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 to view previous pages, shown here with 3 pages of comments available and Page 2 circled.
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Good “morning”, Motley Meese! The week begins …
Morning low of 62 degrees in Madison WI with an expected daytime high of 77. Scattered thunderstorms are in the forecast.
Have a great day, all y’alls!!
Happy Summer Solstice, Father’s Day, and Juneteenth Weekend Meese.
If you haven’t seen this ad yet – take a look at who is running against Huckabee Sanders
The odds of electing a Dem in AR are slim. Of electing a Black Dem even slimmer. But you betcha I’m praying and, pandemic permitting, will be working to try anyway. I’m so glad we’ve got someone this good running.
Puerto Rico
Good morning. Have got to get to the gym today, I slept really badly last night. Got next week’s tea steeping, going to roast a pan of vegetables this morning, then I’ll have the afternoon free to go to the gym & tire myself out. Thinking about maybe going to the voting rights rally, but it’s sooooo hot…. For now, I’m watching the news & eating breakfast.
Sunday Music
Happy Litha – We’ve made it to another marker on the Wheel. It’s 78 going to 92 and the heat index isn’t supposed to get over 95. I had the A/C on yesterday. We’ll see what today brings. (Along with the front overnight – once the temps actually start going down, around midnight, they’ll keep going down until Tuesday morning.) Yesterday we generated 21.36 KWHs and the m-t-d at 319.5 is catching up. We’ll lose ground again tomorrow (definitely clouds, supposedly rain) but today looks good for gaining a little more.
Also Happy Juneteeth Weekend – the progress is real and should be celebrated. Long, long, long way to go of course. But celebrate the gains.
Hanging on as the ground slips under you is more a thing to appreciate than celebrate. That’s pretty much where Aji, Amelia, Fineena, and Jill are. And my friend – she came and got her blueberries yesterday and we went out for frozen yogurt (masked, ate outside) because even at 9:30 am it was warm enough for it – her dad is failing but, such a hard thing to say, not fast enough. (She didn’t say that. I am.) He’s in pain all the time. He has very limited mobility. His dementia is getting worse. Someone has to be with him all the time. The only “good” thing is there are 4 of them who take turns so no single person is on “dad duty” 24/7 – but they’re all stressed out and tired. But since he has mobility and he’s not on dialysis the medical industry is pretending like he’s going to get well and they shouldn’t give him heavy painkillers that “can damage his kidneys” – that are already shot. Medical industry basically told the family that since he’s breathing, his heart’s beating, and he’s not in a coma, he’s their problem. We don’t have health care in this country. We’ve a giant corporate vacuum sucking money and energy from people in the name of care while they & their families/friends have to do the work themselves. And die. Frequently too soon. Always in pain.
I’ve got the top layer of house stuff done. Coffee and online for a bit after I close up the house. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
CRUD! Accidentally hit something and lost a whole post. It’s a nice day here, 80 F. going up to 92 F. Leaving now to go watch Nora’s soccer game.
Happy Summer Solstice, Father’s Day, and Juneteenth weekend, as Sister Dee says!
More later.
Eeek! Did I miss Summer Solstice? I blame it on vacation brain and delays that did not get me home until after midnight. I will post my seasonal tribute on Monday morning. Technically, it does not occur until 11:32pm Eastern so if I can find a brain, I could post something later today and NOT be negligent.
Worry not, BlogGoddess! Most of us where fast asleep when it arrived. I sent Solstice greetings to my friend in Germany, where it is now nearly tea time, and we bemoaned the state of the planet. She said part of Germany is in drought, although where she lives they’re just coming off a cold, wet spring. She will make her Litha bonfire and burn a Sun King (fashioned out of bread dough and baked) on the weekend.
GM….60 and sunny in Bellingham. All the Dads in our family are good cooks, so everyone will be barbequing something today. We’ll be at our son’s house and Lisa and her family will be there too. Lots of Dads to remember today and every day.
I have some flowers to arrange and the garden to water so it will be an easy day for moi. Best wishes to all.
Monday Meese – This brother is so awesome!
I saw it! In a just world, a person like Dr. Chris Jones – intelligent, competent, accomplished and inspiring – would be a shoo-in. Unfortunately, Arkansas is a deep red state that has twice elected Tom Cotton, one of the most ignorant and hateful people in the Senate and elected the garbage Huckabees.
