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 36 degrees in Madison WI with an expected daytime high of 72. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.
Have a great day, all y’alls!!
Happy Easter and last day of Passover.
32 degrees going up to 59 here in Kingston NY.
This made me smile
Puerto Rico
“64% of Americans do not support statehood for Puerto Rico. Survey of a sample of US voters shows that 36% support statehood for Puerto Rico – El Nuevo Día”
“The Natural Resources Committee of the United States House of Representatives will hold a public hearing on April 14 to discuss the two bills on the political status of Puerto Rico that have been presented.”
Sunday music
Trying to savor the last few cool mornings — we’re headed toward highs in the 90s later this week, which will mean the cool mornings will go away. I’ve got quinoa going in the rice cooker, for the vegetable casserole I’m making later. For now, I’m watching the news & eating my almond butter sandwich. Later: church on youtube, then making the casserole and my tea and overnight oats for the week.
Good morning, 44 and a hint of sunshine in Bellingham. We’re cooking today, Easter brunch this morning and rhubarb custard pie outdoors this afternoon, so ready or not I’ve got to get busy. My knees are complaining about yesterday’s flower fun, but oh well.
Best wishes to all on this Easter morning.
It’s 57 heading for 75 and sunny. Yesterday the clouds finally cleared off after lunch time but that’s production time so we got 15.6 KWHs! (m-t-d is 53.23) Happy Whatever Holy Day you celebrate.
It’s Sunday so I’m doing Sunday stuff. Added to which I need to mix and grill my breakfast sausages for the next month or so. I also need to bake my midmorning snack coffee break muffin bread but that will probably be tomorrow as I don’t have enough besan to do it with. My son will be bringing me some this afternoon. A full bag if the Middle Eastern store by his gurdwara is open, a couple of cups from home if not.
When I was a kid Easter meant coloring eggs I didn’t want to eat and getting candy (most of which I also didn’t like/want to eat) and maybe a new dress but probably a new sun suit. After a decade immersed myself in Catholicism bookended by decades immersed in “New Thought” Xtianity the main conclusion I came to is most Xtians don’t follow Jesus they follow that bastid Paul and they can’t count. (Just before sundown on Friday to before sunrise on Sunday does not equal 3 days in the tomb.) But I know many truly good people who follow that Faith Tradition and I know that it gives much comfort in times of pain to those who do. So blessings upon it being there to do that.
Off to get more coffee and Dee’s diary so I can do my Sunday stuff to music. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, meeses! Monday …
It is 61 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 70. The forecast calls for variable cloudiness throughout the day and then some showers overnight.
I spent the weekend in a sports bubble and catching up on local news. While I am still conflicted about student athletes playing sports during COVID – and risking their own health and the health of people they come in contact with – I understand the importance of the games to the athletes. This year champions will be crowned in college sports and it will help some of those students in their post-college careers and in getting a spot in the summer and winter Olympics. I enjoyed watching the Women’s Basketball Final Four and I am glad they did not try to play last year – the protocols in place seem to have worked pretty well. NOW we need to get everyone vaccinated so I am not holding my breath every time someone takes their mask off to hug a teammate.
Infrastructure Week ended with a full-court press on the Sunday shows by Biden-Harris Administration officials. Mayo Pete seems to like going on Fox News, I think because he enjoys showing them how stupid they are. The hosts said that only 6.5% of the package was for “road and bridges” and he schooled them on what infrastructure is – water systems, electric grids, broadband. It will not persuade them or anyone who watches Fox News but the narrative has been set. It sounds like Biden will use the 2021 budget reconciliation to get it passed – Mitch McChinless is certain that making Biden a failure by letting the country’s infrastructure fall into disrepair is how he regains his majority. Sorry, Mitch, you can’t go to the well twice – President Obama gave bipartisanship a chance and got a “shellacking” in the midterms; Joe Biden was in the room and he was paying attention.
First full week of April, I am ready to carpe diem.
See all y’all later!
Mayo Pete.
Monday Meese. 43 here in Kingston, NY going up to 60
I’m sleepy – stayed up past midnight watching Verzuz featuring Earth, Wind & Fire and the Isley Brothers – brought back a lot of memories …and it wasn’t over till after midnight
Puerto Rico
Cool, foggy morning. Back from my dash into the office. Got to log off early & walk today, it’s the coolest day of the week — high of 80. Allergies are really bad, though so maybe not. For now, just work.
