Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Sept. 27th through Oct. 3rd

September 27, 2015 JanF Community 159

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 (every Sunday morning). 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 now 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 and use the link.

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66 Comments

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

    It is 56 degrees in Madison WI, on its way up to 76. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.

    Have a great day, all y’alls!!

  2. Tonight’s Supermoon, Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse

    As Space.com explains: “Supermoons occur when the moon reaches its full phase at or near the satellite’s closest approach to Earth, and appears abnormally large and bright as a result. The Sept. 27 event is quite special; the last supermoon eclipse occurred in 1982, and the next won’t take place until 2033.”

    The total eclipse will also feature a blood moon, a phenomenon caused by a refraction of moonlight in the Earth’s atmosphere known as Rayleigh scattering.

    When and where to see the eclipse:

  3. Morning all! Cloudy and warm here in north Florida. Thanks so much for the lunar eclipse chart! I’m really hoping the clouds will part so I can see it here, but I’m not optimistic. Sad, it could be the last opportunity I’ll have to see one, although I might be around in 2033, maybe. Online friends of mine and Denise are travelling today and tonight by train from Denver to Sacramento (I think that was the destination) and are hoping to see it from the observation car, which would be FABULOUS!

    Headed over to GOS to read Denise’s Sunday diary. Have a great day everyone!

  4. Good morning, 47 and cloudy in Bellingham today. I’m still enjoying the fresh air from a few open windows but the chill in the breeze tells me it’s nearly time to close them.

    We had a long day of grand puppy trauma yesterday. Finn, the rescue dog, was enjoying his walk with a dog walker when a pit bull, who had been tied to a neighbor’s tree all day, broke the rope and attacked him. He has puncture and crushing wounds in his abdomen so he had a long surgery to repair the damaged muscles and will in the doggy ER for several days. His family has worked so hard to help him become a happy trusting dog and he’s been making great progress……hope this isn’t a big setback for him.

    Needless to say this is a big vet bill and unfortunately the visiting dog owners are very poor, have no insurance, have a disabled child, and are in a state of emotional denial re their dog. They have pleaded with Lisa not to bring charges, have promised her the dog will never be in the neighborhood again, and will “do their best” to pay her $100.00 a month. Given the Wa St. dog bite laws, the legal reality of the home owner, and the financial reality of the dog owner this is prolly the best Lisa can do to make them accept responsibility.

    • Am so sorry to read this. What a sad story. Hope Finn recovers emotionally and physically. This is a nightmare for all.

    • Holding the good thought/sending healing energy to Finn. Pit bulls can be wonderful dogs but tying up in lieu of training doesn’t work on any dog and especially not pit bulls. I’d say have the dog taken away from them except all that would happen is the “authorities” would kill it. Meanwhile that’s a heck of a lot of damage their irresponsibility has caused (and I’m not sure I trust people that irresponsible with a disabled child either – nor would I hold my breath for the $100 a month after the first month). But definitely sending healing energy to Finn – and his people.

      • Austin has a law against leaving dogs tied up outside. It’s cruel, and really — what’s the point of having a dog & just leaving it tied to a tree???

        • Absolutely – and the cruelty/trauma can “ruin” a beautiful animal who only wanted to be part of the family.

    • Oh, my Goddess, princesspat! That family should be sued and the dog taken away. A huge vet bill because of another dog’s savagery is really unfair. Wonder if Lisa’s friends can organize a fundraiser to pay the vet bill? Hope poor Finn will recover and be almost like his old self.

  5. Highs in the low 80s and lows in the upper 50s all this week. Wish I thought I’d be able to see the eclipse tonight, but like everybody else, we’ve got clouds – intermittent in the day time thankfully for my solar electricity production, then banking up as the sun goes down. But I’ll definitely keep an eye out. :)

    Going into my 3rd week soloing at work which is a bit stressful but I’ve handled it before. My friend is supposed to be able to start back half days on 10/5. We shall see what we shall see. Everybody have a lovely rest of Sunday, safe travels to everyone who is traveling and homey comfort to those who are not. {{{HUGS}}}

  6. Good morning, meese! Monday …

    It is 60 degrees in Madison, on its way up to 79. Partly cloudy skies are in the forecast.

