Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: October 8th

October 8, 2023 JanF Community 73

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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40 Comments

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

    Morning low of 72 degrees in the Desert Southwest with an expected daytime high of 91. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.

    Have a great day, all y’alls!!

  2. Sunday Meese. A nippy 48 here in Kingston, going up to 60.

    Lots of Puerto Rican parades and events taking place this weekend here on the mainland – during Hispanic Heritage Month


    Today:

    1/6 Ten police officers or former police officers have been the femicides of their partners or ex-partners in the last 14 years. Of these, five were active police officers.

  3. Good morning. Did a lot yesterday, including making lunch for the next couple of weeks. This morning, I’m watching the local news since MSNBC is 100% war-in-Israel coverage, and enjoying the smell of my steeping tea. Really love the cacao flakes that my friend’s tea company came out with. Looking forward to watching Hozier on a live stream from ACL tonight. If you have Hulu, you can watch it, too — if you don’t, they have a 7 day free trial…. and there’s a really wide variety of music.

    • It seems as though going a year without a war in the Middle East is impossible. I thought tRumps Abraham Accords were supposed to bring peace to the Middle East. Did he and his failsoninlaw lie? 🤔

  5. Good Sunday morning, Moosekind. We’re having a breezy, chilly day here, with the 12-mph winds tossing the treetops around. The wind has also rumpled the indoor-outdoor carpet on the screened porch. It’s sunny in Ashburn right now, with a current temp. of 52 F., going up to 60 F. Wispy veils of white are floating across a pale blue sky.

    Actually managed to get some work done yesterday. Prepared one story for Lisa’s anthology, now need to prepare the other one and send both of them off. This evening I will begin reading the writers’ essays. Quite a number have written ghost stories, which I look forward to reading.

    Yesterday evening we had dinner (luckily there’s a nice restaurant down the hall and around the corner) with my writer friend and a nice man who volunteers a lot here. He ushers, helps set up the scenery for the stage, gardens, and I don’t know what all. I’m glad Don is getting out more.

    Younger Son sent us a photo of Nora at her first high school homecoming game. Her dress was shocking pink satin and so short it was incredible! She also wore high-heeled black shoes, the heel of which came off one of them. These things happen. Anyway, she’s gorgeous. I’ll say no more about that.

    Today Dearly will watch Formula I. I might have to go to the gym and exercise. My weight is out of control. I’ll say no more about that, either! (Grin.)

    So tomorrow is Indigenous Peoples Day! Don’t know how they plan to celebrate it here, but they’ll think of something. Meantime, I have tons of laundry to do.

    Wishing a nice, quiet Sunday to all at the Pond. I prefer not to think about the news just now.

    • So few people observe Indigenous Peoples Day. I was hoping that some of my Wisconsin clients would be shuttered so that I had another day to get a couple of projects done but alas, they will be open at 5:30am my time. I will be busy this afternoon.

    • My church celebrated Indigenous Peoples Day today. Read the kids a story called Fry Bread, and used readings and prayers from Native people. It was good.

  6. It was 40 when I got up, 50 when I logged on, and heading for 72. Sunny at the moment. Yesterday we generated 8.58 KWHs and the m-t-d is 51 – not on track for any of my goals except the “generate more than I use” goal. But it is that.

    I saw a white-tailed buck bounding through my front yard and over the fence of the neighbor across the street. He was being chased by a retriever-ish looking dog about the same color as the deer. I haven’t a clue where either came from. But I hope that deer got back on the other side of the freeway without being hit.

    Aji’s pain is worse and her functionality is less but she’s managing to get her posts out. Fineena found her skillet while she was looking for winter clothing. She hasn’t found the winter clothing yet.

    Between baking the pork roast and the fire in the woodstove yesterday the den got up to 80 last night and the rest of the house 75. It’s 68 inside right now. Not warm but not cool enough for furnace or fire. And my core heat is up from doing the Sunday chores so I’ll be fine until it warms up outside and I can open the window to let the warmth in. Meanwhile off to start my boosting day to the music in Dee’s diary. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}

    • Every day is Christmas for Fineena as she opens another box only to be surprised by what is in it!