Good Monday morning, Moosekind, and I hope you all had an enjoyable Sunday honoring whichever tradition you honor. In our atheist-Wiccan household roast lamb with mint sauce is traditional, so we adhered to that as closely as we could. It’s not easy to buy a leg of lamb for two people! I used lamb tenderloin instead and even though it was overcooked by most people’s standards, it was very tender and tasty. We do not like raw meat.
It was fair but far too breezy for my taste, as is today. The current temperature in Ashburn is 59 F., going up to 71 F. Winds are at 5 to 10 mph, less than I thought.
Our little Ethan behaved perfectly the whole weekend, only growing bored during his grandparents’ nap time. He’s not familiar enough with our iPad and Kindle Fire to really play games. He seemed to have a fine time, though, with the empty cardboard box we gave him to play with. First it was a house, then it became a race car. Children are so inventive!
He behaved perfectly for us but after we took him home, he vented his pent-up naughtiness on his poor, long-suffering mother. We weren’t there to see it, fortunately.
We had just returned here and were walking down the hall when I found myself, perhaps irrationally in view of my advanced age, wishing that someone would give me an Easter basket. I knew all four of my local grandchildren were going to receive them. We continued walking and behold! There was a pretty pink sack with decals of rabbits on it, filled with delicious chocolate treats, and another small dish filled with wrapped small chocolate eggs on the shelf outside our flat. During Saturday night another mysterious present appeared, a small box containing an exquisite chocolate egg from See’s. The little box was unsigned, so I’ll never know who gave it. I did deliver thank-you notes to the neighbors who kindly gave us chocolates.
This morning I received an email from the man in my writers’ group about continuing to organize the book festival in September. When the social worker asked him whose idea it was, he said it was his, as I had instructed him to do. He’s certainly doing a lot of work to organize it! We can’t say it was my idea, because if Olga-from-the-Volga knew I had thought it up, she would forbid the whole thing from happening. Wish there were a spell to move someone to a different old people’s home.
The entire weekend has been overshadowed by the fact that my car keys are missing. I came home from shopping Friday night, put the groceries away, prepared some sort of dinner. Haven’t seen them since. We have looked everywhere! This is very awkward indeed, as the key ring contains not only the car key, but the apartment and building keys, store room key, mailbox key, and the key to my briefcase. Goddess knows what we’re going to do. We’ve looked in every conceivable and inconceivable place. Next, we’ll just drag everything out of the front hall closet and see if that helps.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!
{{{Diana}}} – Try standing in the middle of your apartment and asking your keys (out loud) what it is they don’t want you to do. Then either promise not to do it or explain why you have to. See if they don’t show up shortly thereafter. Healing Energy & moar {{{HUGS}}}
Thank you, love. I will try that. Last night I found the silver cord spell and recited it but if it’s going to work, it hasn’t yet.
It’s 60 heading for 75 and the sun can’t decide if it’s gonna shine or hide in the clouds. Yesterday we generated 17 KWHs and ended the day with 70 for the m-t-d. We shall see what today brings. But we’re doing fine so far.
However we get the infrastructure bill through – and “shovels in the ground” by summer – we gotta. And RW-owned MSM notwithstanding we’ve got to be sure that not only are those projects being done, bringing wages into the communities & building back local economies, we’ve got to be sure those communities (and the nation) know about it’s happening and where the money’s coming from. We had four (count ’em 1, 2, 3, 4) projects within 2 miles of my house in ’09 & ’10 – all the while the Rs on the Quorum Court (City Council, state legislature. . .) were claiming there wasn’t a stimulus. Most of them were also pocketing the 40% tax break to business that was supposed to increase hiring while they spewed their lies. So we have to do the job – but we have to make sure, somehow, that all of America knows we’re doing it. No, it won’t convince the Deplorables – the same cultists who believed Boozman brought what improvement they couldn’t miss and denied his very public vote against the stimulus. But it will keep the Indies with us. And we need the Indies to hang on to Congress in ’22.
It is so very good to have Decent people in charge again. There’s much to be done. There’s much they aren’t going to be able to get to in a single 2-year Congressional term. And maddeningly the things that need to be dealt with first – just about anything with/about/for BIPOC – will be done last. But at least they’re on the radar if not on the table yet with this Administration and Congress. Which, as depressing as that is, as infuriating as that is, it’s progress.
I need to bake muffin bread this morning if I’m going to have anything to go with my coffee. Gingerbread this time around. So off to put that together. And of course do my twitter stuff. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 42 and cloudy in Bellingham. Our Easter weekend was fun, but a challenge for my old legs so I’m resting today. Listening to music and playing solitaire now, will tune into life and the news later.
