joined the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), a Latino civil rights organization, and Equality Florida, a gay rights advocacy group, in issuing travel advisories for the Sunshine State, where tourism is one of the state’s largest job sectors.

    The warning approved Saturday by the NAACP’s board of directors tells tourists that, before traveling to Florida, they should understand the state of Florida “devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color.”

    There is no reason to give money to Florida, none. The saddest part of this? DeSantis is gleefully running on being despised and will probably fundraise off this.

    The debt ceiling talks have hit a few snags mainly Republicans smelling blood in the water and wanting to move the goalposts. Literally no one should be surprised by this – the only question now is how long the default will last before Republicans get enough pressure from their business donors to raise the debt limit. My question is if there are enough Republicans who have business donors and who can afford to tick off the MAGAts. Marj’s Kevin’s majority is so thin, he can only lose 4 votes to pass anything without Democratic help and there are likely at least 6 Republicans whose MAGAt constituents outnumber business owners and people who would suffer if their 401ks zeroed out. I read an article about the dangers of invoking the 14th Amendment and I have to agree it would be worse for Biden to use that “tool”, lose in the Trump-Sanders SCOTUS and then clearly own the resulting crisis. At this point, unless the Democrats in the House can get a discharge petition through to allow a clean debt-ceiling vote, we are going to default. My hope is that it is ugly but short – ugly enough that defaulting becomes a third rail instead of a bargaining chip for nihilists but short enough to not do permanent harm to vulnerable people.

    It is Monday! I got some things done over the weekend and I have one accounting project I want to get done today with the holiday weekend and Default Week looming.

    See all y’all later!

    • This toon:

  11. It’s 55 heading for 78 and sunny right now. The widget shows clouds but says mostly sunny. We shall see. Yesterday we generated right at 18 KWHs and the m-t-d is 306.68 so at least back on track for 450 by end of month.

    I have got to get some new shoes. I just purely do not want to go into a store to get them and I refuse by shoes online. The 3 pair I’m currently wearing (rotating so the same spots don’t get rubbed on my feet daily) all have cracks in the soles. They don’t just let water in, they invite water in and give it a home. Not healthy at all.

    Haven’t checked in on anybody yet this morning (except here of course) so I guess I’d best do that – and get started on my boosting day. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}

  12. Tuesday Meese. 51 here in Kingston going up to 77.
    Puerto Rico

  13. Good morning. Eating breakfast & watching astronomy. Going to walk later, got to make it this morning because this afternoon, it will get up to 90.

  14. Good Tuesday morning, Meese! It’s a day of hazy sunshine in Ashburnikins—we’re getting smoke from the Canadian wildfires—with a current temp. of 61 F., going up to 77 F. later today.

    Monday was most satisfactory, in that the dentist and hygienist told me I was doing really well with my home dental care and to keep on doing it, and I did accomplish most of my errands. It was great to have a half-hour visit with Darling Niece and to meet Rosie, the bitey little Maltese. DN’s company is like a tonic. By the time I was passing the post office that purveys pretty stamps, I was too tired to go in, so just went home.

    Dinner with the UUs was quite lively, and Suzi W., my friend, was back from Indianapolis. Sat next to a retired librarian who told me that librarians were no longer a thing: in Fairfax County they’ve all been fired, their places taken by 22-year-old Bachelor of Arts holders who know technology and can find “resources.” To someone like me, who never graduated from college, the public library was my university and the kindly, helpful librarians my professors. I was in shock.

    This changing world has many disadvantages. Meanwhile, I continue to worry about the lack of a “deal” on Capitol Hill. Imagine making people like Dearly, 92 and a half years old, with no fewer than six different medical “conditions,” work for his SS benefits! With his arthritis he can’t even stand up straight. And I, who fell asleep during the crucial moment of the televised Preakness race, am useless between the hours of 1 and 3 p.m.

    Just read a biography of Nancy Mitford. Really, it was more a curated collection of her breathless, nearly incoherent letters, than a proper biography. She was deeply, one might even say irrationally, anti-American. I dismissed it at first but after a while it ceased to be amusing.

    Have a delightful “empty square” day, so I must get on with things! Lots to do!

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.

  15. It’s 55 heading for 81 and sunny at the moment. Widget says cloudy later. We shall see. Yesterday we generated 20.68 KWHs and at 327.4 the m-t-d is on track for 450 and gaining.

    I need to get the laundry on soon. I want to hang it out by 10, 10:30 at the latest. I know 4 out of 5 cats will escape as I’m juggling the basket of wet laundry out the back door. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep the 5th inside. He’s the one most likely to get in trouble when out (he no longer has the protections of being a kitten as far as the neighborhood cats are concerned) and also the hardest to get back in.

    I’m not watching much of anything in the news because there’s nothing I can do about it. At all. Call my congresscritters? Are you kidding? My complaints are music to their ears. They want whatever evil I’m calling them to stop. So I do my own stuff. And pray. A lot.

    Off to twitter & Spoutible to do my daily boostings. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}

  16. Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …

    It is 82 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 93. Sunny skies are in the forecast. I am going to need to figure out how to take my walk earlier (before it gets hot) but the two hour difference between Arizona time and Central time, where most of my clients are, makes it difficult. I need to connect to their computers when they aren’t there which gives me a very short morning for myself.

    I am going to ignore the news and just concentrate on my own personal projects. The debt ceiling “crisis” is infuriating – I feel badly for those who will be hurt but I did not vote for divided government, I voted for smart government and there is nothing more I can do.

    See all y’all later!

  17. Good morning, 54 and cloudy outside my window today. I was at the lab yesterday morning and forgot to check in when I returned, so you all were spared yet another garden report :) Getting my blood thinner dosage back to the right level is taking some time, but I’m getting there. One more week of fiddling with the dose and then testing to see the result and I should be stable again.
    After my lab visit I helped my friend with cancer, just doing some driving and errands. The combined effects of chemo and cancer are so difficult to manage. If she is strong enough she has one more chemo session this week, and then a surgery in June, and then more chemo. Cancer is a terrible disease and chemo is brutal. It’s hard to see her struggle and to know the outcome is uncertain. Makes me very aware of the fragility of life. And on that note, my sincere best wishes to all.

  18. Wednesday Meese. 50 going up to 78 here in Kingston.
    Furious.

    Puerto Rico


    How Bomba became the sound of resistance in Puerto Rico

    • The Amanda Gorman banning is infuriating. Ron DeSantis’ Florida is what Republicans want for America. We need to pull out all the stops to defeat MAGAt fascism.

      I ordered the book after the inauguration and it arrived in December 2021. It sat unopened in a box because I was packing to move. It turns out that Amazon sent me a different Gorman book in error so I ordered A Hill to Climb (again!) in solidarity.

    • The banning of Amanda Gorman’s poem by a stupid hag that thought Oprah wrote it is exactly what I would expect of a MAGAt. Boycott Florida, that’s all I can say. I’ve never been there in my life. Dearly worked there in the mid-60s for a few months.

      That’s fascinating about the archaeological discoveries in PR!

  19. Good morning. Local news is split between the Uvalde anniversary and the drunk House speaker vs corrupt AG kerfluffle (video of Speaker Phelan went viral the other day, either drunk or having a stroke). Astronomy and breakfast before work. I really love my wfh days.

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