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”, Motley Meese! The week begins …
Morning low of 48 degrees in the Desert Southwest with an expected daytime high of 59. Sunny skies are in the forecast.
Have a great day, all y’alls!!
Sunday Meese. 44 here in Kingston and raining.
Lots of Puerto Rico stories today:
TODAY IN PONCE :: I share this beautiful writing by Mari Mari about Juan Mari Brás. Today is the 96th anniversary of the birth of this young striker, eternal accused, founder, protester, CONTINUED IN COMMENTS >>
Puerto Rican children deserve to know the history of the struggle for Puerto Rico’s freedom and one of the main leaders of that struggle was Juan Mari Bras.
The recently published book Juan Mari Bras, El Ciudadano Puertorrriqueño is an easy to read book, which narrates some feats of this patriot who left many achievements in the field of human rights, jurisprudence, the search for independence and the defense of Puerto Rican citizenship.
Written by historian Angel Perez and illustrated by cartoonist Kike Estrada, “Juan Mari Bras, El Ciudadano Puertorrriqueño”, is a beautiful book that mom and dad will also enjoy.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Good morning. Made a Mediterranean couscous dish yesterday, to share at the work holiday thing Wednesday, and this morning I’m cooking beans for dinner for the next few weeks. Also got my tea steeping. Watching the news, supposed to be sunny and breezy today, which will make the cedar trees happy. Ugh.
Are you allergic to the cedar trees? They make my daughter miserable with their pollen.
Deeply. I think everyone is. “Cedar feever” is near-universal misery in these parts.
Oh, dear, what a bummer.
BMS posted
Good Sunday morning, Moosekind! It was raining fiercely when we awakened shortly before 7 this morning. Good. Let’s see whether it makes a dent in our 11-inch deficit. The rain has stopped now, but every once in a while I step on to the porch to breathe in the cool, rain-washed air. Current temp in Ashburn is 51 F., going up a few degrees beyond that.
Finished the article about the fabulous Christmas decorations in the apartment of a couple upstairs and sent it off. It came up short (385 words instead of the required 600), but that’s OK because in this instance the pictures really are worth 1,000 words. Have one more article to write before I break the news to the Powers That Be that I’m resigning, effective January 1, but first I have to work on my Christmas newsletter to friends and family.
Plans for the day include the aforementioned Christmas newsletter, going to the gym to work on my figure, and making Mediterranean Seafood Soup tonight. Dearly will have Sticky Toffee Pudding for afters, and I will have a fresh pear. Sniff. He’s Jack Sprat and I’m quite the opposite.
In other news, is it true that Dean Phillips is dropping out of the race? And are the media really not reporting that Thing thinks Obama is president? The media are determined to push the Anyone but Kamala for 2028 story. How these C-minus males fear the power, the brilliance, the beauty, the Blackness, and above all the WOMANHOOD of a potential Kamala Harris, President of the United States.
Well, that’s as political as I’m going to get, today. Yuletide looms and there is much to be done. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!
It’s 48 heading for 60 and sunny. We generated 4.3 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d started out at 6 – which would have been good for a December day if it had been 1 day’s production and not 2.
I cannot remember the last time I slept 9 hours and wasn’t sick but I did. Finished my housekeeping chores. Hands and back protesting of course. Having a little trouble keyboarding in fact. But not enough to be irritating. Need to get onto my boosting chores. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}
Monday Meese. 40 going up to 49 here in Kingston.
Puerto Rico
Good morning. Woke up way too early, got downtown early so I added a 4th lap to my walk. Chilly — 48 degrees and it’ll be sunny and windy again so plenty of cedar pollen. Sigh. Leaving work early today to get my permanent crown put in. Anyway, happy Monday.
Good morning, meeses! Monday …
It is 45 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 68. Sunny skies this morning with clouds this afternoon. This morning I saw the moonlight but could not locate the moon. She is at about 56% illumination.
