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 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. Chance of thunderstorms.
Have a great day, all y’alls!!
Good Sunday morning, Meese! Partly cloudy again in Ashburn with a current temp. of 71 F. on its way up to 87 F. We may have a thunderstorm; then again, we may not. Yesterday, when Dearly Beloved was driving me to Fairfax, 10 miles away, we drove through showers but Ashburn remained bone-dry.
Had another night from Hell, so today is going to be uncomfortable. Never made it here yesterday owing to being with family all day and well into the evening. We took Mr. K. and Miss Pink Cheeks to breakfast yesterday, then in the evening I stayed with Mr. K. while Younger Son and DIL had a rare evening out. Miss PC had a sleepover with her best friend.
Heartsick all over again by the latest murderfests. I blame him. He encourages white supremacists, so this is going to happen again and again. It doesn’t happen to the rich, within their walled enclaves, you notice. The rest of us have a right to live our lives and go about our business free of the threat of murder, but that doesn’t matter.
Repeal the Second Amendment!
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.
{{{Diana}}} – Healing Energy and a good nap seem indicated. moar {{{HUGS}}}
Rainy, sad morning. Pride is next weekend, I hope they’re still able to have all the events. Sadly, we’ll have moved on to the next tragedy by then. Peace On Earth.
Jesus could you take the time
To throw a drowning man a line
Peace on Earth
Tell the ones who hear no sound
Whose sons are living in the ground
Peace on Earth
No whos or whys
No-one cries like a mother cries
For peace on Earth
She never got to say goodbye
To see the colour in his eyes
Now he’s in the dirt
Peace on Earth
They’re reading names out over the radio
All the folks the rest of us won’t get to know
Sean and Julia, Gareth, Ann and Breda
Their lives are bigger, than any big idea
It was 68 at dawn and not much higher now with a lovely cool breeze and sunshine – we’re heading for upper 80s and hopefully a good production day. The 1st 3 days of August combined have only generated 21.8 KWHs so we’ve got some serious catching up to do if we’re gonna make 500 or even 400 for August. For all that it’s a lovely morning I woke with a very stiff back that hurts if I move wrong. Could be lack of exercise – I didn’t get my walk in these last 3 days of drizzle alternating with brief downpours. But it’s definitely uncomfortable to do much of anything although I’ve managed all of my Sunday things except the floors. Doing the floors always hurts my back anyway and at the moment my back doesn’t need any help in that department. We shall see what the day brings.
I hope I can find a write up of the Native American roundtable Kamala is participating in. There are 6 or 7 who agreed – Bernie, Julian Castro, Kamala, EW, and I can’t remember who else. The fact that she’s being a part of this is a good sign. She’ll definitely be facing a hostile audience – whether or not she can satisfy them is an issue. I wish I was better at internet searches. I’ve found several articles on Kamala opposing various requests for Tribes securing Native homelands but they all go back to the same report. Which is written definitely assuming the worst about her motives and attitude (for example one case that was ruled against her/State of CA, she didn’t appeal – the article said because it would look bad for her campaign rather than just leaving it at a fact or even suggesting she didn’t really want to do the case in the 1st place). But I really want to know what she says – I’d like a transcript of the roundtable actually – in response to their questions.
I need to get some coffee. Once this cat gets off my lap. LOL. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
I’m putting this here because it’s the only place I can put it – I’ve found one report on the Native rountable – from the Palm Springs Desert Sun reporter Risa Johnson
She interviewed Aaron Payment, first vice chairman of the National Congress of American Indians and chairman of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan. He told The Desert Sun that the roundtables consisted of several sessions in which small groups of tribal leaders met with the six candidates individually.
Still looking for something more specific. Like who those CA Tribal Leaders who spoke in favor of her are.
forgot the link – https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/tribal-issues/2019/08/01/agua-caliente-tribal-leaders-meet-presidential-hopefuls-democratic-debates/1881234001/
Good morning, 63 and mostly sunny in Bellingham. I’m a a loss for words this morning. Two more shootings and tRump angst kept me awake in the night so my head is foggy and my heart is heavy. I worked in the garden yesterday clipping ivy and tending to my container plantings. It was a lovely peaceful time until I found my phone and checked the news :::sigh::: The contrast between the troubles in our country and my quiet home and garden is hard to reconcile at times.
We’re driving to Edmunds soon for brunch and a visit to Cascadia Art Museum so I need to make an anniversary bouquet for Lisa and John. Ryan’s muscle spasms are making it difficult for him to walk again so our summer plans with him keep changing. It will be good to see him today.
Time for coffee. As always, my best wishes to all.
Good morning, meeses! Monday …
It is 66 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 84. Sunny this morning with a chance of thunderstorms tonight. Yesterday’s storms did not materialize – the storm system wandered down I-90 but missed us.
