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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– Page One of Comments is HERE!
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Good “morning”, Motley Meese! The week begins …
Morning low of 9 degrees in Madison WI with an expected daytime high of 21. Sunny skies are in the forecast.
Have a great day, all y’alls!!
Sunday Meese.
43 degrees here in Saugerties NY.
Puerto Rico /USVI
We need to harangue the WaPo re their series of articles about Afghanistan, which is and will always be, a hopeless business. Why aren’t they covering the situation in PR, VI, and Vieques? Are the white male journos at the WaPo prejudiced against Spanish-speaking U.S. citizens?
If the answer is yes, this is not a good look.
Up & watching the news. I didn’t get to the gym yesterday. Somehow, groceries laundry (2 loads!), and dishes managed to entirely fill the day. Today: make tea, church — the kids’ Christmas pageant is today — then cook the stir-fry for next week. While doing housework, I watched Guardians of the Galaxy & Thor: Ranganok, good, hopeful movies about people who don’t like each other overcoming their differences to defeat evil. Ok, yes in Ranganok, there is a big cost. But they did what they had to, to deny evil a place from which to grow. Oh, a beautiful/sad new song from Eric Clapton: For Love on Christmas Day..
Sunday sermon
Good Sunday morning, Meese! For once it’s a rather nice day outside, sunny with puffy little white clouds sailing across the pale blue sky, and almost warm—48 F! The high today will be 50 F. We must enjoy it because it won’t last: “they” are predicting a wintry mix for tomorrow morning.
Have been feeling a bit tired because of The Operation, but am determined to do without pain pills today and tonight. I had thought of attending a church service (imagine that) this morning, because I admire the woman who is going to preach. On second thought, however, I think I’ll skip it. I went to hear her on Thursday morning. Anyway, I’ve got plenty to do here with tidying up for our friend’s visit. She’s coming for lunch and Younger Son and family are coming to tea this afternoon.
Just looked at my calendar for the coming week and noticed to my extreme delight that I have an almost clear week until Friday! Tomorrow afternoon there is an open house at the home of a couple in the next building, and Friday there are the Writers’ Group and a Christmas party given by the owner of the nail salon that I frequent. I’ll attend both. Our neighbor, a charming and funny Irishwoman who flirts with all the young guys at the Pub, has invited us to lunch at a rather grand restaurant in Leesburg next Sunday. Party, party, party! That’s all we do around here.
Hoping to have my Christmas elves, in the form of Miss Pink Cheeks and Mr. Kindergartener, help me deliver Christmas goodies to the neighbors this afternoon. Miss PC loves doing it, and it has become a family tradition with us.
It’s nearly 10, so I’d better get a move on. I got off to a late start today because of my usual complaint, a bad night.
Wishing a good, quiet day to all at the Pond!
Good morning, 40 and cloudy in Bellingham. Thanks to RonK’s help I enjoyed some flower fun yesterday….he clipped the greens and holly and I arranged them in a bowl I found in an antique store last summer. For some reason the bowl said “holly and ivy” to me then, and now it’s done :)
Today will be busy with Christmas tasks, ending with dinner at our sons house. We’ll grill a roast, bake some cookies, and decorate his tree so it will be relaxed easy fun.
As always, my best wishes to all.
Our high for the day was 45 – currently it’s 40-feels-like-31, damp, and cloudy enough I’m generating at 2-digit watts. sigh. We got just over 2 KWHs yesterday (m-t-d is 85) and we’ll be lucky to get the same today. Busy this morning – baked spice muffin squares for the week (house smells great) but mostly doing what little I can do to help my friend and getting ready for the family visit this evening. Loaned my car to my son so he could get to Temple this morning (which entailed going to his house and picking him up) and then later this afternoon/evening he’ll use it to bring the boys over. Not sure how he’ll/they’ll get back home as it will be well after dark by the time the gathering is over & I certainly can’t drive them home or the car back. Good thing I’m busy or I’d be depressed in all this damp, chilly, overcast weather. Well, not the only reason I’d be depressed but it doesn’t help.
Taking a very late coffee break (yeah, I know – it’s almost lunch time) to check in everywhere. Holding all y’all in my heart. Healing/Helping Energy to everybody who needs and accepts it, to their shaping. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Monday Meese
27 and cloudy going up to 37 here in the NY Catskills
Woke up to a hot “fauxgressive” mess in my twitter timeline
Justin for Congress TX is running as a Democrat against Joaquin Castro. He tweeted that Obama should die of malignant cancer. He is being ratioed on twitter.
