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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Good morning, meeses! Wednesday …
It is 57 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 82. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast – plus probably some smoke (we had some yesterday).
Shontel Brown!! w00t!!! Thank you, people of #OH11, for rejecting the Biden hater. We have plenty of those on the right, we don’t need to give them power within our own caucus.
Andrew Cuomo news: trying to care, trying to care. Sorry, I don’t care. He and his birther brother Chris can both quit and the world will be a better place.
See all y’all later!
Celebrating Shontel’s win and SMH at the nasty “concession” (aggression)speech from Turner
Good Wednesday, Moosekind! It’s another gray day in Ashburn, with possible sun this afternoon. At least it’s not hot: right now it’s 63 F. going up to 82 F. We’re about to be slammed with more hot weather starting tomorrow.
The one piece of good news on the political scene is that Shontel won! As Jan just said, we don’t need any more trash-talking, Democrat-hating berners in office. As for Abbott and Costello, I mean Abbott and DeathSantis, I hope Biden calls them out and the other governors will shun them.
If Hillary runs for NY guv, I’m in.
I was ten minutes early for my appointment with the foot doctor yesterday but was kept waiting for 45 minutes before I was seen. She said the toe was looking good, to ease back into exercising gradually, and to come back in 60 days to have my calluses scraped. Apparently the neuropathy in my feet entitles me to have this done every two months. I had to Google “neuropathy” even though I could discern it meant “nerve death or nerve disease” just from the name. All these signs of aging are quite unwelcome!
Anyway, enough of that. What with the waste of time in the doctor’s office and a surprise visitor in our apartment when I returned, I got absolutely nothing done except laundry yesterday. Have lots to do today, including a meeting in the afternoon about the Authors’ Festival.
That’s enough from me this morning. Hope everyone is doing well. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.
Sigh, the browser that was letting me come here isn’t any more. So, in the office today. Doing stretches to ward off the shoulder/back stiffness I had yesterday. I was going to link to the song I’vehadon repeat,can’t on my phone. But its the words I love:
We are the people we’ve been waiting for
Out of the ruins of hate and war
Army of lovers never seen before
We are the people we’ve been waiting for
Puerto Rico
The captive media is untrainable. They should be called out for changing a direct quote to please their corporate overlords. It is like the people who think that Puerto Ricans want to be a state as in “who would not want to be part of a country that may elect Ron DeSantis president?” I see them in your timeline all the time.
It’s Wednesday, 66 degrees heading for 83, and sunny at the moment. “Partly” sunny is both forecast and probability. Yesterday we generated 15.6 KWHs and the m-t-d is 44.6 – 51 would be on track, so the gap is growing for reaching 500 by end of month. (We are on track for 460 which would but 2021 in 3rd place.)
The Lammas respite from the summer heat is drawing to a close. But it’s still here and I am both grateful and baking. I just took a pan of molasses-spice muffin bread out of the oven. Hopefully the Old Ones – both of the land my birth and the land of my ancestry – find these acceptable. They don’t contain any grain and at least for the land of my ancestry it’s supposed to. The aroma always goes to them, with or without holy days, while the substance goes to me/adds to my own.
The only good news I know of is the Shontel Brown win. But everybody’s still here, still hanging on, still doing what they can to make things better amid/in spite of their own issues. Holding the Good Thoughts. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, meeses! Thursday …
It is 63 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 81. Cloudy this morning, chance of afternoon showers. Rain is in the forecast for the next several days – it will be welcome as it may help clear the air.
The Cuomo brothers saga illuminates the dangers in giving jobs to relatives of politicians so you can cash in on their famous names. From the headlines I see, Chris “Fking Birther” Cuomo couldn’t even mention his brother’s problems on his CNN show – “all the news that isn’t embarrassing”, I guess. Another no-talent guy-who-got-his-job-because-of-his-name will hopefully bite the dust. I have been shunning CNN for quite a while anyway, it can go away and no one will notice or care.