I can’t believe – although I shouldn’t be surprised – that the NRA’s favorite Senator from Vermont believes that “mental illness”, not guns, leads to mass shootings. White nationalism is not a mental illness, it is an ideology that calls for violence against people of color and non-Christians. That Bernie Sanders is still spouting NRA talking points should be disqualifying but since many of his adherents are young white butthurt males, he probably feels safe calling the Walmart killer a “lone wolf” instead of part of a network of hate. I saw some rumblings that the Dayton killer might be a berner. I hope not but it would not be the first time one of his unhinged supporters decided to shoot people. Extremism on the right, extremism on the left – not much separates them when they believe that people who are “not them” have no right to live.
See all y’all later!
I had the same response – BS and his mental heath bs.
A blast from the past:
That tweet from Sanders should be disqualifying – for freaking ever!
Monday Meese. 63 going up to 84 here in the Catskills of NY.
Puerto Rico
Let us know when the Kamala 2020 diary is posted. I heard that it is an in-person account of the Denver rally and that the person who was there found out that Kamala is aware of your DK group! w00t!!
It was 66 at dawn and not much warmer now although it’s heading for 90. It’s sunny though which is nice. Yesterday we got 20 KWHs – almost as much as the previous 3 days combined – and the m-t-d is 41.9 – not on track yet but definitely a step in the right direction.
I think I’m going to go back to looking for some volunteer opportunities. Dem Party only had me do data input once – and that didn’t take more than an hour. I doubt seriously anybody other than my friends are paying any attention to my tweets & re-tweets. Obviously I’m not helping Aji get sales and again other than a few of my friends I’m not getting help for the various online fundraising campaigns either. The news is uniformly bad. The twitter fights are nasty. I’ve hit a dead end on researching Kamala’s Native issues – keep getting the same articles no matter how I change the query – and I’m not sure if it would do any good anyway now the meme is set. All I can say is somebody found the way to divide Black folks and Native folks to the detriment of us all. And since I’m trying to be an ally to both groups…I think I need to just get offline for a while. Or at least away from the political part. Go find something that helps somebody – they only allow me to give blood every 8 weeks.
My back still hurts but I did at least get the area around my computer desk swept up. I think I’ll be hitting the “ice & Ibu” routine for the next few days. But it’s a lovely day so far and I’ll see if a walk helps any when it warms up a bit. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Slept in, having breakfast & drinking tea. Today’s plan: dig in the back of the fridge & hope I find enough frozen stuff for 4 days of lunch. Otherwise, I’m cooking. Gotta make a batch of tea. If I don’t have to cook, there’ll be time for the gym.
A song about light in the darkness: Ultraviolet.
Good Moon Day morning, Moosekind! It’s partly cloudy with the chance of showers all week, with highs in the mid- or high 80s. Currently it’s 77 F. in Ashburn, going up to 86 F. Will it rain today? Who knows?
Finally finished one of the articles for our quarterly publication, Around the Ponds. All articles are due September 2. I’ve had such an attack of laziness lately I can’t think what’s the matter with me.
I was interested in Beto’s profane comments to the media. Good for him! Although he’s not my preferred candidate, it cheers me to see a pol pushing back against the stupid MSM. I also heard that even in blood-red Kentucky #MoscowMitch is getting chants from audiences. Good.
We have Mr. Kindergartener with us today and tomorrow. I’ve hidden the iPad and the Kindle, so he’s currently working on Legos with Grandpa. He’s really good at that activity!
We’re enjoying our screened porch even though it’s rather hot out there. We use it so seldom. I’m determined to start using it more.
Hot news—I actually received a payment from the publisher! Considering how low-priced my books are, and how little Amazon lets me keep of the low price, I am quite thrilled. Perhaps I’ll stop procrastinating and get on with that marketing course. It’s hard to focus when one has a five-year-old around, though. He talks a lot.
I have a six-month checkup with my doctor this morning, so I’d better start getting ready. I do like the fact that it takes a mere eight minutes to walk to her office in the club house building.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond, and please, world, no tragic news today. Kashmir, a country to which I feel rather attached (as those who’ve read Turnabout can attest) is going through a bad time.
Diana, I needed a rest from gardening on Saturday so I found a shady spot and read your book. It was so fun to read, especially knowing a bit about your creative writing process. Thanks!
Thanks, princesspat! If you feel up to it, as you’re a qualified purchaser, perhaps you could write a short review on Amazon? Even a one-sentence review such as, “This was a fun read that provided a welcome respite from everyday worries and cares,” would be welcome. So far only one person has written a review.
Good morning meese, 64 going up to 94 today. I got a new bed and mattress on Thursday afternoon and have been getting used to it since. It’s much higher off the ground than my old bed was, and has various adjustable presets for lounging, sleeping with the head/neck elevated, and a weird “zero-gravity” setting I’m not sure I’ll use. Oh, and it has some massaging built in. Might not use that one often either.