He posted as a response to Barack Obama’s appeal for people to sign up for the ACA
“Just want you to think of all the people who have and will die because Obamacare is pointless and your entire presidency is a waste
If god was just you would get the most malignant cancer imaginable”
He doubled down in his response
Let me guess – he is a berner or warrenite who is poisoned by the Medicare for All shiny bauble. Remember when the frustrati used to hate on President Obama because his military used drones? I wonder how they feel about the Kurdish massacres that their peevishness unleashed? Actually, I don’t wonder – they refuse to take responsibility for electing Donald Trump as part of their plan to usher in “protests, millions uprising, a left-of-the left becomes president.”
Says he is a socialist. He’s supported by Burners. Ugh.
What a vile piece of work! I hope Joaquin’s fundraising takes a jump after this.
Puerto Rico
Good morning, meeses! Monday …
It is 19 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 27. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast. This looks like the weather for the rest of the week, as well, warming up a bit on Thursday. Saturday is the Solstice! Hooray – the light returns.
I got caught up in an early morning project that is running long so I only have time for a quick scan of the news and a brief “howdy do!” I find it amazing that after the New Jersey Republican Party’s extinction event in 2018, that a Democratic House of Representatives member is changing parties. His DC staff is resigning – not unsurprising, they would need to find new jobs anyway when he loses in 2020 and who would want to try to make the case that a Trump Republican is good for the country. I hope that the people who the a**holish DCCC cleared out of that primary race in 2018 take another shot at the seat. I despise the DCCC. In polling news, I scanned my local paper and they are finding that NotTrump is tied with Trump in Wisconsin – essentially no Democrat we put up against him changes the polling. tRump is at 47% favorability which is the percentage he got to win Wisconsin in 2016 – 6% of our state voted 3rd party because of the NeverTrumpers who voted for Gary Johnson and the berners who voted for Jill Stein. I hope none of our candidates are counting on Wisconsin. There is 0 chance we give our electoral votes to the Democrat and a pretty good chance that berners and warrenites ratfk our election. Put your money into Arizona and Georgia.
Okay, I need to get back to my project.
See all y’all later!
That’s not good news about Wisconsin. :(
It may change after our eventual nominee makes the case for dumping Trump. Right now the farmers don’t care that they are losing their farms and their contemporaries are committing suicide – they just want the white guy who won’t take their guns to be president. And the Republicans here have such a huge advantage to propagate their lies that nothing is cutting through the lies. A lot will depend on the NeverTrump’ers here and if they support the Democrat or support a third party like they did in 2016. I understand them not wanting to vote for the villainized Hillary Clinton but if Joe Biden is the nominee, they might vote for him. Biden thinks that Republicans are “fine people” and they are probably confident that they can roll him. We shall see!
And to think, even in one’s own lifetime, Wisconsin used to be a liberal state. :(
We voted for Dukakis, Clinton, Clinton, Gore, Kerry, Obama, Obama. The 2010 election did us in – it gerrymandered Democrats out of power and Walker and his well-funded disinformation machine did the rest. Sadly, the smart people are leaving or have already left; my daughter and I are going to stay to get our money’s worth from the taxes we paid that give her in-state tuition then we will decide what to do. It depends on where she gets a job.
Crazy weather here — it dropped 10 degrees in 30 minutes, just during the morning news. I was sound asleep when the alarm went off, so between sleeping later than usual & the cold, damp wind, I didn’t walk this morning. Maybe I’ll leave work early & walk this evening. Over the weekend, I found out that my oldest friend has stage 3 ovarian cancer. She already had the surgery, and her brothers came up to help her — she’s in Vancouver, Wa., right across the river from Portland. She’s doing chemo now. Cancer sucks. The closest thing I have to a childhood friend — we met in 7th grade, shared a love of the Beatles (in 1977, that made us weird) & Star Trek. We saw Star Wars together, and stayed to see it a 2nd time. I was back in the States when the Star Trek movie came out, and we saw that together, too. Did I say that cancer sucks? So today’s music is not Christmas-y, but comforting. I have no idea why this song feels like a soft cashmere blanket around me, but it does. Ordinary Love.
Sorry to hear about your friend, anotherdemocrat. Yes, cancer does suck, especially that kind because it’s so hard to diagnose. I’ve heard of people surviving it, though, so let’s hope your friend has a good outcome.
Good Moon Day, Moosekind! Quite a horrible morning here in Northern Virginia, at least for the poor old commuting public. During the night sleety white Something fell outside on the grass and trees, the traces of which are still visible. Now we’re getting freezing rain. The outside temperature is 33 F., going up to a whopping 38 F. Thank Goddess I needn’t go anywhere, except to an Open House in the next building this afternoon.