Another chaotic day of fractured schedules, some interruptions welcome, some unwelcome. My “deadline” for making progress on house clearing has come and gone and I am not happy with the progress. Right now I am feeling a bit overwhelmed and need to get a second wind. I am starting to understand why it takes families a long time to clear the houses of relatives who have passed away. What do you keep, what do you throw away, does anyone really want this old stuff, wow I have to donate that really nice thing because there is no place to sell it, why oh why did I keep all this crap?? Today I will make another list (it is an Aries thing) and see if I can focus my energy on things that will look like progress.
See all y’all later!
Hi Jan – this does not look good
I’m glad the Marc Elias is on the case. Last time this happened, they got them reinstated.
OMG!
Jan, I took photos of my beautiful clothes before handing them over to Darling Niece. I became too overweight to get into them and besides that, after the quarantine I have completely lost the desire to dress up and go anywhere.
Darling Niece is selling the clothes and unused shoes on eBay to fund her Running Away account. Every woman should have one, just in case.
Is a “Running Away” account one where you keep money hidden from a spouse or partner so that you can go somewhere safe if you need to? Or is it to have a getaway trip to go somewhere alone to recharge yourself?
The first one. Her husband is not physically or verbally abusive, just withdrawn. Naturally, being male, he refuses to get counseling.
Thursday Meese. 63 here in Kingston, going up to 79. This weather has been really strange for August – when I wake up in the morning my heat is on.
Puerto Rico
Good morning. So glad I’m working at home today, I must not have been good enough with the stretching & moving yesterday, my back & shoulders are stiff. Will be more conscious about doing that today. Loving Queen Dee’s destruction of Cornel West on Twitter.
It’s 68 heading for 85 and overcast this morning. We got 13.4 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d is 58. sigh. I’d planned to do laundry today but the widget says not only will it be cloudy all day but we may get some rain this afternoon. Tomorrow’s supposed to be sunny so I’ll do it then.
Nothing seems to have changed for anybody. Which isn’t really good but could be worse. Our governor admitted the anti-mask mandate wasn’t and good idea and says he wishes he hadn’t signed it. Not that it would have made any difference. Our R-controlled legislature would have just overridden his veto. As of last night we had 25 ICU beds available in the entire state. I guess we’re back to saying “thank god for Mississippi” – they only had 6.
Since I celebrate Lammas week rather than a single day, I’m counting the baking I did Tuesday and yesterday. I hope the Old Ones both in this land of my birth/living and the land of my ancestry accept them as such. In the land of my ancestry Lammas truly is the beginning of Autumn. Harvest starts early when the edge of winter can be felt in the air, works through the still summer sun, and finishes as the light and warmth fade back to that edge of winter. In the land of my birth Lammas is frequently the gift of a break in heat that’s seldom comfortable and sometimes deadly and just a reminder that winter is coming. In both there is that “work, for the night is coming” energy. Wisdom of the Ages.
Coffee and twitter. Then we shall see. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Which is the land of your ancestors, bfitz?
British Isles/Western Europe as best any of my family knows. Going by some family stories and otherwise surnames we’ve got Irish, Scots, English, French, and probably Swedish (definitely Scandinavian). But not only did nobody in living memory actually immigrate, nobody in the memory of those living when I was a kid actually immigrated over here. The only line I know traced back to barely pre-Revolution/fought in the Revolution got off a boat from Scotland in 1774. That doesn’t mean he was Scots, just that the boat came from Scotland. (Surname is Small which could be either Scots or English.)
Well, it’s nearly noon on Thursday morning, Meese. Better late than never!
Lately it’s been rare that we’ve awakened to a lovely morning, but it happened today. It was 62 rather cool degrees F. when I took that horrifying little dog out to the courtyard, more reminiscent of September than early August. It will reach 87 F. today and the humidity will return. Sigh. I’ve totally enjoyed our week-long break from hot, thundery weather. We’re in for a week of heat, humidity, and whatever.