I am following Dr. Jones and wish him well. I am glad that we are fielding candidates for every election because it gives us the chance to draw comparisons between the two parties. It won’t reach the Fox News Deadheads but it may reach the next generation – perhaps they will question why their elders want ignorant haters like the Huckabees when they could have Dr. Jones.
I “found” something to spare & donated. You’re right. This is important and he needs money up front.
Good morning, meeses! Monday …
It is 61 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 66. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.
Today I will clear my vacation brain (which was preceded by two weeks of pre-vacation brain!) and start project work in earnest. It sounds like I was lucky to get home – American Airlines cancelled about 300 flights over the weekend and will be cancelling more flights through July due to staffing shortages. Our plane was an hour late due to delays in the system that started in Los Angeles (we had no pilots!). The airports – at both ends – were understaffed and the lines were long and slow. We tried to get food at the airport, even willing to pay the exorbitant prices there, but the lines for every place were 30 people long – so we ate snacks. I am glad we had our vacation early in the “re-awakening” of the travel economy because I think it is only going to get worse. Generally, I felt safe – thankfully, the airport/airplane mask mandate is still in place and I didn’t have to be worried about being with unvaccinated trumpers blowing COVIDs on me. I really really do not want to test the efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine – I prefer masking in crowded places.
Time to get back to the salt mines!
See all y’all later!
Glad your vacation went well and you were indeed smart to get in early!
Good Monday morning, Moosekind! The gray-blanketed sky of early morning has given way to tentative sunlight and wispy veils of cloud across the blue. It’s going to be ‘ot, ‘umid, and ‘orrible. Current temperature in Ashburn is 77 F., going up to 94 F.
We went to Miss Pink Cheeks’ soccer game yesterday. It didn’t start until noon and the weather was BROILING! I haven’t attended a child sporting event for ages, so I’d forgotten about bringing an umbrella. Luckily, Younger Son brought one for us. A kind woman lent me her spray-on sunscreen too. I was an eejit to wear shorts.
We staggered back to their house, which DIL always keeps as dark as a tomb, and rejoiced in the air conditioning. By that time my foot was really paining me and Dearly was exhausted. We drove by the new house and were somewhat taken aback by how close to each other the houses are in that neighborhood. The house we left was built in 1976, so there was a decent amount of land with it. This house, while apparently very spacious inside, was built in 2001 has hardly any land with it.
I’m glad I’m seeing the doctor tomorrow. It has now been 6 days since I started taking the antibiotic twice daily, so I don’t know why I’m still having pain. We shall see, as our bfitz says.
Gotta start downsizing AGAIN and packing! Wishing everyone a nice, peaceful Solstice day.
Our high this longest day (starting last night at 10:30 pm central time) was 82 just after midnight. It’s 70 now, will be around 65 when I fire up the oven after lunch, and bottom out at 50 just before dawn tomorrow. It’s also raining and dark. I’m surprised the PV system is even on. We generated 21.5 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d gained to 340.88 – just 2 more days like the last week would have put us on track. Alas I will be surprised if we generate 10 today. At least the A/C won’t be on even if the lights are.
Got an early call from Jill. She woke up to 2 emails from Twitter about 2 minutes apart. The 1st said her account had been hacked, the 2nd that her account was terminated. Twitter didn’t just stop/block her account, they erased it. Her handle doesn’t come up and all the DMs I had with her are gone. Including her DMS in a group DM – the DM thread is there, the responses to her comments are there, but none of her comments to be able to see what we were responding to. That’s Twitter – helping abusers by silencing the victims. Goddess! I wish I thought another venue would be better. Even if I did, unless the folks I joined Twitter to have contact with were over there, I still wouldn’t move, so I guess it’s moot. (As far as I know everybody else is OK/hanging in there.)
I devoutly hope Dr. Jones. makes it. About the only thing he’s got going for him is he’s male. The Rs are running women in this misogynist state. And not as many folks like Sarah Huckabee as the MSM & twitterverse would have folks believe. We also have a not-always-followed tradition of alternating parties in the governor’s mansion. Of course our governor’s have diddly power – anything they want done they have to wheedle the Legislature into doing & anything the Legislature doesn’t like it can override. Still, it would be great to have Dr. Jones as the face of AR – that’s morale building if nothing else. And what he could do for us, he would. I need to scrounge up some money to send his way. I’ve been donating to some folks/causes dear to my heart on top of the $200 for the blueberries and am sort of tapped out until July’s Social Security comes in. OK – just hard put to find anything to donate to anybody.
