Welcome to The Moose Pond! The Welcomings posts give the Moose, old and new, a place to visit and share words about the weather, life, the world at large and the small parts of Moosylvania that we each inhabit.
Welcomings will be posted at the start of each week (usually Saturday night with a Sunday date). To find the posts, just bookmark this link and Voila! (which is Moose for “I found everyone!!”).
The format is simple: each day, the first moose to arrive on-line will post a comment welcoming the new day and complaining (or bragging!) about their weather. Or mentioning an interesting or thought provoking news item. Or simply checking in.
So … what’s going on in your part of Moosylvania?
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NOTE: The comments page will split off after 20 or so left margin comments with the most recent comments on the current page. To see the older comments, scroll to the bottom of the page (right before “Leave A Reply”) and use the Pages Tool, shown here with 3 pages of comments available.
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Good “morning”, Motley Meese! The week begins …
Morning low of 21 degrees in Madison WI with an expected daytime high of 28. Isolated snow flurries are in the forecast.
Have a great day, all y’alls!!
Sunday Meese. 16 degrees here in Kingston NY (brrrrr) going up to 32.
I’m throwing a music party celebration for Kamala in my Sunday diary this morning.
Puerto Rico
Good morning from foggy, foggy Austin. Thunderstorms later today, but right now some areas have zero visibility. Didn’t get out yesterday, did make cheesy grits with vegetables, will find out if it’s any good at lunch. The head pastor of my church is retiring in May. I hate change, and John has been a good friend. Back in the days of in-person church, we had a thing where on my way out I’d tell him what U2 song his sermon started playing in my head. We’re not a big church, but are considered prestigious, there’ll be a big search for his replacement. I don’t know if any of the associate pastors want the job, sigh. Have I mentioned that I hate change?
Understood, another! Many times changes are for the worse. Some are for the better, though.
Celebrating our new MVP
And isn’t it great!
Good Sunday morning, Moosekind! It’s a lovely, sunny day in Ashburn, although cold. It’s currently 30 F., going up to 40 F. The weather person says there will be snow tomorrow, but the widget I just consulted said rain. Perhaps I’ll be able to get that haircut after all.
I’m cooking at home for the next few days as the food here is so awful. I didn’t get much done today but must accomplish things today. At least I did the grocery shopping for the week.
Hoping to watch, or at least keep an eye on, the Bucs-Packers game this afternoon. D’yall realize that JANUARY ends one week from today? Can you believe it? And our new Prez has accomplished more in three days than, uh, wossname did in four years. I’m beginning to have hopes that by September life will be somewhat normal again.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!
Sadly, the Bradys prevailed. Now, for the trumpian Bradys to lose, we have to root for a team whose fans chant “Indian war chants” and do tomahawk chops when they are excited. Sigh.
It’s 48 heading to 54 and cloudy. sigh. We didn’t get quite to 3 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d’s at 136. sigh.
I wish I didn’t sidetrack so easily. I’ve never been diagnosed so I’m not gonna claim ADHD – but it runs in my family. I brought the Moose pond up over an hour ago. I’m part of the way through 6 different cleaning activities, barely started on my twitter duties, and can’t remember the other thing I’m supposed to be doing just that there’s something. The pause in this morning’s baking is deliberate though – the batter needs to “rest” a couple of hours before I beat the leavening into it and get it in the oven. I guess I need to find my list, wherever I put that, and start checking stuff off as I do it to get myself back on track.
MSM is RW propaganda. Has been for 40 years now. (That’s after 20 years of “conservative slant” but still relatively honest overall reporting.) R presidents get “honeymoons” and the benefit of every doubt the MSM can create. D presidents are accused of breaking promises if their entire agenda isn’t completed before they’re sworn in – and of course they will never report when the promise is actually kept much less that it was kept on time per the actual agenda. I watched them do this to Bill Clinton and to Barack Obama. And now Joe Biden. With oh-so-much-help from the LW. We shall see if they are successful this time. Joe’s got one thing going for him that Bill and Barack did not. He spent a long time in the Senate. Barack didn’t complete a full term and Bill wasn’t in the Senate at all. Joe knows the drill – what the Senate can and can’t do – so he can’t be bluffed. Joe also knows most of the people in it – and where the bodies are buried.