A quick scan of the news headlines: JHC, New York Times! “Why a Second Trump Presidency May Be More Radical Than His First” MAY?? What have you been smoking? A second Trump presidency would be the end of democracy in America. Good lord, the “paper of record” is completely useless.
I have many things to do today that I did not get done over the weekend so I best get to it.
See all y’all later!
It’s 38 heading for 55 – windchill is 28 – and sunny. Yesterday we generated 6.3 KWHs and the m-t-d is 12.6 which at least isn’t losing ground.
I just send an email to the planning board about a proposed rezoning for the empty field next to me. I wouldn’t have a problem with the rezoning itself if I wasn’t pretty sure what the developer in question was going to build on it if it passes. Not NIMBY concerns – although the new houses would be jarring and definitely not in line with the rest of the housing on this old-fashioned block – but drainage concerns. We already have flooding issues with the creek that’s 100′ to the north of that property line.
I’m hoping no news is good news – or at least not bad news – as I haven’t heard from anybody. Off to start my boosting day. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}
Good Monday morning, Moosekind! We have namby-pamby sunlight and 52 F. today. That’s about as high as it’s going to get. That glorious half-inch of rain we received yesterday did not make much of a dent in our rainfall deficit. However, you should have heard the birds chirping excitedly to each other after the rain! They noticed that lots of luscious worms had come up to lick the moisture off the rain-kissed grass.
Today I went to get my nails done this morning. They last three weeks, the way Mr. Tony does them. Also, because I have them done in a natural color, it’s not appallingly obvious when it’s time to get them redone. Nails today, hair tomorrow!
It probably sounds appallingly selfish to say that I have my nails done when there are people who need help with their rent. However, if I don’t have professional help, my nails split, tear below the nail bed, and cause me untold misery. Sometimes I have to wear bandaids to stop the bleeding. Is this more information than you cared to have? Sorry.
I have a lot of presents to wrap and labels to print. Today the Christmas tree lighting happens on Great Oak Common. There will be carols and hot cocoa. I also need to work on my Christmas newsletter. In this one I’m going to compare Dearly and self to vintage cars that need all sorts of tinkering to enter the Old Crocks’ Race from London to Brighton.
Hope everyone at the Pond is having a good day!
Good morning, 35 foggy and raining in Bellingham. Our Christmas Tea was all I hoped it would be……family relaxing together with tasty food and and drinks. It was fun to watch Ava enjoy her dance performance and then to relax here after. The power went out in the neighborhood so we finished with candlelight, which just added more ambiance. I’ve got some clean up to do today but my main goal is to stay off my legs.
My sister goes home tomorrow so our house will soon be quiet again. I don’t have another event to do until Christmas Eve but I do have a Christmas sewing project to complete so that will keep me busy. Best wishes to all.
Your afternoon tea and Ava’s dance performance sound delightful! Stay offa those legs, dear!
Tuesday Meese. 38 and cloudy here in Kingston, going up to 40.
Will be remembering the Montgomery Bus Boycott today in Black Kos – and the women who made it happen, who tend to get ignored in the history re-telling.
Puerto Rico
WASHINGTON, D.C.— The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced a slate of community groups and nonprofits selected to receive up to $13.85 million to help vulnerable households in Puerto Rico obtain residential solar and battery storage installations and provide residents with education and consumer protection services. Funded through the Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund (PR-ERF), this announcement will support DOE’s efforts to deploy solar and battery storage systems on up to 40,000 single-family households in Puerto Rico. The PR-ERF will ultimately improve vulnerable households’ energy resilience, achieve President Biden’s goal of lowering energy costs for all Americans, as well as help Puerto Rico achieve its goal of 100% renewable energy by 2050.
On Friday, December 22, Puerto Rico is celebrating! Kobbo is leaving! After so many years of causing harm, the program comes to an end.