      • I’ll tell her that. It’s a much less frustrating way of looking at it. LOL

        • I did tell her and she laughed. Then said she didn’t need it to be Christmas every day. LOL.

  7. Monday Meese. 43 here in Kingston, going up to 61.
    I’m a gymnastics fan – so this really irked me.
    Simone Biles

    Puerto Rico

    “Why Puerto Rico Is Adding ‘USA’ to Its Driver’s Licenses

    Puerto Ricans have long been wrongly told that their driver’s licenses are not proof that they are American but some question whether the change will resolve much”

  8. Good morning. It may have been overkill to wear a long-sleeve shirt for my walk this morning (60 degrees) but it was exciting. Anyway, here I am in the office, wearing shoes and eating breakfast. Thinking about anything but Israel.

  9. Good Monday morning, Moosekind, and blessed Indigenous People’s Day! We have 49 F. in Ashburn at nearly 10 a.m., and after a most unpromising gray start, we now have blue skies with cirrostratus clouds and sunlight. It won’t even get up to 70 F. today, or so They say.

    Will be too busy this Monday. Need to get nails done, there’s early rehearsal tonight, a Friends of Bill meeting at 1 p.m., which I may skip, and essays to analyze. Two of my writers fell back on the “out of this world goings-on but then she woke up and it was all a dream” trick, which is unfair to the reader. Good thing I’m not grading these papers!

    It’s so awful what’s happening in Israel! How could Israeli intelligence have fallen down on the job like this? It’s just unbelievable. Mossad is supposed to be the best in the world at what they do.

    I should be be getting ready to go to the nail salon, but I’m so tired after my bad night I feel like having a nap.

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.

  10. It’s 58 heading for 78 and 68 inside so I should need neither furnace nor fire to be warm enough today. Yesterday we generated 8.67 KWHs and the m-t-d at 60 isn’t on track even to beat last year but is at least on track to get over 200.

    I did have a fire last night and it was so nice I would have fallen asleep in front of it if my rocking chair was built for that. LOL. Everbody’s OK as far as I know. Except Aji – not only her physical things and the pain she lives with but her oldest sister was murdered on Columbus day 30 years ago and having that twice this week (“Monday holiday” and real) is a double blow. But the rest of us seem to be trucking along.

    There are times when I think my boosting doesn’t do any good and I’m just wasting my time. But then I think, it might, it could. So I keep doing it. And am off to do it now. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}

    • I saw someone suggesting that BlueSky is getting infested with people fighting over the latest Arab-Israeli conflict. Are you seeing that or do you have a pretty well curated group that you follow?

      • I’ve seen complaints about it but it’s not in my timeline. I don’t know whether it’s just that I don’t have a lot of people I’m following or what. Most of my TL is full of folks needing help.

  11. Good morning, meeses! Monday, Indigenous Peoples Day …

    It is 73 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 91. Sunny skies are in the forecast.

    Week 2 of Congressional Republicans In Disarray begins with a war in the Middle East, Tuberville still blocking military promotions – making it more difficult to help our allies in the Middle East, and no Speaker of the House to sit in on intelligence briefings or bring any legislation to the floor that might be needed to address the crisis. I surely do wish that people would quit electing members of a party that has no interest in governing and whose main goal is to destroy the functions of government.

    Busy day here. I am expecting to hear from a client to collaborate on a project that is rolling out today and tomorrow so I best get ready.

    See all y’all later!

  12. Good morning, 62 and cloudy outside my window today. Between caring for Ron, trying to keep up with the laundry, housework and garden I have been really busy, and so weary. But Ron is doing much better…. we even went for a short walk at the Marina yesterday. He has in home PT this week and then he’ll be ready to go to the joint gym and our life should be more normal again. Best wishes to all.

