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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Good “morning”, Motley Meese! The week begins …
Morning low of 64 degrees in Madison WI with an expected daytime high of 84. The forecast calls for a chance of thunderstorms.
Have a great day, all y’alls!!
Good Sunday morning, Moosekind! It’s fair now and will be hot. When I took the dog out to the courtyard this morning before dawn there was a breeze and it was quite cool. It’s currently 62 F. in Ashburn, going up to 87 F.
Read the newspaper’s coverage of McCain’s death as I drank my early morning tea. He was the last of the old school Republicans, a man who still retained a sense of decency. I hope his last days were peaceful and free of pain. It pleases me immensely that he wanted President Obama to deliver the eulogy at his funeral and directed that Thing is not to attend.
My poor hubby is under the weather, so does not even require Sunday breakfast. Hope he’ll feel better as the day goes on.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.
John McCain is a complicated person and his legacy will be mixed. He could have done so much more to make the Thing years less damaging but his thumbs down in Mitch McConnell’s face makes up for some of it. In my mind, the two biggest blemishes are Sarah Palin, who paved the way for the trumping of the Republican Party, and his Party Over Country endorsement of Trump in 2016. If he had not endorsed Trump, if he had broken with him at that point instead of when it was convenient (in his last memoir), it may have opened the floodgates for #NeverTrump’ers. But he couldn’t because Republican tribalism is too strong. The coverage of his life makes me itchy when they talk about him being a “war hero”. My definition of hero requires that you save lives. He went to war because he loved war and because it was the family business. I find nothing heroish about that. I read an article that does a nice job of debunking the myth:
Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona will be picking a replacement which by law has to be a Republican (not that he would likely pick a Democrat!). The short list is said to include Cindy McCain but I suspect she may not be as reliable an R vote as someone else. I think he may appoint himself because rumor has it he is a bit worried about his re-election. The appointment runs until 2020 when a replacement race will fill the seat for the last 2 years. The full term won’t be up for election until 2022. The chance of Arizona going blue by 2020 is actually pretty good so this will be a premier race in the presidential year.
Vox summarizes the Sarah Palin “legacy” here: McCain empowered a demagogue who put the Republican Party on the path to Donald Trump.
One more McCain factobituary to save off for when we are allowed to weigh in honestly.
Now, backing away from the Internets where the McCain family should be allowed to mourn their spouse, parent, grandparent for at least 24 hours.
See all y’all later!
Here’s my 2 cents
I forgot about the MLK holiday! Arizona was one of the last states to “accept” it and he was loud and proud about his dislike of civil rights. Barry Goldwater’s 1964 legacy burned into Arizona politicians’ DNA.
As Jan says, McCain isn’t quite the plaster saint he’s made out to be, and this proves it.
I was also deeply disgusted at the reification (is that the word I mean?) of Ronnie Ray-Gun, who was a bloody awful, abysmally stupid prez.
Sending healing, wellness wishes to your husband.
Thanks, another! It is now Monday and he does feel better. I sent him to bed for a long, lovely nap yesterday.
Found on the Internets:
RT’d – safe travels home. {{{HUGS}}}
Watching the news, seeing all the beautiful tributes to McCain…. and then there’s the pathetic two sentences from Trump. There is no pettiness too petty for him. Dear Goddess, even that idiot W managed to say something nice. I disagreed with the man on pretty much any topic you could name — and he brought us Sara Palin. But he was a statesman who could put country ahead of party, and at least he knew how to act like a grownup.
I think Life On Earth is a good song for today.
August is back. 77 with 87% humidity, heading for 90+ (and heat index in triple digits). I may have to turn the A/C on. My trip to FL apparently reintroduced my body to heat rash. sigh. We got sunshine but it keeps coming and going. Only got 13.6 KWHs yesterday putting the m-t-d at 344. I’m offing and oning for my Sunday chores. Gonna make a green pea salad for dinners this week so I don’t have to steam veggies. My grandson is bringing me a smoked chicken this evening so protein’s covered. Think I’ll put off laundry (since it must be hung outside) until tomorrow and see if this heat rash goes away. Don’t need to bake until later in the week. I will try to get up enough energy to do the floors – at least sweep up the bigger clumps of cat fur ???? soon. yeah. soon.