Some Kobbo “La Comay” history:
Sis, thank you for reminding us of the Montgomery bus boycott. Women are ALWAYS erased from history. Whoever has heard of the Lady Aethelfled of Mercia in the 9th century? She was King Alfred the Great’s daughter. She had her own army, which she used to defend Mercia’s borders. We have to make sure that women’s part in herstory is not forgotten, and you’re doing a great job of it.
Good news for PR if 40,000 households are to be powered with solar and batteries! That’s a step into the future, isn’t it?
Good morning. Cold (for here), in the 40s. I’m going to put off my walk until afternoon. Got my crown put in yesterday, virtually pain free, and I can eat normal food already. Watching astronomy and getting ready for work.
That is GREAT news, another! So happy for you.
{{{anotherdemocrat}}} So very glad for you! Pain free & eating normally is wonderful. More Healing Energy, moar {{{HUGS}}}
Yay for the new crown
Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …
It is 46 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 75. Sunny skies are in the forecast. Again this morning I saw moonlight but no moon. She must have been more or less straight overhead at 4:30am.
It will be interesting to see if the warnings coming from the “not NY Times” media sources that a second Trump presidency would be the end of our democracy will be heeded. Liz Cheney’s new book and media tour is starting the conversation and apparently The Atlantic is doing a full-edition report on it (I think it will be paywalled). It is not just our democracy, but the world power structure that is currently keeping Russia from actualizing Putin’s plan to take back what he thinks is his. I suspect it will fall on deaf ears – Americans don’t care about the future of democracy or the planet, they only care that it took $150 to fill up the tank of their pickup truck last week. Shortsighted fools.
I got two little projects done and need to see if I can get a couple more done before I have to redirect my energy to running some errands.
See all y’all later!
Good Tuesday morning, Meese! It’s 43 F. here in Ashburn, grey and gloomy, going up to 50 F. or thereabouts.
Yesterday I dragged Dearly out to see the Christmas tree lighting on Great Oak Common. The staff provided hot chocolate (jolly good, by the way) and cookies, professional carolers dressed in Victorian costume, and pictures to be taken with Santa Claus. As soon as I recognized Santa’s stiff-legged walk, I knew he was the male lead in three of the plays I wrote. Eventually I went up to him, had my photo taken, and asked him if he’d bring me a llama for Christmas. He said yes.
Today I have to go to the gym and not only tread, but lift weights. So boring, but necessary. So far I haven’t lost a single ounce, but that’s because I will keep eating. So it’s my own fault.
This afternoon is the Staff Appreciation party. I’ll go along and get a piece of cake for Dearly. I don’t like the cakes they provide here, except for carrot cake, which they’ve forgotten how to make.
Still need to do my Christmas newsletter. Why am I so wiped out by evening? Don’t know.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.
It’s 43, windchill 38, and sunny. Yesterday we generated 6.9 KWHs and the m-t-d at 19.3 gained a smidge.
Talked to Fineena last night. Nothing new yet. Hoping she’ll connect with more doctors today. (& find out why the heck the utility companies aren’t sending her the bills. She can’t guess what she owes them.)
Hands are achy. So’s my back. Too bad. I still have to do laundry today. Once I’ve caught up with the boosting. Which I’d best get to. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}
Sorry about the aches and pains, bfitz!
Wednesday Meese. 32 going up to 37 here in Kingston.
Puerto Rico
Not a fan of polls but will post this anyway 😊
Victor Shi has good intentions, to be sure, but I’m tired of reminding him that WOMEN, even OLD WOMEN who remember what life was like before contraception and abortion were legal, are going to vote too! And it wasn’t “young people” who helped lift Biden out of the pack in the 2020 primaries, it was BLACK WOMEN!
Males constantly, consistently underestimate the voting behavior of WOMEN. I have granddaughters and one of the reasons I plan to vote for Biden and get out the vote is to get a national abortion freedom law passed.
Good morning. Got a work luncheon today, should be good. I’m taking couscous with vegetables. For now, I’m watching astronomy and getting ready for work.