    • {{{princesspat}}} Good news about RonK. And getting back to more or less normal. Healing Energy to your household. moar {{{HUGS}}}

  13. Tuesday Meese. 44 going up to 63 here in Kingston.
    Puerto Rico

    To find the tallest statue in the Western Hemisphere, take Puerto Rico Highway 22 west from San Juan. After about an hour, if you take an exit and a few turns, you’ll get to a narrow two-lane road that runs along the island’s northern coast. As you get closer, a very angular Christopher Columbus, one hand on a ship’s wheel and the other raised to the sky, comes into view. In this rural corner of Arecibo, there’s nothing to obscure the view.
    The whole 350-foot bronze monument, complete with three sails and a rendering of a map on a scroll, towers over everything around it, making palm trees look like toys. There’s no parking lot or visitors’ center. So in addition to being out of place, it’s devoid of context about the violence of Columbus’s time in the Caribbean.
    Puerto Rico, now a territory of the United States after centuries of Spanish rule, is one of the world’s oldest colonies. In “La Brega,” a podcast about Puerto Rico, I’ve talked about how Columbus is even featured prominently in Puerto Rico’s anthem. That doesn’t mean he’s always front of mind, but his legacy still shapes day to day life on the island.
    Why did it end up in the Caribbean, the part of the world that suffered Columbus’s brutality firsthand? It all begins with Zurab Tsereteli, a Russian sculptor who originally intended to give the monument to the United States in 1992 to mark the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s arrival in the Americas in 1492. But all the cities he offered it to, including New York; Boston; Miami; and Columbus, Ohio, turned the eyesore down.
    Then in 1998, the Puerto Rican government offered the statue a home and spent $2.4 million to bring it to the island. It sat in storage in thousands of pieces for nearly 20 years, cursed by the nearly impossible and costly logistics of putting such an enormous thing up. There was also public outrage from people who said Puerto Rico shouldn’t be celebrating a gruesome legacy.

  14. Good morning. Slept in, and will take a longer morning break for my walk, since it’s finally cool enough to walk in the daytime. Trying to avoid the news, it’s just too depressing/enraging. Though the news about the eclipse is fun. Still hoping the construction people will come caulk the windows this weekend, though people in other buildings have said they did a bad job.

  15. It’s 49 going to 80 and sunny. Yesterday we generated right at 8 KWHs and the m-t-d at 68.3 is slightly gaining. We’ve got summer-ish weather through Thursday. Then apparently Autumn really settles in.

    I’ve got laundry on. This will probably be the last time this year I hang my clothes outside. The cats of course will manage to get out while I’m juggling the heavy basket of wet laundry out the back door. They’ll be very disappointed the next time I do laundry. Actually, they know the drill and don’t get excited until they see me get out the bag of clothespins. LOL

    Far as I know everybody’s trucking along. Heading off to start my boosting day. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}

  16. Good Tuesday morning, Meese. It’s 52 F. and sunny here in Ashbuggy (found a cricket in our flat last night, put it out on the screened porch). It may or may not get up to 70 F. We did have a surprise rain last night after dinner, much to my pleasure.

    I have mailings to see to this morning. Just found out late last night that Beloved Nephew has suffered from a terrible case of Covid. He’s been thoroughly vaxxed and works from home a lot of the time, but whatever strain this was really felled him. He’s still congested and coughing, but feels a little better. Poor angel! We’re getting our Covid boosters next week.

    Last night was Costume Night at rehearsal. My fellow actor Connie made me a shirt that says “Raging Granny” and Dearly finished the sign at long last. I’ll have to start lifting weights because that sign is bloody heavy, and I have to hold it with one hand. It’s a huge sign, but the thing is, people sitting in the back of the theatre can SEE it.

    We were videotaped last night, and besides the videographer, last night’s audience included a costume person and a theater critic. The theater critic wants to change the name of the real restaurant here to a fake name—OK. He suggested “the Pigeon’s Nest.” I remarked that the word “pigeon has unfortunate connotations and that some other bird would be better. It was then changed to “the Crow’s Nest.”

