Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: November 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.

42 Comments

  1. Puerto Rico

  2. Good morning. One more work from home day, then a super long weekend. Today should be nice, cold front and some rain tonight. I’m going to have the risotto I made for lunch — spread out Thanksgiving over several days.

  3. It’s 54 heading for 63 and sunny at the moment but the clouds are already starting to move in. Rain and a cold front tonight. We generated right at 6 KWHs yesterday and the 139.39 m-t-d is still on track for 180.

    Not very good sleep last night, fuzzy brain this morning. Also slow moving and dropping things a lot. sigh. Cats managed to slip out yesterday and are now loudly demanding to go out again. That doesn’t help concentration any. Cats. Another tooth chipped last night. It’s finally dawned on me – what 6, 8 years late – that many of these issues I’ve been having (brittle nails, fatigue, pieces of tooth crumbling off) are signs of CA deficiency. Since I’m taking sufficient CA – also Mg and vitamin D – that means malabsorption. Probably intestinal damage from all those years I was eating wheat/gluten and shouldn’t have been. And I purely do not know what to do about that.

    I haven’t connected with anyone today yet. Lisa was able to do a grocery order last night. She was planning on a very early trip to Ralph’s for the rest this morning. I don’t know if she managed to do it. Holding the Good Thoughts all around. Including for our nation. And the world.

    Off to twitter. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  4. Bfitz, is CA calcium? Can you see a doctor through Medicare and find out what you can do about malabsorption? Seems like a problem that you shouldn’t have to endure.

    • {{{Diana}}} Yes, CA – actually Ca – is calcium (fingers stick on the shift too long this morning – I’m capitalizing many things that shouldn’t be). I can see my doctor. I just don’t know many/any doctors who know diddly squat about nutrition so I seldom even try to bring a nutritional problem to them. The brittle fingernails was the first sign that everybody missed. Now my what-were-very-strong teeth are crumbling. Heaven knows what’s happening to my bones. But yes, I probably need to try again.

    • OK – bit the bullet and all that. I’ve got a not-as-early-as-I’d-like morning (cuz fasting for blood draws) appointment 12/10. Not that blood tests will show the malabsorption – the reason I’m losing fingernail, tooth, & probably bone calcium is to keep the blood calcium level up since it’s not absorbing from my dietary intake. We shall see what we shall see.

  5. Good Thursday morning, Meese, it’s another lovely, sunny day. Right now in Ashburn it’s 40 F., going up to 49 F. I have so much to do I’m not quite sure where to start.

    At any rate I feel considerably less grumpy today, considering I had 7+ hours’ sleep last night after taking a .5 mg Ativan. Just to get enough sleep that I have the energy to do what I need to do is all I ask. I was even nice to Monty this morning.

    Cooked a full breakfast, put clean sheets on the bed and made it up, now going to take a shower. Need to get with it on the writing chores. Also, since I cracked an egg this morning, I will now have to use it to make a pineapple upside down cake.

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.

  6. Good morning, 43 and cloudy. Rain is forecasted for tomorrow so I’ve given up trying to be outdoors. I’ll set up the dining room today and if weather allows we can wander outside if we want to. I had a moment of grace yesterday…..my flower shop friends gifted me a bundle of flowers. I didn’t order ahead this year, but they made sure some of my favorite stems were there for me. I’m still blinking tears of gratitude.

    Best wishes to all.

  7. Thanksgiving Thursday Meese. 26 degrees here in Kingston NY going up to 46.

  8. Puerto Rico

    Thank you Meese who have helped me continue to get the word out.

  9. Good morning, meeses! Thursday …

    It is 36 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 34. Wet snow is in the forecast for this morning – I am hoping it does not stick to roads as we are traveling to a holiday meal.

    We will celebrate “thanks giving”, the action, rather than “Thanksgiving”, the holiday depicting an event that never happened, as we gather with friends and loved ones. I hope everyone’s day is pleasant and that it does not involve having to sit at a table with people who wish them ill both literally (by not vaccinating) and figuratively (by being Republicans). I am glad to be able to choose!

    See all y’all later!!

    • Good Thursday morning, Meese, and happy Turkey Day. Yes, I am thankful for the blessings in my life—food, warmth, shelter, family, and friends—but this day no longer means what it once did to me.

      Until I found out the truth, I loved Thanksgiving as a holiday: no presents, no cards, no hoopla, just a welcome family feast. Kids would come home from college or from distant cities where they worked, to share the food, the laughter, and the festivities.