Trying to take things one day at a time, focusing on work, music, cats, and friends.
Focusing on work, music, cats, and friends sounds like a good plan, basket. “The world is too much with us late and soon,” Wordsworth muttered as he scarfed down a second pot of tea, along with toast, marmalade, sausages, egg, and a small portion of baked beans.
Your bed sounds great. Kinda wish I had a bed like that. People with acid reflux are supposed to sleep with their heads elevated, so your bed would be good for that particular affliction.
Good morning, 63 and sunny in Bellingham. We enjoyed our day with our Edmonds family. The museum and restaurant are part of a very well done renovation of an out dated Safeway store. Before starting on the building the developer surrounded the site with extensive gardens. Seeing the beautifully designed plantings was a treat!
The carpenters are now hammering across the street so it’s time to start my Monday, ready or not. Best wishes to all.
Good morning, Meesefolk; 64 when I got up and going up to a toasty 88 today. Yuck. I suppose we have to have some of these super-heated days, but my response is, and will always be, “Yuck.”
I’m really not doing well at handling the personal, professional, and political stress of late. It was off the charts last night and was so bad that I finally got up at 2am and went for a 20-minute walk. The dogs were a bit confused (I brought them along), but it beat tossing and turning all night. The professional stress will pass (I’m fortunate that my clients still haven’t twigged on to how thoroughly POd I’ve been at some of them; one of the worst offenders even told me on Saturday, “I wish everyone could take customer service lessons from you; you are always so helpful and pleasant.” And she wasn’t being snarky. LOL, if only she knew what I was really thinking at that moment.) The personal stress will ease too. But the political stress? I fear that’s here to stay, because it’s not just about 45*. It’s about clinging to power with absolutely no concern or consideration as to how that will play out for the rest of us. I don’t know what the answer is for dealing with all of this, and I’ll keep trying different methods of fighting back and strategic retreats. But the 2am walkies with the pups really, really can’t become part of my self-care!
Good day to and for all!
{{{DoReMI}}} – I hear ya on handling the combined stress. About the best thing I can say about work stress is it gives you something you can safely gripe about without getting into an even more stressful argument about something or other from someone who disagrees with you. The political stress I fear won’t go away until we regain control of the media. And since very few people see that particular problem – the complaints about the media are personal – they’re complaints about “didn’t you learn anything…” and “complicit media” – not the systemic issue of a very small fascist group owning 90% of the media…
Nothing wrong with 2 am walkies – until the snow flies. ???????????? moar {{{HUGS}}}
Tuesday Meese.
66 going up to 83 with rain here in the NY Catskills.
Puerto Rico
Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …
It is 66 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 81. Sunny skies are in the forecast. The fierce line of storms that was at one time across the entire state did not cool things off but it sure made a lot of noise and scared my dog.
Donald J. Dotard has found that a trade war is very easy to win if you don’t mind the literal deaths of farmers whose crops will rot in the field and crashing the stock market and wiping out millions of people’s life savings. Of course, he will not be personally touched – he has always emerged financially unscathed after bankrupting his businesses and hurting his vendors, business partners and employees. And since he is a malignant narcissist who is so focused on himself that he literally cannot feel the pain of another human being, he will not be touched by the pain he is causing millions of people. Goddess help us – and may the universe “reward” those who thought it was a good idea to vote for this man to “see what would happen.”
The New York Times needs to assign headline writing for page one above the fold stories to someone who understands that they are the Paper of Record and that most people don’t read past the headlines. Donald Trump did not denounce white supremacy and did not call for unity. Donald Trump’s teleprompter did. It never reached to his heart, he never denounced his own rhetoric, and he has no interest in unity except the unity of his deplorable base voting for him in 2020. It should embarrass everyone who works there that they are fluffing a murderer by their cowardice.
Busy morning here as I had errands that took me away from my desk yesterday and now I am behind.
See all y’all later!
The NYT heard you…
Thanks, DoReMI!
Back at work today. There’s no notices about people being out, or about collections being taken up so I’m going to assume my co-workers with El Paso ties didn’t have anyone who was there. I had a terrible night’s “sleep” last night. My watch says I woke up at 4:30 but that’s just because I refused to get out of bed until then. I brought my gym stuff, hope that 30 minutes on the elliptical will help. Listening to Head Full of Dreams for the positive message & for the snippet from The Great Dictator at the beginning.
Good morning, Meesefolk; 70 when I got up this morning with a high of 81. We may be getting Jan’s rain later on, but my widget weather illustration is showing clouds, sun, rain, and lightning which I am interpreting as, “We’re confused, so prepare for anything.”