Read an article in the newspooper that said it’s terrible for you to eat eggs and bacon and buttered toast for breakfast, you’re better off not doing it, really, because you might die. Naturally, this had the effect of making me want eggs and bacon and hot buttered biscuits for breakfast this morning, which I proceeded to make. We ate ourselves into a stupor. In fact, I went back to bed for an hour afterwards.
In all fairness I’d had the night from hell because of gastric reflux. Oh, the joys (not) of being old! I spent what was left of the night (2 until 6:30 a.m.) in the green recliner because it seems to help to have my head elevated.
Jan, apropos of my incomplete remarks about downsizing, if you take photos of items that you hate to part with but know you must, you’ll have insurance against feelings of loss. With respect to old family photos and letters, you can also photograph them and upload them to The Remembering Site if you open an account there. I have one, ready to receive my memoirs when I get around to writing them. That will happen when I’m a really old woman in a rocking chair, biting on an apple with one tooth.
It’s still beautiful out there, although it’s now 82 F. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.
The idea of photographing things before recycling/tossing them definitely crossed my mind. One that I thought of is birthday cards from my mother, a few of which I have saved. I am not ready to part with them, though, I want to hold them in my hands because they were in her hands. I will still have some storage capability wherever I end up and I expect there will be at least two boxes of things that will move unopened (as they have in the past) and which my daughter will have to deal with in the (we hope) far distant future. I have moved at least 8 times in my life so I have learned to be heartless about throwing things away. The last move was a significant square footage downsize so I am shocked about how much has accumulated since then! That was NOT supposed to happen. I blame it on “too many closets.”
Believe me, I know the feeling. :)
Thirteen years later, I still look at the objects my mother gave me or left me and think, she gave me those flower shears. She gave us that paper towel holder for Christmas one year.
For the rest of my life I’ll be missing my mother. My father, too, only not quite as much, as he’s been dead 41 years.
Good morning, 64, sunny and smoky in Bellingham. Our house is full of family now and it’s so good to be together again. Tonight I’m taking all 4 grand kids to the bookstore cafe for dinner and we’ll do our annual school clothes shopping via the internet. Much easier for my old knees, and should be fun if I can keep up with their tech skills! They will bring their devices for browsing and I’ll have a computer for ordering and buying.
Ryan is loving his work project at our son’s surveying office and so far his muscles are cooperating, big relief! He and Erich have been coming here for lunch so that’s a bonus for me.
Time to get busy and presentable. Best wishes to all.
Good morning, meeses! Friday …
It is 70 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 79. We are expecting thunderstorms, probably around midday.
Historians will look back at this time and wonder about a country that had a vaccination against a deadly virus and, because a political party/death cult told their members to ignore public health guidelines, suffered a completely avoidable fourth surge that threatens to shut us down again. I am still struggling with masking and social distancing – I continue to mask in public spaces but if I am with other vaccinated people, in small settings (or with other vaccinated people whose social group is vaccinated and who stays out of crowds) I don’t mask. But if delta is sticking to vaccinated people (gawd, I wish the CDC had not said that “vaccinated people can’t infect others”), am I deluding myself? I really want my life back, not to go to a crowded place unmasked but just to not worry about who I let into my house or having a conversation with neighbors I meet on my walks. I am really glad we took our vacation during the small opening when the vaccination was rolling out at a high rate and before delta emerged. I would not spend time in an airport now.
A quick scan of the headlines is depressing – it sounds like the Republicans are planning Big Lie 2.0 as “the delta virus came across the ‘open’ southern border and it is all Biden’s fault.” :::sigh::: I just can’t look at that any longer and I am going to immerse myself back into house clearing. I have two weeks left where I will have free help and I need to take advantage of that window.
See all y’all later!
Friday Meese. 62 here in Kingston going up to 89 – no rain today.
Puerto Rico
Happy Friday! Happy to be working from home today. Will listen to music in between phone calls, then pick up groceries this afternoon.
Good Friday moaning, Moosekind! It’s another gorgeous day in Ashburn, kicking off a torrid week of temps in the 90s. Right now it’s a blissful 72 F., but it’ll go up to 92 F. later. I must get down to the garden to water as soon as I finish this.