So. Off to find my list and do more stuff. But I can do it to the music in Dee’s diary. That makes Sunday chores less chores and more pleasures. Maybe more coffee first – while I read the diary. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 34 and cloudy with rain and/or snow showers coming our way. My family phone chats have been fun and busy this morning. So glad we can communicate and “be together” while stuck home with covid concerns. Two sets of friends have their vaccines now but we’re still waiting for our doc’s office to get some vaccine and I must admit I’m feeling less patient today. I really miss being with my daughters in person, The more virulent strain of covid is in their communities now so that makes me even more concerned.
Time for some Sunday sewing. I found the unfinished stack of Dr. Who pillow cases yesterday and it was so nice to see I had left them ready to sew. Two are finished, four more to go!
Best wishes to all.
Good morning, meeses! Monday …
It is 7 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 25. Cloudy skies now; snow expected later in the day.
I will be watching closely to see how long “bipartisanship” lasts when 85% of one of the parties are election-deniers and members of a death cult. My hope is that someone can convince Joe Manchin and Diane Feinstein that waiting for Republicans to show some decency is going to put their own constituents at risk and that comity is a relic and a conceit we can’t afford if we are to survive. I read a comment over the weekend that suggests that the bipartisanship theme that ran through the Obama Administration’s first two years and ruined a lot of good legislation (watered down in attempts to get Republican votes) is inoperative in 2021. In 2009, Democrats had 60 Senate votes and in 2010 they had 58 so they only had to peel away 2 to get something pushed through cloture. In 2021, we would need to peel off 9 votes and the party has none of the old guard institutionalists left – they are Rand Paul and Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley and Marsha Blackburn – and it is simply not going to happen. Even the ridiculous gang of 16 only has 8 Republicans! If the Senate lets the minority destroy the chances for good legislation again, we will lose Congress in 2022 and goddess help us. Do it now, Senate Democrats, shake your heads wearily, proclaim it a necessary step to save American lives and the economy, and nuke the filibuster. I haz spoken.
Today, from what I understand, Janet Yellen will be confirmed to Treasury and possibly Mayo Pete to Transportation. Everyone is anxious to get the DHS secretary in place but I think it is still bottled up by the insurrectionist caucus. My biggest concern is the Justice Department – I don’t trust career officials who stood by and let Barr and tRump destroy the rule of law to run the department. I heard that they don’t even have a hearing set for Merrick Garland yet – they are waiting for his paperwork, questionnaires I think. I’ll have to go see if I can find a website that reports on the status of nominations.
I have to shake off the cobwebs and develop a plan for the rest of the month – I can’t believe that next week is February already! I will do triage this morning and then set some goals for the first quarter, personal and professional. My office is a mess with stacks of old and new projects and things that need to be sorted and shredded. I will (finally!) have my cataracts done in April, assuming I am vaccinated by then, and need to make sure I can take time off to heal properly. I need to keep working at least until my daughter finishes school and I can sell my house, bank the equity and downsize. I need good eyesight for that!
See all y’all later!
We never got the thunderstorm yesterday, supposed to have a quick rainstorm this morning then a sunny afternoon. We’ll see. Today’s plan: finish up the applications I got Friday, and maybe knock off at 4 for a walk.
Monday Meese. 16 degrees here in Kingston NY. Snow tomorrow. Hired someone to come and bring the 1/2 cord of wood for my fireplace that was dumped in my driveway into the garage breezeway. I am bringing wood in a few pieces at a time – but I am not strong enough to do the job.