      But now I know the truth that I was never taught in school. All I ever received in the way of history was propaganda from the White male Eurocentric viewpoint. Did I ever tell you I never heard of Josephine Baker until my young French hairdresser told me about her, and how revered she was in France? I went to the library and borrowed a book about her. I still don’t know as much as I should about Paul Robeson.

      Anyway, I’ll spend the day thinking about the Natives whose land we stole and the enslaved Black people who landed on these shores in 1619 and reflect that many white people are pretty crappy as human beings.

      End of rant. A little after 5:30 this morning I took Monty out and the sky was clear—we’ve had blessedly clear weather for a couple of weeks now—and the waning Moon was right overhead. Now that full daylight has come we have pale blue skies with wisps of white cloud. It’ll go up to 58 F. today.

      Although my heart quails at the thought of leaving The Dawgat home alone, we’ll do everything we can to mitigate potential disaster, including coming home early. We couldn’t book an overnight stay at Healthy Hound, nor a dog-sitter.

      Wishing a good feast to all at the Pond!

  10. Good morning. We had a cold front come through, temps will fall through the day. I’m watching Fantastic Beasts, part of the Harry Potter series. It’s a sweet movie. Got a subscription to Disney+ — there was a $2 deal — to watch the Beatles documentary. I’ll do that during lunch. Have a great day, y’all!

  11. Happy Day of Giving Thanks – for air & water, food & fuel; for safe, secure, comfortable housing; for whatever equipment, tools, supplies, & money I need; for loving family, good friend, pleasant companions, supportive community. & for whatever power I have to bring these to those who don’t have them.

    It’s 38 heading for 46 and overcast. Temps will go down to 26 by morning. We generated 3.1 KWHs yesterday. The m-t-d’s 142.54 – we’ve exactly one week left to get it up to 180. It’s doable. We shall see what we shall see.

    GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY. Not Justice but definitely accountability. Something that should be normal but is so rare we celebrate it. May it become normal.

    I’ve got to learn to read the ingredients every single time I buy supplements. Heaven knows when they changed it. Obviously not recently. But the Ca I’m taking, that I carefully made sure it wasn’t calcium carbonate before I started using this brand is now calcium carbonate. I might as well be eating Tums. So what little stomach acid I, as an older person, generate is being neutralized. Exacerbating the malabsorption problem. Sigh. As soon as the “Thanksgiving sales” are over, I’ll go out and get a different formulation. Which of course will be more expensive than powered limestone. But definitely worth doing what I can via diet to save my teeth and bones.

    Off to Dee’s diary & twitter. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  12. Good morning, meeses! Fridayish …

    It is 14 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 32. Mostly cloudy skies are in the forecast. The snow yesterday tapered off by the time we reached our destination and eventually only accumulated on the grass. It was probably less than an inch. Traffic was heavy – it has been years since I drove anywhere for a Thanksgiving Day meal so I was surprised. My biggest concern was watching for deer and deer hunters as I was traveling through deep red parts of Wisconsin where children with AR-15s are hunting.

    Oh, great, a new COVID variant! Really, this is the future MAGAts are embracing – until we get vaccinated, we will be dealing with new variants. One of these times it will be vaccine resistant and we will be well and truly screwed. I will never understand Americans rewarding the Republican Party for literally killing them and destroying any hope of an economic recovery, NEVER. Dane County still has a mask mandate through 11/27 – it is not stopping people from the hinterlands from traveling to our suburban big box stores and shopping maskless. Of course, the stores won’t challenge them – the mandate is mostly self-enforcing. At least we know who to stay away from.

    I let myself sleep in and got up a little after 6am. I was awake at my regular time (closer to 4am) but was able to turn over and add some sleep time. Normally I can’t, my brain wakes me up with things I need to do; this morning the “things to do” were not compelling, and with few people working today, they can easily be pushed into the weekend.

    See all y’all later!

  13. Good morning. Had a nice day yesterday — watched lots of Marvel stuff, and most of the 1st part of the Beatles documentary. I had to stop watching, it was making me sad — I wanted to knock the cigarettes out of George’s hand, and John….. Anyway, today — it’s cold, the high will be 60. Going to watch more Marvel stuff, maybe the rest of the Beatles thing, and pick up my groceries this afternoon.

      • I think I’ll have to take it in small chunks. I got emotional yesterday. The reviews are really good, though – including from Ringo:

  14. Good lazy Friday morning, Moosekind! Yesterday we woke up so early that all day we did nothing but try to catch up on our sleep. I did rouse myself long enough to take Monty for an afternoon walk in the hope of tiring him out, and I did what little cooking was required for the dish I was bringing.