We had five visitors yesterday—our good friend for lunch at the Pub at noon, and Younger Son and family for tea at four. Miss Pink Cheeks, Mr. Kindergartener, and I put on Santa hats, and went up and down the corridor delivering Christmas goodies to the neighbors. Only two answered the door, however, which was no surprise. On weekends there’s a lot of family visiting. Last year Miss PC and I delivered bags at 11 on a Saturday morning, and found three of the doors answered by people in their dressing-gowns. That afforded me a lot of private laughter.
Going to stay in today and focus on things that need doing: changing the sheets, wiping down walls and cupboards, writing my Yule newsletter, and—it’s to be hoped—listening to the music from “This Winter’s Night,” my favorite Yuletide music.
Had a brief look at Twitter to find that Brother Reese is talking about supporting Biden in the primaries. Yeah. I just can’t get excited by the idea of yet another old whitey with a 1960s worldview being in charge. Of course, anyone (well, except Woo-Woo Williamson, St. Bernard, and a few others), would be better than Thing.
Nupe, going to concentrate on personal life today. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!
I am going to sit out the primary wars – when it gets to Wisconsin, I expect it to be over; if it isn’t, I will vote for whichever non-socialist is running unless it is Mayo Pete, then I will vote down ticket only (we will have a Supreme Court seat to be disappointed about again – the incumbent is not even pretending to be non-partisan, he actually has an office in Republican Party headquarters). The joy left the campaign when Kamala dropped out.
Good morning, Meesefolk; 23 when I got up this morning and headed to an overcast 36. I’ve heard rumors about an orb in the sky that projects light and warmth, but I think it’s a myth. The only orb I’ve seen lately is the moon, and it’s been gorgeous (but no warmth projected). I’m not supposed to be feeling this conscious of the grey until March, but I can see that this year is going to break all of my personal “supposed to” rules.
I’ve been largely absent from internet-world lately and that will probably continue. Job listings are plentiful right now (I think folks are getting them out before the holidays with hiring to be happening in the new year), and I’ve been spending 4-5 hours each day taking care of business. I’m a bit discouraged, because I think my age is proving to be a definite, negative factor. I, of course, think it’s a net positive, but if I were a 30-something interviewer, I wouldn’t have reached the point in life where that perspective made sense. Anyway, I’m preparing myself for what is probably the inevitable search for a local retail-type job. As long as I can get a full-time job, the lower pay will do what it needs to do; it just means saving is stalled. Not ideal, but doable…
Hubby and I spent most of the weekend laughing until we had tears rolling down our cheeks. Kiddo and SIL were prepping their home for a cast party they were hosting on Sunday, and for SIL, that meant decorating the house with his extensive collection of Christmas stuff. He hasn’t pulled it all out since he and Kiddo moved in together, so he was experiencing much Christmas Joy (or as Kiddo texted me, “It’s like Xmas vomited in our house. He’s so happy.”) We thought this was adorable, as was the fact that they had three trees: one in the DR, one in the LR (their only real tree), and one in the upstairs library. Kiddo started sending photos, and I noticed there were packages under all of the trees. I zoomed in and realized that the packages included a bunch that I had brought down on my last visit and stored in the guest BR closet. At this point, my reaction went from “awwww” to “awwww shit” because I had taken down bags which held stocking stuffers…with no tags (just one post-it note in each bag indicating whose gifts they were). I didn’t want to dampen SILs Christmas Joy; he was in full-blown Will Ferrell-a- Elf mode. But I was panicking. While Kiddo was assuring me that I could just re-sort the piles, I had to remind her that my MO was to wrap gifts the minute I got them, and since I’m a year-round shopper, I didn’t have a clue what was in many of them. It was at about this point…me panicking, Kiddo distraught, SIL still joyously oblivious…that Hubby started laughing. And laughing. And couldn’t stop. Which got me started. Until I couldn’t stop. The thought of SIL being so happy decorating the house that he used actual gifts as props for the cast party still makes me smile. And after putting our heads together, we’ve decided that we’ll just pile the stocking stuffers onto the coffee table when we visit, let Kiddo and SIL randomly open them and then either keep or regift to the other. (And Hubby and I will undoubtedly start laughing all over again.) And in the future, I may have to start putting tags on stocking stuffers…
Good day to and for all!