Best wishes to all.
Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …
It is 61 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 73. Sunny off and on. Yesterday there were enough sunny openings that I had a nice 20 minute “bake” on the deck where it was 81 degrees. I missed those!
It sounds like Senate Democrats will be able to use reconciliation for the infrastructure bill – assuming that we can reach consensus within our own caucus. King Joe Manchin is not happy about taxing corporations and others are not happy that the people needed to support a workforce (child care, elder care, etc) are considered infrastructure. It will be an interesting several months of sausage-making but at least this bill has time to come together – the American Rescue Plan was time sensitive with unemployment payments due to expire. I think the Biden Administration is hoping for Memorial Day.
I am not sure how anyone can get things done in Washington as they are rolling on the floor laughing their asses off over Mitch McConnell lecturing corporations about “staying out of politics”. Good lord, his entire career has been spent convincing corporations that only Republicans can save them and to send all their money to him so that he can do their bidding! We need a new word to describe this hypocrisy – maybe “mitching” as in “he reached new levels of mitching when he complained about Democrats being partisan.”
The Texas Rangers opened their Major League Baseball season with a full capacity crowd of 40,000+ blowing COVIDs on each other. Yee haw!! Sadly, Gregg Abbott was not in attendance as he was boycotting MLB for daring to support their players and coaches. It sounds like Denver’s Coors Field will host the All Star Game which will be good for the game since people like home runs more than they like pitching duels.
I am still not in sync with April yet and I need to get myself into gear. I have a lot I need to do and not a lot of motivation.
See all y’all later!
Tuesday Meese. 38 going up to 64 here in Kingston NY. Am feeling back to normal after second Covid shot – yay!
Puerto Rico
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That is shameful that the women were sterilized! Whatsamatta, brown people who grow up speaking Spanish are undesirables? White supremacists have a lot to answer for. I personally think they should all be visited by Saint Lorena of Manassas during the night without a cooler in sight.
Muggy & 68, high isn’t predicted to reach 90, but 86 might as well be. Allergies are killing me, even with benadryl every 4 hours so I’m not going to pretend I’m going outside this afternoon. Today’s plan: just work.
Good Tuesday morning, Meese! Stayed up far too late last night reading a novel, so it serves me right that I’m slow getting going today.
I spend my days with the feeling of Undone Homework hanging over me and added to that is the dread of My Lost Keys. A third cloud of dread emanates directly from the surgery center—I’m about to call the damned place to ask WHEN my operation is on Friday. They’ve never let me know, the dolts!
To escape my mournful thoughts, I’ve been reading YA fiction by my favorite authors and all I’ve got to say is, thank GODDESS I didn’t live in late 16th-century England or the early 18th-century American colonies. Women had lousy lives back then, and homeless children did too.
Oh, the weather. The weather is getting better. It was cloudy and ugly when I woke up at 6:15 but now it’s less cloudy and 56 F., aiming for a high of 74 F. It’s sunny right now in Ashburn. Yesterday evening I took Monty out the front door to see the cherry trees outside the building adjacent to ours, called Cherry Blossom Square. Although there was no wind at the hour of the day, petals were already falling like pink snow on the sidewalk. I love spring! In fact, I become quite intoxicated by it.
Off to make two fruitless phone calls. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.
I hope you find your keys! I always carry mine in my pocket when I leave the house because of the intense fear of locking myself out of my house/car. It makes me jingle but I don’t care.
Good luck with your surgery! I am right behind you – today I go in for my measurements and the cataract surgery schedule will be set. I am hoping they let you choose which eye to start with, I want my right eye done first as it is the one that has needed the most correction over the years. I finally found the information I was looking for the lens (IOL) options and the costs (and drawbacks) of doing anything other than the fixed-focus monofocal lens makes it a no brainer.
It’s mid 60s going to mid 70s and sunny. Yesterday the clouds finally went away in the afternoon and we got 12.6 KWHs making 83 the m-t-d. Still doing good.
The mobile vet is here – parked in front of the house – and they are working on Cloud. Blood work and stuff first to make sure it’s safe to put him under for the dental work. We’re hoping the dental issue is also the cause of his recurrent G.I. issues – that a low-grade infection in his mouth is what brings the G.I. stuff back every time we think we’ve got it dealt with. Hold the Good Thought.
My hands are not happy with me. Hopefully they’ll stay functional, Tuesdays being a heavy “retweet” day. Which I need to get over to twitter and start doing. More coffee first. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}