Puerto Rico
It’s 49 heading for 61 and dark enough I need the lights on. Just over 2 KWHs yesterday and 138 for the m-t-d. We’re at the 180 still possible, 200 not possible point. “They” say the sun will be out later today. I hope so.
The “honeymoon” the MSM & talking heads were so delighted to give Reagan, Daddy Bush, & W – and extended it through twitler’s entire rampage – is never given to Dems. Clinton, Obama, and now Biden were expected to fix Rs’ messes before they were sworn in and have their entire agenda finished on Day One. Meanwhile, equally as usual, the Rs in the Senate are already trying to sabotage even the cabinet appointments. Yeah, time to finally get rid of the filibuster. Although it could be used for good, it actually was never meant for good in the first place. We’ve got too much work to do in too little time to mess around any longer.
We got over 1.5″ rain overnight. My hands ache but they are functional. I wish I could say the same for my sinuses. sigh. But I did get at least 4 hours of sleep so I’ll call it good. More coffee might help. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
What do you think about Sarah Hucksterbee’s entry into the gubernatorial race there? Will she enter the race as the frontrunner in the primary – do Democrats have anyone to run against her??
I think it sux. But I don’t know. There really isn’t an R in AR that doesn’t. She’s pretty much got the “gud Xtian” crowd locked up because of her daddy. And twitler’s supporters b/c of her unfailing support of him. Her primary opponent’s real “strength” is voter suppression and election stealing. So the elitist Rs who’ve been part of that particular plan will vote for her. As to our team, that’s another I don’t know. We have some good people but statewide name recognition is an issue. We haven’t held a statewide or federal office in 8 years. Getting that name recognition will take lots of money and boots on the ground because AR press will drop them into a media black hole. Prime-time ads will be extortionately expensive – and quite possibly be canceled at the last minute for some specious reason or another. So it’s gonna have to be dang-near a stealth campaign of folks going door-to-door, “non-political” visits to church suppers, and the like. And basically, the person who agrees to run will need help with both funding and security. I can’t prove it but I’m reasonably sure Cotton’s opponent dropped out the day after filing deadline because somebody visited him and said, “Nice family you got. Be a shame if something happened to them.” But if hopes, prayers, donations, & postcards can do it, I’m in for whoever runs against whichever R ends up on top.
Don’t know, but Sarah Huck won’t be nominated. She’s female and Arkansas is redder than a baboon’s behind. Have you ever noticed that her eyes look as if they belong to two different faces?
Ivanka thinks she’s going to run for L’il Marco’s seat but Ivanka will be bankrupt and in prison by that time.
Yes, AR’s as red as it can get. But Sarah is her daddy’s daughter & twitler’s sycophant. That will carry a lot of weight with the Deplorables. Especially as they’ll figure she’ll do whatever her daddy tells her making it really 2 more terms for the Huckster. Also her primary opponent is female so that part won’t be an issue this time around.
I devoutly hope you are right about where Ivanka will be by the next election cycle. Along with the rest of her family. Dunno if we can take L’il Marco’s seat from him. FL being a lot redder than most folks thing. sigh.
I hope Ivanka primaries Marco Rubio and then gets crushed in the general election. The tRump Republican Party will win a lot of primaries because they only need about 33% of the electorate to win. It will be a different story in the general election and the 2022 race will be huge with the Death Cult governor on the ballot as well. If DeSantis rejects all the federal help that is offered to him – as he appears determined to do – Floridians may not be happy about that. Two years is a long time for opinions to form but Ivanka beating Marco would be poetic justice.
The Ohio Senate race, now an open seat with Rob Portman’s announcement, will be a red-meat primary where Gym Jordan will likely get the nod. Maybe those who have been trying to get people to pay attention to his disgusting pedophile-enabling past will gain more traction in a state-wide race. The state that elected Sherrod Brown twice can’t be totally irredeemable.