As to John McCain, I’m in the “if you can’t say anything good, don’t say anything” camp as far as twitter or other public statements are concerned (more public than Moose anyway). He talked the talk for a chunk of his life. He only rarely actually walked it. It is pitiful the few straws folks are having to grasp to be able to laud and honor him. (I’ll give him credit for “saving” ACA when his was the deciding vote.) Those should be the actions of any honorable person. “Well duhs” in fact.
Meanwhile, need more coffee. Although I may drink it iced. It’s that sticky here even though it’s not really hot yet. Healing Energy to everybody everywhere shaped to the need. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 60 and raining in Bellingham. Smoke from the wildfires is still in the air, but the rain makes breathing conditions better.
I’ve enjoyed Lisa and Ryan’s visit, but they are going home today so the house will be quiet again. I want to send them off with a bucket of hydrangeas, so it’s time to find my clippers.
Best Sunday wishes to all.
Sunday – #WomensEqualityDay.
Good morning, meeses! Monday …
It is 79 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 84, heat index 104. Thunderstorms are in the forecast. Last night we had some very fierce storms, a tornado warning in the neighboring county, and LOUD lashing rains that came through around 12:30am. I see a nap in my future.
I have been reading some of the stories about McCain (skipping the obvious puff pieces) and I still can’t find anything honorable about a man who could have stopped a tyrant from ascending to the presidency – and who willingly signed on to his deplorable Supreme Court pick and a tax cut intended to empty our treasury and endanger our future. His “saving” the Affordable Care Act was more his wanting to save the right of the Senate to craft legislature (if you recall, the vote was to pass a blank piece of paper to be filled in by a conference committee) than saving health care for millions of people, including me. He was a willing supporter of denying President Obama, and those who voted for him in 2012, the right to fill a Supreme Court vacancy – and then voting for LetTheTruckerFreezeToDeath Gorsucks. I have no doubt he would have voted to confirm CoatHanger Kavanaugh. The governor of Arizona said he won’t name a replacement until after the funeral which will be held next Sunday. We can just hope it is not an outright trumper (there are a few more moderate candidates on the short list) which would be an insult to the Semi-Repentant McCain from 2017 and 2018. But Arizona GOP politics is weird.
Guns in the hands of angry young men kill. That is all one needs to know.
See all y’all later!
“Coathanger Kavanaugh”—love it and plan to borrow it! Thanks, Jan.
Monday Meese
It is SO GOOD to be home – am still sick as a dog but at least it is in my own house.
The bronchitis I got in FL will now cancel my eye surgery tomorrow. Sigh. Looks like it will be a few more months before I can drive.
Will spend the next weeks and months berating all and sundry about Puerto Rico. Will also do some phone banking for my local Congressional race.
Glad to see you but sad that you are under the weather and that your eye surgery got postponed. :(
Oh, Dee, I am so sorry. What a bummer!
Perhaps you can get on a shortlist if someone cancels out of eye surgery and you can take the person’s place?
Spoke with the doc’s scheduler – I am on the list if anyone cancels – earliest appointment I can get now is end of October.
I hope there is a cancellation!
Me too! Will send vibes of intention.
{{{Denise}}} so very glad you are home. Sending Healing Energy for the bronchitis – and a near-future cancellation so you can get an earlier eye surgery than projected since you’ve had to cancel tomorrow’s.
Phone banking is good. And of course, keep getting the word out on Puerto Rico. As with their other evils, Deplorables want Puerto Rico shoved under the bed and forgotten. Not this time. moar {{{HUGS}}}
thankee Sis :)
80 degrees, sticky, blech. 1.08 miles, which is fine for a Monday. The overnight oats worked out fine. I’m reading a mystery story that Elizabeth Moon is posting on FB in bits & pieces. And I have no idea why Cedarwood Road is my earworm, it isn’t one of the ones I hit repeat on for days when it comes up on my playlist.
Northside just across the river from the Southside
That’s a long way here
All the green and all the gold
The hurt you hide and the joy you hold
The foolish pride that sends you back for more
Up on Cedarwood Road, on Cedarwood Road
Good morning, Moosekind. Thought I’d never see you all again and have been yanking my grey corkscrew curls out in clumps in despair. Last night I installed Sierra (what an El Stupido name for an operating system), which normally I wouldn’t have done. Installing new operating systems ruins everything, as I found with Yosemite. However, being on the Mac at night was giving me too much blue light so I couldn’t sleep. Sierra has a “night shift” whereby it switches over to yellow light.