    The clouds lifted just in time and I saw the first half of the eclipse last night. There is something special about seeing the same moon and the same astronomical event that humans through the ages have observed. I can’t help but think about what our ancestors thought of these occurrences and pictured them looking at the skies just like I did.

    The president will be speaking, along with other world leaders, at the United Nations today. CSPAN video is here: President Obama and world leaders from China, Russia, South Korea, and Iran address the United Nations General Assembly. The programming is expected to start at 10am Eastern.

    Outgoing Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) had a few choice words for Ted Freaking Cruz and his delusional colleagues calling them “false prophets” who don’t understand the limits of what can be done … or do understand them but willfully whip people in a frenzy. I hope he can get a budget deal done before he leaves now that he has nothing to lose. The incoming “leadership” is unlikely to have success. As John Nichols Tweeted: “John Boehner, a man with little interest in governing, is shoved aside by those with no interest in governing.”

    Republican pundits are upset about the cost of Michelle Obama’s dress at the Chinese leader’s state dinner because the pope was in America talking about poverty! I wish they would just admit that they simply do not want someone like Michelle Obama in the White House doing anything except emptying wastebaskets for a white president.

    Gak! I spent too much time here. I put up an important speech by Sen. Elizabeth Warren related to Democratic Party Principles. I will watch for the video and post it if it shows up.

    See all y’all later!

    • Jan, damn the Rethugs and their constant harping! They said not one word when Nancy Reagan was wearing her little designer dresses and suits. Wonder when they’ll start to question which country Ben Carson was born in, and the fact that had not Obama won two elections Ben Carson would not be nearly as high in the polls as he is now.

      • I truly despise these Republicans. It is not enough to want to destroy our country, they want to take the joy out of everything.

        We have a handsome First Couple and when they preside over America’s State Dinners, they do us proud. I could not care less about the First Lady’s evening dress … she should be able to choose whatever she wants.

        • I think she looks terrific and I also think it’s great that a lawyer feels she CAN look terrific and not have to look dowdy

        • She looks fabulous, as does he. Since when do Republicans in the White House not spend on dress appropriate to the dignity of an occasion? Fah, the hypocrisy and racism is just so blatant.

        • She’s beautiful, probably qualified to be POTUS in her own right, and promotes healthful eating and exercise! She’s perfect.

          And don’t forget, Michelle gave us the right to bare arms!

  7. Amazing! After all the controversy, Shell with shut down their Arctic drilling because it is simply not profitable:

    Shell said Monday that it would end offshore drilling in Alaska for the foreseeable future after a key exploration well did not yield sufficient amounts of oil and gas.

    The decision to shelve the controversial project is a victory for environmentalists, who were concerned about possible ecological damage caused by the drilling.

    For Shell, it’s an acknowledgment that plummeting energy prices have made even the world’s most promising exploration projects financially difficult.

    The earth is grateful.

    • A lot more ecologically unsound drilling would be shut down if they weren’t subsidized with tax dollars. That “Peak Oil” the Rs would have you believe doesn’t exist actually passed for domestic production in the late 1970s – when the oil companies, led by Exxon, decided to deny global warming and go for the hard stuff because the subsidies gave them the “front money” to do it with.

  8. Good Monday morning, Meese! It’s 65 F. on an overcast morning here in NoVa, going up to 79 F. today. It rained briefly on Saturday night, quite hard. This in spite of the forecasters busily forecasting no rain at all for our area! I’ve never seen a year like this, when almost every forecast has been consistently wrong. Is it something in the water?

    Have been so busy that I missed all the good posts, as usual. I used to think when Babylicious went to full-time day care I’d have loads of time for reading and writing—ha! All I do is downsize all day. Have been spectacularly unsuccessful with Craig’s List and eBay, somewhat more successful with Freecycle. The Downsizing Expert is coming today at 1:30 to help us.