Good Monday morning, Moosekind! Gray and hideous here in Ashburn with a current temp. of 35 F., going for a high of 39 F. “Something” is expected to fall this afternoon about 3 p.m. Outside the woods look brown and misty against a gray sky. I just saw an entire gaggle of Canada geese flapping and squawking on their way to the new Goosekind Grocery Emporium.
Got the corrections off to the publisher—good. Need to get a haircut, then spend the afternoon filing and smiling. Have to plan the draft for my next article for the quarterly. Just thought of a way to prevent exploding the word count. Our articles are supposed to run no more than 600 words, so instead of going into long, tiresome explanations about the library statistics, I’ll just point the reader to the URL. I’ve also thought of a grand new series for the quarterly, will run it by the Committee for the next meeting.
Eating at home again tonight, thank Goddess. Something is wrong with poor little Monty. He yelps as if in pain. We are trying to get him an appointment with his vet and you wouldn’t believe how difficult it is.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond, to President Biden and Vice-President Harris, and woe to all the obstructionist Rethugs.
Good morning, 38 and partly cloudy in Bellingham. I walked through my sewing room yesterday, found my book, bundled up, and read outside until I got too cold. So today I need to try to focus on my desk and to finish the laundry. I have the next book (#4) in The Chronicles of St Mary’s so starting it is tempting but I need to do some actual work first.
Best wishes to all.
Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …
It is 19 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 25. We had a significant amount of snow overnight – maybe 6 inches – and it looks to have stopped but the wind is blowing it around. Suburban school districts have cancelled in-person classes. I don’t have to go anywhere today, so I am good.
Mitch McChinless blinked and Senate Democrats will be given the gavels for the committees. The power sharing agreement says even splits on every committee, Democrats will hold the chairs, and a tie vote will not block a bill or nominee from proceeding to the floor for a vote. Let the confirmations begin!! Apparently Mitch felt that the verbal assurances from Manchin and Sinema were enough (really, it was all he was going to get); it will be interesting to see how those two feel when legislation with COVID relief is blocked by the filibuster and they have to tell their constituents that their slavish devotion to a Jim Crow Senate “norm” is why they are sick, hungry and homeless. The filibuster is NOT a tool for allowing the minority to have a say in how legislation is crafted – it is a tool for blocking legislation. Period. We have a short, two year window of time to deliver relief and then progress on infrastructure and civil rights to the American people. If we don’t, we will lose our thin majority. Maybe Manchin prefers that: “big and bold action” is not something that comes to mind when one thinks of Joe Manchin.
I made some headway on projects yesterday but I am not where I want to be. I keep letting little projects distract me when what I really need is to dig into some of the big ones but I lack the energy right now. Maybe after I get a rehab plan for my sore legs, I will feel less unsettled.
See all y’all later!
Sorry to hear about your legs, Jan, when will you begin the Rehab program?
Tomorrow!!
Tuesday Meese. A toasty 26 here in Kingston NY (hah) and snow is on the way.
Quite a few stories (finally) about the femicide in Puerto Rico
Dee, that is terrible! When men are frustrated the first thing they do is beat up women, or sometimes, as happens in countries where hatred of women is part of the culture, they kill women just for the hell of it. This is why I wish ALL patriarchal religion would be eliminated. Catholicism, Hinduism, and Islam, are equally guilty. Probably orthodox Judaism is guilty is as well, although I don’t seem to hear much about that.
Chilly enough here for a sweatshirt on the way into the office, but will get into the 70s this afternoon. Came home with just 5 applications, so I might have to make a 2nd trip in, if I finish all these & there are new ones. For now, I’m watching the news & Star Trek while I answer e-mails.
It’s 34 heading for 44 and so overcast I actually slept in (nice change from the night before when I got 2 hours total) – but I’m moving really slowly this morning. We got 6 KWHs yesterday and 144.7 is the m-t-d. If we can average 6 per day for this last bit of January we’ll at least make it to 180. We shall see.