    We did everything we could to fortify leaving Monty by himself for more than four hours. When we arrived back home at 9 p.m. it was OK. The only thing torn up was some used aluminum foil he’d found or pulled down from the counter. Apparently the football game was boring because he was asleep on the sofa when we arrived.

    Thanksgiving dinner reminded me of the old days at Barky Manor. The noise made by the 6- and 7-year-old boys as they tore around the main level was not to be believed. We met the parents and elder sister of Miss Pink Cheeks’ BFF, and they were interesting. Trevor outdid himself with the cooking: we had a splendid meal of several courses. Maria, the elder sister of Alexandra, the BFF, had made apple strudel; DIL made her signature Ginger-Pumpkin Tart, and I contributed a French apple tart from Trader Joe’s. We all had a wonderful time.

    I was glad Trevor and Tiger Mom have the day off. They’ll need a day of rest after a party like that.

    Sometimes it does pay to get up early. We watched an amazing weather front move in. At six Monty and I went out to the courtyard to find it was very windy, dark, and cold, with a partly cloudy sky almost obscuring the last-quarter Moon. After daylight came we watched part of the sky change to blue, sunshine, and white clouds, with the other part of the sky turning dark gray. A rainbow suddenly appeared! That was amazing. Then, with a roar, a blast of hard rain blew in sideways, dashing against our windowpanes before disappearing. Bizarre!

    Now it’s back to sunlight, clouds, and blue sky although I can see the trees tossing restlessly in the wind.

    I’d planned to run errands in Reston today but I’m too tired. I’ll just have an easy day doing what I need to do in the way of home chores. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.

  15. Puerto Rico

  16. It’s 28 (from a low of 23) heading for mid 50s and sunny. (So when I noticed the bird suet was gone & opened the back door to go put some more out, 4 cats bolted. sigh.) Yesterday we generated 6.6 KWHs and the 149 m-t-d is (barely) still on track for 180. Which is 6th place – 200 is what it would take to be 1st place.

    As usual with my family, the 4:30 dinner turned out to be a 6:30 dinner. A platter with about 4 meals on it. The whole family came and we visited for about 20 minutes – vaxxed and masked – which was very nice. I hadn’t seen them face-to-face since the Yule celebration in 2019. Since I hadn’t eaten lunch once they left I “packaged up” 2 meals and put them in the fridge then ate the rest. 😁 Way more carbs and fat than I normally eat and really too much too fast altogether. Especially since I ate both pieces of pie. (The juice from the cranberry sauce had seeped over to the pie section & if I hadn’t the crust would have gotten soggy. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. 😂) But it was good. Even if I was a bit uncomfortable for a while afterwards. An American Thanksgiving tradition, right? They said they’d bring me Yule dinner as well.

    Lisa’s gaslighting father called and totally blasted what calm and store of energy she’d managed to get together. According to him Lisa isn’t disabled, isn’t homeless, her mother’s cancer wasn’t “the serious kind”, and a bunch of other crap. And Lisa’s a bad daughter for not calling him to wish him Happy Thanksgiving. The bastid calls her on the motel phone so she doesn’t know who it is until she answers. I suggested she hang up when she hears his voice. (Yes, she called me. After she cried and vented, she said she thought that was a good idea. He’s always going to complain to her mother and sister about how bad a daughter she is, no matter what she does.) Jill was online yesterday to do her pastorly best to encourage and support folks with toxic families dealing with Thanksgiving. She was expecting a call from her son but didn’t say online whether or not she’d gotten it by the time I logged off. I don’t know about anybody else.

    So. Off to twitter. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

    • We ended up with the leftovers from the “thanks giving” meal we shared with friends; they did not want all that rich food to tempt them as they were dieting. So now we have it in our fridge and after a couple of meals of too much food, I am done. I wonder how people can eat like that all the time, we have much simpler, more healthy meals with smaller portions.

  17. Good afternoon, 52 and sunny in Bellingham. Everyone is on their way home now, RonK is vacuming up the dog hair, the food has been divided into to-go containers, and the last load is in the dishwasher, whew! Yesterday was fun, but an appetizer lunch for 10, followed by dinner for 8 was a lot of cooking and doing so my knees are in full revolt today. It was a pouring rain day so I’m grateful we could be cozy indoors and with the vaccine relatively safe from Covid. As soon as I can move a toasted bagel with cream cheese, turkey and cranberry sauce will be my lunch, and tonight we’ll have turkey tacos for dinner and watch episode #4 of The Wheel of Time.

    Best wishes to all.

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