    Saw the Supermoon last night—the clouds did part long enough—but it wasn’t red. Oh, well, I was able to see the red one on TV. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond and Beyond!

    • Next year, after you are all downsized (or rightsized) into your new home, you will have more time to read. Actually, right now there is not too much going on. “Reporters” are filing articles filled with nothingburgers to pump up page views and help sell accelerants for the scorched follicle crowd.

      I need to put my own shoulder to the grindstone this morning. I have allowed myself to get distracted by shiny objects on the Internets.

  9. Good morning, Meese. Hope this new week will be a good one for all and that includes poor Finn.

    Diana, hope the downsizing creates calm and not stress!

    We went to the river last night to see the moon. The tide was high and it was a gorgeous night and so we joined everyone on our planet to look at something so far away. We didn’t get a red moon here in the city but it was a light light orange outlined in red. People started applauding when the eclipse had reached it’s maximum.

    Am off to read the news about Putin and other stuff.

    Hope that hope itself is shining down on our planet.

  10. We got a break in the clouds & I got to see the eclipse. It wasn’t red, though, and my pictures are just of a blurry white dot in the sky. Will probably delete.

    Eating breakfast – the potato/bean dish turned out good.

    Weirdly, earworm isn’t from my workout mix, it’s U2’s One, which is a slow, deeply philosophical song. I don’t understand my mind sometimes. Definitely not the conscious choice I’d have made for a Monday morning.

    • I have a half-dozen blurry white dot photos myself. Phone cameras are not really good at photos that need light adjustment. They do “Auto” and anything else is too difficult.

  11. Morning Meese – back from NC and exhausted – have to run to school – was a really great event – will tell ya more about it later

  12. Morning all. We were totally socked in with clouds, so I missed the eclipse – I will see what I can find online in the way of a video or pics. I was watching the new series starting on PBS last night, Indian Summers, set in 1932 British occupied India, but I don’t think I’ll stick with it. Scenes of British colonialist cruelty are very painful to watch, and none of the characters, British or Indian, really resonated with me. Plus, I learned afterwards that even though the scenery is gorgeous, it was shot in Malaysia, not India, and apparently doesn’t look much like the real place where the story is set.

    Thanks for Elizabeth Warren’s speech – lots of good stuff in there.

    I hope that poor dog that was attacked recovers – I don’t blame the pit bull so much as his stupid owners for leaving him tied insecurely and for not properly socializing him in the first place. They can be wonderful dogs, but like all dogs, they need to be properly raised. I guess that goes for people too!

    Have a good day all – I’m back to the dentist in a bit for a followup on the implant, which feels ok so I hope it’s all good.

  13. Hi Meeses – 60 heading for 82 and mostly cloudy in Fay., AR. I did catch a glimpse of the full “blood” moon around 7:15 and anther glimpse of it about 2/3s eclipsed at 8:45 last night – and even as a more or less ordinary full moon it looked lovely in the west at 6:30 this morning.

    I twisted my back in the shower last night – with ice and Ibuprofen I’m functioning but the pain is bad enough that without I’m nauseous. Sigh. I have a call in for my Chiropractor. (I drove in hoping for a cancellation I can slip into.) I hope to heaven it is a pinched nerve. If I’ve got a disc issue, I’m gonna have to find a doctor and you know how I feel about doctors.

    Last week of September/first week of October and I haven’t had a fire yet – that’s the new normal I guess. Still, I also don’t have the A/C on, so that’s good. I always go back and forth on the fire anyway. It’s “sustainable” – there’s no net carbon increase but there is an increase and there is also more black carbon put in the atmosphere. The “natural” gas is cleaner in that it doesn’t put as much black carbon in the atmosphere but it’s not only a net increase, it’s fracked. So far I keep coming down on the side of gas to keep the pipes from freezing and wood for comfort.