Joe – and Nancy – are probably already working on this because the only way we’re gonna get anything, much less anything major, done is via the unfilibusterable budget reconciliation process. So everything to get us started has to be in there. We can use rollcall votes to show America what the Rs are happy to do to them on the “build on the foundation” bills but we’ve got to get that foundation in place ASAP.
It’s such a relief to wake up to ordinary days with ordinary problems and not jerk awake to the “what’s he said/done now” anxiety. Yes, the Nazis are still among us. And in the House. And hold 1/2 the Senate. We have to deal with them, in more ways than one, as soon as we can. But we have the helm now. And control of the tools and supplies. Whether or not we will do what’s needed, now we at least have the chance to try. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
It sounds like they will begin the reconciliation process next week. It turns out that we can use it twice this year because it can only be used once per budget but there was never a 2020 budget passed. So we can use it once for the rescue package and once for the build back better package. Unfortunately we can’t use it for statute changes, just for spending and taxing so if we want the John Lewis Voting Rights Act passed, it will require regular order. As we are now seeing, there are only 5 Republicans willing to break with their leadership so nothing will happen.
Good Tuesday morning, Meese! Honestly, trying to get here without interruptions from Dearly and Monty is driving me cray-cray. However, they’ve just gone for a walk so I am at peace for the moment.
The forecasted rain did not begin until 6 p.m., but by the time we tottered off to bed last night the ground was white. Now only traces of white remain in the woods and on the flowerbeds—the thirsty grass has sucked up all the moisture. There’s a mizzling rain now, which is near freezing, so it’s quite miserable. Gray skies of course.
Right now it’s 33 F. in Ashburn, supposedly going up to 42 F. We’re supposed to get another chance of snowflakes on Thursday and another on Sunday.
Currently I’ve got a loaf of bread rising in its pan on the stovetop. Need to make Peach Bran Muffins for an easy-to-grab breakfast for the remainder of the week.
I did get my hair cut and blown dry yesterday, so I look approximately 1,000 times better. Never did get to the filing because I realized I need something to file it in. So now I’ve got to paste labels on the folders I bought. I’m saving all the letters and “drawlings” they send me. When I come across documents my children did when they were young, I feel very grateful that they still exist.
In addition to filing, I have the laundry, which never goes away no matter how much of it I do, and drafting questions for the person I need to interview. I need to pay attention to my fiction as well.
Argh, that’s enough about my boring life! Wishing a good day to all the Pond, no matter the weather, and a satisfying, productive day for our new President and Vice-President.
Good morning meeses! Wednesday …
It is 10 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 18. Sunny skies are in the forecast. We ended up with about 8 inches of snow in the Monday overnight storm – they had originally predicted 2-5 but it was one of those that if the “heavy snow line” moved even a little, we would get hammered and we did. Streets got cleared pretty quickly and today it should be fine except for the challenge of finding a parking spot when the snowpiles make the lots smaller.
So Senate Republicans will display their full-on party over country in the Senate trial. Fine. We will get them on record as supporting an armed insurrection to overthrow an election and they can run on that in 2022. We won’t forget and we will do our best to make sure that it does not get forgotten. I believe that the Republican Party brand – in a full embrace of tRump and trumpism – will be toxic. We will know later this year when the first gubernatorial elections of the Biden era take place.
I am glad that Senator Patrick Leahy went home after his brief hospitalization. Good lord, our majority depends on an out-of-shape octogenarian staying healthy for 2 years. Vermont has a Republican governor and he can appoint a successor but then has to call an election so the replacement senator would only be able to sit for 6 months. In a state that regularly elects Republicans – because Bernie Sanders has spent his entire career crapping on the Democratic Party – we are not guaranteed a Democratic replacement there.
It looks like the Capitol rioters will get away with insurrection – the FBI seems to be signalling that it is too difficult to get to the bottom of it and finding and charging white people has always been a low priority for them. Bastids.
I have a small window of time to get my work done this morning so I need to get back to it.
See all y’all later!