I was up quite late last night, and at midnight I turned on MSNBC to watch the late night re-showing of the 9:00 programming. It appears there was a special on the events in El Paso and
ToledoDayton with Rachel, Nicole Wallace, and Brian Williams. It was quite well done; instead of being a rehash of the news, there was some informative analysis, particularly re the Federal efforts to address white domestic terrorism when the Oval Office is occupied by the White Supremacist in Chief. Nicole Wallace, who is someone I rarely see, impressed me too. While Rachel brought the intellectual heft, Wallace brought the heart. I know she’s a former Republican who could reclaim that path the minute the Dotard is out of office, but on the issue of guns, she’s a mom first, and a Republican second. We could use more of that in Congress.Good day to and for all!
I wish that more Republicans would decide that they can’t “go back” once tRump is gone because, really, a political party that chose to embrace white nationalists in order to get their marginal tax cuts is still a very big problem. If they will do it once, they will do it again and it will take more than just a change at the top to fix that. They are Bideners, convinced that there is a beautiful party under the rot of 50 years of hate ginned up to keep black people oppressed and retain power for the wealthy. I am not sure what the solution is but if they want to start over and are willing to reject every Republican after Eisenhower – maybe. They won’t, of course, because they think that the Party of Reagan achieved power by the force of right instead of by following Lee Atwater into the cesspool.
Good Tiu’s Day morning, Meese! Sunny and blue-skied here in Ashburn. Bfitz would love this weather because we haven’t had any rain for days! It’s currently 70 F., going up to 90 F. Just opened the door between my office and the screened porch to enjoy the early morning freshness. The plants are all looking quite perky. If only it would cool down about 10 degrees while retaining the sunshine, I could invite my sweet Irish neighbor for tea. I’ve got some Smugglers’ Brew that’s delicious.
The media are a BIG part of the problem! Agree with bfitz when she says the small fascist group that owns most of the media needs to be thrown out. There was another newspaper merger the other day, Gannett and some other biggy, but can’t remember whom—Copley? Anyway, the more the MSM push the hard Rethug line, the less people will read it. I’m talking about rational people, you understand.
Poor little Mr. Kindergartener coughed all night despite the dose of cough medicine we gave him, so he’s still asleep on the sofa. His refusal to take naps doesn’t do him any good. If all goes well, I’m going to take him swimming in the pool here this afternoon. He doesn’t really swim, according to his father, he simply “water-walks.” Tonight we’ll return him to his parents. DIL works at home on Wednesdays.
As there’s nothing I can do about the national scene, I’ll concentrate on writing and desk chores today. Wishing a peaceful day to all at the Pond!
Summer is more or less back in Fay., AR. Overnight low was 71, it’s 74 now, and heading for 90. It is sunny – at least at the moment – which is good but overnights above 70 are problematic for sleeping. Oh well, there’s not much that isn’t problematic for sleeping – I’m just lucky that my interrupted sleep isn’t as interrupted as other folks I know. We had enough intermittent cloud cover yesterday that we only generated 18.6 KWHs but that’s still gaining, slightly, towards getting us on track for 500 this month. Which isn’t all that usual for August anyway. The m-t-d is 61 (85 would be on track) but there’s a lot of month left.
Still hitting deadends trying to find out more about Kamala Harris and Natives – either the original issue with her or anything more specific about what the comments, questions, and answers were at the roundtable. I hope she makes the forum as well. With bernie, Castro, and now EW attending, well, she’d better. I’ve attempted to contact her campaign and also one of the organizers of the roundtable but no response. Meanwhile my wood guy was injured and needs knee surgery so he’s out of the firewood business. I’m actually looking into wood bricks. They have a whole lot of advantages – compressed hardwood sawmill waste so zero net-gain as far as carbon is concerned, not just uniform size but perfect size for my little cast-iron stove with no splitting or mess (or bugs), they burn hotter and longer than cordwood so a 4’x4’x3′ pallet load is equal to a full 4’x4’x8′ cord. The disadvantages are cost – like 2x what I’ve been paying for a cord – and they’re wrapped in plastic (6 bricks per pack, not individually) & I’d bet the pallet is wrapped in more plastic. The cost is almost a wash though when you consider most of my cords are “face cords” – 4’x8’x14″ – so I’m paying full cord prices for what’s actually 58% of a full cord. I need 2 cords to get through the winter but I might be able to get by with only one of the wood bricks. The plastic I don’t like but I’m not sure what else they could do. Compressed sawmill waste turns into sawdust when it gets wet and they need something to hold the packages on the pallet during shipping. But that does turn the zero-net-gain carbon into whatever net gain is generated by the plastic. Still pondering as I look for another firewood guy. The smaller space, less mess, and no bugs is definitely appealing. And if I can get by with one pallet instead of 2 face cords, the cost is a wash.
Anyway, need coffee. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}