I remember a job search many years ago when I grew weary of trying to find customers and projects and hoped to get a “real” job that paid a salary and benefits and had regular hours. At the time, I lived in the Milwaukee area but I thought that maybe I would move to Madison – I had been there a few times for seminars and sporting events and liked the locale. I was in my mid 30s and had an extensive and varied resume from years as a consultant. I checked in with a headhunter and sent her my resume and went to talk to her. She said that the outlook was not favorable and I asked her why, pointing to my experience. She said that people in Madison doing the hiring wanted younger people and when they saw someone in their 30s they did not look at their resume, they wondered how someone that old managed to get up in the morning! I was shocked, to say the least, and decided that working for someone who appreciates my skill set (me!) was the best option. I think what I ran into was related to Madison being a college town with lots of smart young people rather than being unemployable – I never tested that theory, though, as I dropped my search.
Obviously your taking a retail job does not mean “stuck in retail” as I imagine that you will always have your eyes and ears open for jobs more suited to you. Good luck!
It’s cold (33-feels-like-21), gray – PV system is still in night mode – and raining this morning in Fay., AR. Didn’t get a whole kilowatt yesterday and seriously doubt we will today either. sigh. The family party was fun – one grandson missing but the other 3 of the Fayetteville contingent were here. Instead of a tree I have 3 varieties of local (at they grow locally – not sure if they are invasive or not) cedar wrapped around/tied to a bamboo hole hanging horizontally on the wall about 6 feet up. It’s big enough to hold one string of lights and an ornament representing each of my sons and grandsons plus a few very dear friends who sort of have an ornament at my house. So far the Twins haven’t tried to attack it. And it’s actually pretty.
My friend got an unpleasant shock yesterday evening. Only about 2/3s (thank heavens all the heavy stuff – appliances, furniture, etc. at least) of her stuff fit in the truck. So she spent the rest of the evening and all night (no she didn’t get any sleep) boxing stuff up and carrying it out to the recently emptied shop. It started raining about 3 am. I took her coffee and a muffin at 7:30 am when I saw the lights on over there – saw how much was still left and started schlepping stuff to my house. Another shock this morning. At 8 am 2 guys showed up to start ripping up the floor. At 8:30 I asked them if they’d help. Thank all that’s holy they’re Latinos – they said yes, and brought in a dolly. They moved all the remaining heavy stuff to the shop and loaded the electronic stuff into her wagon. If they’d been white guys, well, most white guys would have said “that’s not our job” and snickered while they watched 2 women doing all that work. The last box of stuff I’m storing until they get moved in came over here about 30 minutes ago. Then she left fort the motel (they were supposed to have stayed in last night and tonight) to get a shower and a nap before going into work. First day of finals so they need her for at least a few hours. Especially since she’s already planned to take off some time tomorrow for the closing and unloading – both the truck and what they’ve got packed in the 2 cars. He and the dogs just left. This sale & move has been a cluster from the getgo. On the edge of overwhelming but she thought she had it handled – until they loaded the truck and there was 1/3 left to go at 8 pm when she expected to be out by 9 pm. And the fact that she was overwhelmed meant she didn’t realize how much help she needed – or let me help as much as I could have once the family left. I can’t even say it will be over soon. The closing is tomorrow & the weather will be much better. Good sign and all that. But she’s still got to deal with what’s in the shop – and with the wet ground nobody can get a vehicle into the backyard until the construction dumpster is moved – the ground isn’t going to get hard enough any time soon to cut over from the neighbor’s yard. And of course she’s got to deal with what’s at my house. That’s likely to go in stages – food first. As with the 2nd battle of El Alamein, it’s not the end or the beginning of the end but it is most certainly the end of the beginning.
I need coffee for me. And now my lap has been vacated I’ll go make some. Got the fire going which is helpful – only because I did a small laundry load of the sheets used for table clothes etc which are now drying over that fire. Blessings upon electricity and modern washing machines. I could be helping my friend while the laundry was running. Channeling Healing/Helping Energy to everyone who needs and accepts it to their shaping. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 36 and raining in Bellingham. We enjoyed dinner with our son last night, and thanks to the magic of texting photos the rest of the family did too! Lots of memories and nostalgia when we all see the Christmas tree decorations. Heidi was pleased the pack was at her house :)
Today I hope to sew, have a few gifts to wrap, and a few cards to send to people we want to stay in touch with. We don’t send many cards now, and the ones we do need a note inside so it takes both a bit of time and thought.
Best wishes to all on this Monday morning.
Tuesday Meese
31 and snowing here in the NY Catskills
Puerto Rico
Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …
It is 16 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 27. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.