So, OK, the wretched thing finished installing after I got up, and then—I couldn’t get here! Every time I tried, I received this error:
This made me even more apoplectic. However, after wringing my frail, bony hands for a while it suddenly occurred to me to do the Moose cure-all: “clear history.” Of course, this clears me out of every other site too, so I’ll have to spend the day reentering passwords, but it’s worth it to get here.
It is extremely humid this morning, ugh, and cloudy. Current temp. in Ashburn is 71 F., going up to 90 F. Found some energy this morning so I might get a few things done. Yesterday all we did was sit and STARE, which uses up only 7 calories an hour.
Everyone have a good day!
{{{Diana}}} – Glad you figured it out. ???? & ???? moar {{{HUGS}}}
Do you use Safari as your browser? My experience with Firefox is that there are three levels of “clearing” that can be done, each more extensive than the other. After many months have having to deal with this, I found that the least extensive clear now works perfectly for me:
1. Clear cookies for just the motleymoose.net web site, leave everything else alone. Just requires password to be reentered.
2. Clear cache for browser. I lose a lot of my passwords.
3. Clear all data stored for browser. It can barely find its way home!
If I can find #1 for you on Safari, you may be able to do a more surgical repair of the problem.
I am glad you persevered!!
Safari>Preferences>Privacy>manage website data>scroll>select>remove.
Thanks, will copy and paste, njm!
You’re very welcome, Diana.
Hi Folks – I keep getting interrupted (mostly by cats) as I try to check in. ???????????? It’s 75 with 90% humidity (sticky, not hot – yet), going to 90 with heat index in the triple digits. Got 15.8 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d is 359. So we should make 400 but I don’t know by how much. Sun is shining now and I need to close up the house before it gets any warmer. Or muggier. But there’s a cat who insists windows should be open. LOL.
#45 is being Deplorable and the twitterverse goes OMGHOF – it’s getting rather boring. He’s been Deplorable, like since he was in short pants. Nothing new here. We have work to do – or at least try to do – in preventing the worst of his deplorable agenda being enacted. Stop wasting time deploring his deplorableness. Meanwhile, I’ve got the laundry on. We’ll see if I get up enough energy to vacuum. Need coffee first. Healing Energy to everybody everywhere shaped to the need. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 54 and cloudy in Bellingham. It feels like fall weather is here, but we usually have a few more warm days so it’s to early to close the windows. I’m going to the pool this morning, and will focus on laundry this afternoon. Changing the beds has kept me busy this summer!
I’m trying to counter tRump angst/disgust but it’s feeling overwhelming again. Feels like this sorry saga will never end. Time to find my coffee and a more positive state of mind!
Take care everyone.
Good morning, Meesefolk. The day started in the mid 60s with a high today of about 90, but it’s so humid that I did a double-take when I walked outside, looking for the rain that the very damp air told me must exist.
I’m joining those who are saying nothing about Sen. McCain; hagiography seems to be the order of the day, and I can’t play that game. I’m sure President Obama’s eulogy will be kind and generous (and if I were Bush II, I would just want to use my time to eulogize to say, “What Obama said”, because who wants to be compared to the eloquence of Obama?). I’m just as sure that I’m neither as kind nor as generous as Obama, so I’ll just keep my mouth firmly shut.
I need to plow through my work and then get writing. I’m having one of those days where the biggest challenge is just getting started; my Monday motivation is in short supply today. But I’ve promised myself that if I get everything done in a timely manner, I’ll reward myself with cutting out a pattern for a new pair of pants for myself. I’ll let you know tomorrow how that works out!
I thought that President Obama’s statement after McCain’s death threaded the needle very carefully – you could see he was unwilling to lie and laud every fiber of McCain’s being which would have been dishonest considering that he selected a birther as a running mate and did nothing to push back against McConnell over the Merrick Garland nomination. McCain was scared that he would lose his seat in the 2016 Republican primary and chose himself over the Constitution. Not worth lauding. I doubt I will watch even a minute of the funeral but I am sure that President Obama will be eloquent, as usual.
Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …
It is 70 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 84 (heat index 106). Chance of thunderstorms. This forecast is getting old – I am ready for fall! It does look like this front will usher in some low to mid 70s for at least the next 3 days.