    Off to get some work done before the Chiropractor’s office opens. {{{HUGS}}}

      • Just got back from the chiropractor – best she can figure out my pelvis was already somewhat out of alignment just not noticeably so since I’m not a very active person, so when I did the bend-twist-raise foot motion to wash my left foot, that knocked it a whole lot out of alignment and took the lumbar with it, pinching a couple of nerves and putting pressure on one of the discs. And then the compensation I was doing just to be able to move and dress threw a few more things in my upper back and neck out as well. She adjusted everything, told me to ice at least 3 times a day which I did as soon as I got back to the office, loaned me a back brace for support at work today and tomorrow if I need it, said to take Ibuprofen “as needed” which it actually isn’t at the moment, and to come back Wednesday so she can see how the adjustment is holding. So. Painful but could have been seriously worse. No surgeries or anything like that. Can’t say I’m not in pain, but I’m not in anything like the pain I was in several hours ago. Hopefully I’ll be back to as normal as I get by Wednesday. :)

        • Well, I am glad she could figure out what was wrong and that, although very very painful, was not something disastrous. Hope the treatment works and you are soon back to your usual self. Isn’t it amazing how quickly one can go from feeling OK to feeling great pain? Just one little false move can do. Healing vibes going your way!

          • Thanks, I can definitely use them. And yes, just one wrong move can throw the whole body painfully out of balance.

    • The “very ordinary moon” was quite awesome this morning. The window in my office faces south and I had full-ish moonlight streaming in while I was working this morning.

      Hope you get some relief for your back!

      I am not sure I am ready for September to end. I have a lot of projects due this month and not a lot of days left.

      Another October thing: the Supreme Court’s 2015-2016 term starts today with something called the Long Conference. The justices (actually probably their clerks) will review the 1200+ petitions that came in since they closed for vacation at the end of June. There will be a lot of voting rights and abortion rights and death penalty and executive order cases to be decided this session. I will try to keep people posted on the big ones and when they are scheduled for oral arguments. One case I am following closely is the Evenwel case where a group of right-wing Texans (who else?) want to “fix” the way congressional districts are drawn, mainly to dilute the Latino vote. They think it is unfair to count people who can’t vote, which is what the census does. Of course, there is no official way to determine and count only “voters” so whatever metric they choose will be flawed. I hope the court rejects this ploy but this court hates voting rights, as evidenced by the gutting of the Voting Rights Act.

      I hope that this Supreme Court term reminds everyone about the importance of electing Democrats to the Senate and to the presidency. It is hugely important.

      Ha! I sure got sidetracked there, didn’t I? Off to the salt mines …

      • All full moons are awe-some, even the ones that don’t have any other adjective but full :) Back is better (gave a full description to Portlaw above). Not sure I’m ready for the end of September either – except September didn’t really register as being September. There’s a sort of Augtember month when school stuff is paramount that starts with the Fall semester classes and more or less ends with the bookstores’ request for Spring semester textbooks and that’s what’s coming to a close. As to the Supreme Court, if there is one thing in the world that says “stop bickering and elect Dems” that’s got to be it. Have fun in the salt mines. heh.

  14. Good morning, 38 and cloudy in Bellingham. The furnace turned on this morning so I had best close the last of the windows and get the delayed repair done for several of the storm windows. They are wood, made to match the original windows in our 1910 house and are very heavy. We used to take them down on the spring, but re hanging them is too difficult now so I’ve been having them hinged so we can open them in the summer. Unfortunately some of the hinges have failed so the winter winds can blow the storm windows open and then they break….thus needing repair.

    Downsizing has it’s appeal! You are inspiring me Diana.

    Finn is recovering and so is his family. They can visit him twice a day, he is eating and accepting care and comfort from the vet techs, and can have brief walks. He is shaved, has many stitches, a large drain, an iv vest that carries the lines and drains, and must wear a cone so he looks rather alarming. But his skin is healthy and so far no infection. He’ll be released from the doggy ER when he doesn’t need the drain, which may happen latter today.

    Thanks to all for your concern and good wishes. Seems like our life has been one medical crisis after another!