    The costume person suggested that the last line of the play be changed from “Shakespeare was right—all’s well that ends well,” to “I guess Shakespeare was right—all’s well that ends well.” I lifted my arms in supplication and said, intensely, “He was the greatest playwright that ever lived!” That seemed to shut people up. As you know, I feel strongly about Shakespeare and will probably work in a reference to him in every play I write.

    That’s enough about moi. I need to mail out some stuff and go to get my hair done. Rehearsing is exhausting, even when it’s a 15-minute play, because we’re standing all the time.

    The real news is so depressing I can’t even think about it. I don’t know what to do about it, either.

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!

  17. Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …

    It is 66 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 90. Sunny skies are in the forecast. Another beautiful night sky when I got up – the waning moon was right next to the Morning Star and was just slightly surrounded by puffy clouds. I am really going to have to invest in a camera that can take night sky photos – so many skies that I feel I want to share.

    Snippets of news: Ruben Gallego (D) leads Lake (R) and Synema (R-ish) in Arizona Senate race. I am ignoring the House Speaker race, it sounds like McCarthy has changed his mind and will now run for it again because “only he can be the guy needed to manage the newest Arab-Israeli conflict.” Okay, fine. We do need a speaker in order to finish the budget and get aid to Ukraine and who it is matters not a whit, it is a temp job. I am also ignoring the latest Middle East war. I have no idea why Hamas would launch a war that will end in nothing but pain for the people they are claiming to represent. I get the idea that “things are bad and nothing is getting better” but this is surely not going to make better happen.

    I took a small break from a coding project in order to clear my brain but I need to get back to it. The only question is whether I should take my walk now before it heats up or if I can wait. The hourly temperature chart suggests temps will stay below 85 until at least noon.

    See all y’all later!

    • So it looks like the Edit feature is not working at all now even after the update and re-activation. It appears to be a Java thing.

      Back to the drawing board!

  18. Good morning, 55 and raining in my garden today. RonK can finally get into the shower again and climbing the stairs is getting easier, yay! He still tires easily but will regain stamina now that he can do more. Feeling very grateful. As always, my best wishes to all.

    • {{{princesspat}}} Yay! for showering & climbing stairs! That’s progress indeed. Healing Energy to your household. moar {{{HUGS}}}

  19. Good morning. We’re warming up, but at least not back to 100s. Going to walk mid-morning again, it’s nice to be outside in the daylight.

  20. Good Wednesday morning, Moosekind! Another spectacular day is gearing up outside—I do love the blue skies and golds and reds of October! It was 46 F. when we rose, like properly behaved retirees, just after 7 a.m., and it’s now 51 F. It never reached 70 F. yesterday, despite Their predictions. Today it may be a bit warmer.

    Please bear with me while I pay tribute to my petunias. Red, white, and blue, they were bought to present a patriotic appearance for Memorial Day. They’re still going strong, blooming away, looking beautiful, and smelling sweet. Minty is still okay so far—naturally she’d prefer hotter weather.

    I told the members of my Drama Club team that I’d had an idea for a one-act play that doesn’t necessarily have a happy ending. The Director replied with some asperity that ours is a Drama Club, not a happy endings club. She’s good at directing but I sweartagoddess she has a sharp tongue! She also tends to patronize me: when she gave me a couple of apples she added that I should wash them before eating them. Huh? I am !@#$%^&* pushing 80 years old and she found it necessary to tell me that?

    There was a good takedown of Ms. Haley in the Style section of this morning’s WaPo. Was glad to see it. As far as I’m concerned, with the Republicans, it’s the Dog Who Caught the Car. With the overturning of Roe, they are not going to have a victory at the polls next year. Nor this year in Virginia, for that matter.

    Well, I’d better get on with my day. Very glad to hear about RonK being able to use the shower and climb the stairs! Yay! Hope Bfitz’s sunshine will keep on and that everything will stay kewl in Austin.

    So filled with revulsion at what Hamas did in Israel that I cannot say anything. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!

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