The flag dustup and Trumpetty smallness is the best kind of story because I really don’t care if people diss McCain and if tRump dissing McCain causes more people to dislike him, that is a bonus. I can watch as Republicans appear uncomfortable with the fact that their party has gone so totally off the rails that they feel compelled to say that “McCain brought this on himself for not bowing to the infant king.” I wonder if there is anyone left in that party to be embarrassed about that?
Today voters in Arizona, Florida, and Oklahoma go to the polls. Arizona will select the Republican to run in November for Flake’s seat and Florida will pick candidates for governor. A big ruling out of North Carolina declared the congressional districts to be illegal partisan gerrymanders and wants the districts fixed for November! Rick Hasen has a little on the dynamics of that – with an 8 person SCOTUS, a 4-4 split will mean that the 4th Circuit ruling would stand and could change the 2018 election outcome – North Carolina currently having a 10-3 R-D advantage. The primaries are already done so I have no idea how this will all work. Stay tuned!
See all y’all later!
I will be looking closely at the FL vote – especially anyone who is tracking Latino turnout.
It would be disappointing if the Latino vote did not materialize after the terrible treatment of Puerto Rico this past year. I am also watching the youth vote, the Parkland effect. That is important for Wisconsin because we are a 91% white state and our rejection of Republicanism depends on new voters, young people who turned 18 since November 2016. If Florida young people don’t get out and vote, that would be a bad sign.
I hope people are not depending on the folks who fled to FL from PR.
They are not focused on FL voting – they are trying to survive and get home.
I did talk to some young Latinos while there – they are voting. They were all part of a growing LBGTQ community in Miami-Hialeah
Tuesday Meese
72 going up to 95 here in NYS.
Will spend the day lying on the sofa in my office – under a ceiling fan – knocked out by all the meds I’m taking.
Rest easy; between bronchitis and the heat, you’re following the smartest possible path.
Oh, Denise, wish you could feel better SOON! Sending love, healing vibes, and wishes for rest to you.
{{{Denise}}} – Sending Healing Energy to boost the meds. moar {{{HUGS}}}
80 degrees, ugh. 1.10 miles — and I’m pretty sure I did the same thing as yesterday. Was awakened at 3 by an itchy forehead, which I’m hoping means my skin cancer treatment is working. Dozed off & on till 4:30. Still working on the overnight oats recipe. Playing Empress, because it is joyous & bouncy and I need that energy.
{{{ad}}} Healing Energy for your skin, fully healing – also just general energy. Good luck with your recipes. moar {{{HUGS}}}
Thought this would make some Meese smile
LOVE this! (Cackle, cackle)
(When I tried reading “MacBeth” to my four-year-old grandson, he was struck by the idea of the three Witches. He wanted to know if they live in the woods we can see from our windows. When I told him they didn’t, he said “MacBeth” was “too long” and asked me to stop reading it.)
Good morning, Meesefolk. 77 now with a high of 90 expected. I expect to be “joining” Dee on the couch with fan later this afternoon.
Is it just me, or does it seem unusually quiet in WH world this week (beyond the usual displays of incompetence)? It may be because my twitter feed is filling up with folks talking about their local candidates and elections, a very good thing. Or maybe I’m getting better at ignoring the rants of The Occupant. Whatever the reason, I’m feeling more focused and fired up than I have in a few weeks.
Someone said that Trumpetty is a powder keg ready to explode. I prefer to think that folks are getting sick of the reruns of an already bad TV show and have turned it off and are focusing on things that matter like the midterms.
Good morning, Moosekind! Really late to checkin today, as I slept the Sleep of the Drugged—there’s a cold underway, so I wanted a decent night’s rest—and woke up an hour past my usual time. Then I decided to cook a proper breakfast for Dearly Beloved, so that took a while.
Today is the first day of school for Fairfax County, where Miss Pink Cheeks and her brother live. He, of course, attends preschool anyway, so he’s been going all summer. This boiling-hot day will be her first in the fourth grade. Currently the temperature is 68 F. under relatively clear skies, going up to 94 F. later.
Knew I’d have trouble from doing a “clear history” yesterday, so today Apple is acting up. It’s rejecting the password I’ve always had, so now I have to Google how to set up a new password. One gets so tired of it.
Not much to say today (you’re all probably heaving a collective groan of relief), but will potter about, as usual. Might actually get something done, who knows?
Wishing a quiet day for all Meese at the beautiful, sky-reflecting Moose Pond.