    • I hope Finn is ready to go home! I am sure he will heal more quickly in the loving care of his family! Keep us posted, please.

    • Thanks for the report. Hope you and your family will soon be reunited with Finn and there will be no more health scares!

    • Still holding the good thought/sending healing energy to Finn and the family – and a severe shortage of medical crises for the foreseeable future!

  15. Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …

    It is 59 degrees in Madison, on its way up to 63. It is raining now … has been since about 1am and looks as though it will continue the better part of the day.

    The Oklahoma execution will take place tomorrow. One of the judges declared “We find that the law favors the legal principle of finality of judgement” while another judge, who was overruled by her colleagues, stated this quaint notion: “While finality of judgment is important, the State has no interest in executing an actually innocent man.” Sorry, Judge! The state actually does have an interest in executing an “actually innocent man” … it is called “Do not question my authority!! Signed, Oklahoma”. Justice Antonin Scalia worries that the Supreme Court may ban the death penalty. I hope it does. It is a barbaric practice that feeds the most base of human instincts: blood vengeance. It is past time to evolve.

    In other news, the Senate voted for cloture on the clean Continuing Resolution, keeping the government open until December 11th. They will vote on the bill itself today and it will go to the House where it will be passed with the help of Democratic votes. It may be the last sane thing that this Congress does. The incoming Speaker said that the threat of shutdowns should not be used as a legislative ploy but offers no alternative. Right now their plan is to craft a budget filled with poison pills through reconciliation (not subject to the filibuster) and put it on the president’s desk for him to veto. He will and the government will close. What a ghastly mess!

    See all y’all later!

    • Thanks for the link! The video is up in a tab now, to be viewed later. Rev. Barber is one that I particularly like to listen to rather than just read. A quick scan of the transcript makes it appear that it is specifically for DK bloggers but I will see if there are any pearls of wisdom for the rest of us. :)

      • It is really for all bloggers – and people who use social media

        Some of the panels stuff was really interesting.

        T.Birchard on rural medicine and also the presentation by her husband – FishOutofWater on climate

    • I have that Coates story open (unread) in a tab from this morning’s news scan. He is very deserving!

    • and he’s also going to be writing the new run of a Marvel Comics character (this was a huge deal in my Twitter feed over the last week)

    • wonderful news! I’m thrilled about the award AND about the comic writing gig. I haven’t read comics in 50 years, but I might take a look at those!

  18. Good morning, Moosekind! A blessed light rain has fallen and heavier rain is expected later today. Good for the peas, scarlet runner beans, and carrots I planted in a fit of industriousness a couple of weeks ago.

    It’s still Downsizing Central here. Qualified help is coming for four 4-hour sessions, starting on Saturday. I could do a lot more if I had boxes! (Note to self: get them, pronto.) I’ve never worked so hard in my life as I have with this blasted downsizing. A pox on it all.

    So Putin has provided, and will continue to provide, military support to Bashir Assad? What an absolute slimeball. Unable to keep up with the news at the moment. I don’t want to know anything at all about the 2016 elections, thanks, so I’ll just keep on with the wretched downsizing. I’ve given away a small library of books so far.

    Borrowing from Sister Portlaw, I’ll wish for a good day for our planet, our neighboring Red Planet—full of exciting real estate waiting to be developed—and to the almost-planet, little Pluto.

    • Thanks for remembering our neighbor! The fact that she has water is just the most amazing news I’ve seen in forever! And, of course, there is dear little Pluto!

  19. Wearing pink for Planned Parenthood today. Got the charity campaign kickoff this morning. I get to run around & set things up, and I guess clean up after, too. But Friday I’m taking off to go see The Martian. Despite Matt Damon being a moron.

    After yesterday afternoon’s earworm of fruity oaty bars (from the Serenity movie), I had to play Coldplay at myself to mellow my brain out. I love how he tries to make this song bouncy/energetic when it’s just the mellowest thing ever. This morning’s earworm is Hozier’s Someone New.

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