Came out of my meeting yesterday more loaded down than ever with chores. At least I have almost finished the 9/11 story that I’ve been dreading writing for, like 12 weeks. I just don’t know what to say that hasn’t been said 1 million times before. The middle three paragraphs are fine, because it’s the residents talking about what they experienced when the Pentagon was hit. It’s the beginning and concluding paragraphs that are driving me cray-cray. Well, I’ll send it to the Managing Editor, who was absent yesterday, and see what he has to say.
We have errands to do this morning, plus a certain amount of housework. Little Ethan is coming tomorrow for a sleepover while his parents whoop it up in Manassas, of all places. That’s not a place I’d ever choose to spend time in, but apparently there’s a concert of some sort.
Because I am not paying for a table at the Authors’ Festival, I’ll be sharing a table with another author. He’s going to be interviewed on the in-house TV this morning, so I want to see what he looks like. I see by his creds that he’s written a religious book (some of the people here are SO Christian), so I’m not terribly sure he’ll like sharing a table with an old Witch. However, that’s his problem.
Must get on with things. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!
It’s 66 heading for 88 (which really means low 90s) and sunny. At least at the moment. Yesterday we generated 10.6 KWHS – definitely not on track. The m-t-d is 68.77 & thank heavens I haven’t had to use the A/C this week because that wouldn’t cover usage if I were.
I found out yesterday – thank you twitter – that we’ve a local election so I’ll be heading off to vote shortly. (Extend city 1% sales tax that pays for fire, library, and yes police. I’m a yes vote.) Which sort of disrupts my routine but what the heck. I’ll deal with laundry when I get back. I’m just waiting for my oatmeal to get cool enough to eat. By which time the traffic will have died back to our usual not much.
Jill got a bit of a break yesterday. A woman who works at the shelter heard what’s been going on (Taos sans tourists is a small town) and talked her bosses into letting Jill bring in 6 puppies (2 litters) for one $75 surrender fee. (“Normally” it would be $450 for 6 puppies.) So that’s happening today. Jill raised all but $10 so I’ll add that in right now.
Just got off the phone so I’m “behind my time” and need to get out of here so I can vote and get back to put the laundry on. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 65 and partly sunny in Bellingham. We’ve got a quiet morning planned, and then then I’ll help son#1 get ready for dinner at his house tonight. He works all day so a little help is needed. Time for coffee, and as always, best wishes to all.
Good morning, meeses! Saturday …
It is 70 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 81. Afternoon and evening thunderstorms are in the forecast. Yesterday’s storms stayed well south of us but we could see the lightning in the distance.
Olympic sports was entertaining yesterday – the Canada v Sweden women’s soccer gold came down to a very exciting shootout. Canada came away with the gold medal which was good; Canada beat us to advance and one always wants those who beat them to end up as the eventual champions. It really shows how important a goalkeeper is, when ours was lost to injury, it sealed our loss – her replacement gave up the lone goal in that match. The bronze medal in women’s marathon was won by a 27 year old Wisconsin woman, only the third medal won by the USA since the women were allowed to run in it in 1984 – we won gold in 1984, bronze in 2004 and now bronze in “2020”. Molly Seidel should be able to run again in 2024, maybe getting the gold medal she said she wanted when she was in 4th grade. :) Her backstory is very interesting, as she has suffered from OCD and eating disorders.
I have a number of projects queued up that I hope to get done this weekend so I am going to only scan the news and maybe save some stories to read later.
See all y’all later!
Saturday Meese. 68 here in Kingston going up to a cloudy 89.
Was up early – cleaning etc because today is my husband’s initiation birthday – he entered the priesthood in 1999 – so I have special foods to prepare – we celebrate the ancestors at the same time
Have seen very little attention paid to this
MVP Harris and Dr. Bernice King
Happy Initiation Birthday to your husband! 🎶🎶✨🎉🎊🎶🎶
Puerto Rico