I am afraid that the rally in support of impeaching tRump will have to take place without me. Driving at night, trying to find parking near the Wisconsin State Capitol and then standing in the bitter cold is for a much younger person. I will stand in solidarity with those who go but from my living room watching my Twitter feed. I was pleased to see that the moderate Democrats elected in 2018 are almost all going to vote for impeachment. It really is important to make the statement regardless of where it goes in the Senate. I refuse to believe that standing up for our Constitution is going to make those House members lose their seats.
Other than following the impeachment vote, I am going to go news light today. It hit me yesterday that there are only 2 weeks left in 2019 and those two weeks will be chopped up by holidays which means I have to get ready for 2019 year end for my clients and for myself. I already have half my brain somewhere else as it is college finals week and I am sending energy to my daughter for exam mojo!
See all y’all later!
We have 2 in Austin. The first is this morning at the Capitol, so I will run out on my break & participate for 10 minutes. The one this evening, I’m going to miss. It’s at City Hall at 5:30 and I’m leaving downtown at 4 to go cover my plants. Not driving back downtown.
Good morning, Meesefolk; 27 this morning and headed to 32. My widget shows there is a brief window this afternoon when we may be reintroduced to the alleged orb in the sky, but I’ll believe it when I see it. Frankly, I may be asleep by then. I got up at 4:30 this morning (earning myself baleful looks from my Bassets, which takes some doing); I was in that mode where the brain is racing with not very productive thoughts, so I decided to break that cycle by getting up and actually being productive.
The closest impeachment rally to me is in Elise Slotkin’s district, which is reason enough to go…but boy, I’m not sure I want to stand outside in what will be low 20s at that point. That’s not all that cold, but it’s on the cusp of bearable/unpleasant, so I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I’ll probably wait to see if I do actually get a nap later and when I wake up; if I’m up and rested, I’ll probably go. In the meantime, it’s back to being productive and get some laundry folded.
Good day to and for all!
I read your post after I posted mine…… it’s so funny how different parts of the country have different definitions of “cold”. If it was in the low 20s in the afternoon, Austin would be freaking out. Precipitation or not, officials would probably be asking people to stay home. With ice/snow & those temps, there’d be a state of emergency & they’d be telling, not asking.
Cold, cold morning — not quite freezing, but considering that Sunday it was in the mid-80s, this is… something. I asked to leave work early today because it is going to freeze tonight & tomorrow, so I need to cover my plants. Continuing with the theme of comfort music, here’s Wachtet Auf. Another one that I don’t know why I love, but every Christmas playlist I make starts with this, it just feels calming & comforting.
An addendum to my check in. I bought fancy tea, and oh wow it is so great. In addition to my normal black tea, I used a blend with a caramel flavor, and one called “chocolate crunch”. Oh. Great. Goddess. I want to give the tea shop all my money.
Simple pleasures are the best. {{{HUGS}}}
Good Tiu’s Day morning, Meese! It’s gray and gloomy in Ashburn with a current temp. of 35 F., going up to 44 F. later. There may be showers this afternoon.
Yesterday I did manage to finish my Yule newsletter, so now have only to put in the corrections, incorporate the sheet of photos, and turn it into a .pdf before I send it out. There’s far too much in it, but I console myself with the thought that they needn’t read it all.
It’s too uninviting to go out, so I hope to write my short-short story today. I intend to read it at the Writers’ Group meeting on Friday.
I’m trying to get my head around the fact that two weeks from today will be New Year’s Eve! Duh. Where did the time go? I’d very much like to get my hair done this afternoon and do a few other things as well, but will have to wait and see.
Didn’t go to the open house yesterday because I didn’t feel up to it. Because of my terrible sleep habits my energy runs out after lunch. I’m afraid it will do the same thing today.
Bloomberg the billionaire has a new commercial out about gun violence in schools. It’s powerful. Have no intention of voting for him but I really hope that ad goes viral.
Wishing a good, quiet day to all at the Pond.
Yikes! Must buy ingredients for the kale & blackeyed pea soup that is the only way I can deal with blackeyed peas. Includes other symbolic things like carrot rounds. Hoping for some measure of prosperity in 2020.
I certainly hope that Democrats don’t nominate Bloomberg but there is no reason we can’t “use” his ads for promoting the issues we care about including addressing gun violence.
I am getting a bit nervous about our primary as the rumors of a Sanders-Warren ticket are making the rounds. If their current supporters merged, they would win the nomination. It is more likely that their current supporters would be ticked off and go at each other, their having made their choices for different reasons. If that happens, we will be fine, otherwise we will have tRump for 4 more years and we will not survive. I have no idea how we stop that from happening.