Ironies and contradictions of life and Life. Darkness and rain (much needed) on Litha. But the rain and the coolth are blessings. And the Light isn’t gone just because we can’t see/feel the full force of it. So. Coffee & Dee’s diary & twitter. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Interesting point – didn’t occur to me that his being male would help.
Oh yeah. We got enough “evangelicals” here – totally adamant that women not be in positions of power. Man is the “head” and all that.
I woke up 20 minutes before my alarm, inconvenient. So I thought I’d get in a walk before my Monday dash into the office. But it was already 81 degrees at 6 freaking 30 am. And so humid you can see the air — I wouldn’t call it foggy, exactly; just super humid. I did go to the gym yesterday, and did my 8 repeats of 90 seconds running, but I really think the treadmill assists, so maybe it should count as 6? Anyway, the rest of today is just work.
Puerto Rico
Indeed.
Good morning, 72 and sunny in Bellingham. I’ve opened the rest of the upstairs windows and got the fans ready to use but it was still warm last night. I’m tired this morning, but yesterday was a fun family day. It was especially good to visit with Ryan, and to make plans for his summer time with us.
I didn’t have time to deep water the garden yesterday so that’s first on today’s agenda. Best wishes to all.
Good Tuesday morning, Meese! Woke up annoyingly early (3 a.m.), which means this day will be pretty much ruined as far as work is concerned. I have two articles to write for the Fall issue of the quarterly. They’re hanging over me like undone homework. I hate that feeling.
Just took Monty out for his morning “business” meeting in the courtyard. There was evidence of rain during the night, and the air smells of rain yet to come. However, while lying awake and hating it, I solved a couple of small problems that had been bothering me, so it was not all wasted.
Right now it’s 68 F. in Ashburn, going up to 72 F. A thick blanket of gray cloud is moving slowly across the sky. I’m sure we’re gonna git it soon.
This morning I have a 10:30 appointment with the foot doctor. I hope she’ll be able to help me about the pain. Actually, I have a stash of opioids left over from years and years ago after a root canal. The dentist prescribed 30 pills, which I really didn’t need. I only took two, fearing I might become addicted. Have never quite known what to do with the rest.
Have asked Younger Son for a family meeting. He said OK, but did not suggest a time. Given his penchant for moving every two to three years (always to a larger, nicer, more expensive house), we are wondering how we will recoup our investment if he and DIL decide to move again. We’re contemplating putting a lot of money into the downstairs quarters: a kitchenette, expanding the half-bath to a full bathroom, a fence around the yard for Monty and Mort. That is something we’ll have to iron out.
We had a huge thunderstorm before dinner last night. The horrible weather did a lot of damage on the East Coast, I hear. Going to turn on the telly in a minute to find out about it. You know, “the news” ought to be called “the bads.” There’s never any good news.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!
Nothing is ever easy, is it? I think about my cash reserves a lot – I have a (very small) nest egg and I really can’t afford to blow any of it, every penny will be pinched twice before it leaves in the interest of “wealth” preservation and the hope of not outliving my reserves. Lashing yourself to another property financially, and one you have no control over, should give you pause. I hope you get your concerns addressed!
Yes, we are thinking about it a great deal. If we decide to go ahead, we’d want a legal agreement drawn up. After all, it would add a great deal of value to the house—the next buyer could rent the space as an Air BnB, or it could be used as a college student space or mother-in-law suite.
{{{Diana}}} Very good idea to get it all drawn up legally. The future truly is not ours to see and covering contingencies. . . Healing Energy & more {{{HUGS}}}
That’s a great solution! It guarantees that you are repaid from the proceeds of the house sale so that you stay whole. I wonder if it would look like a lien on the house or a second mortgage? The other option is that you and Dearly become part of the house and any buyers must let you live there in perpetuity! ;)
Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …
It is 55 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high in the 60s (I can’t tell since my weather widget just crashed). My eyeballs tell me that it is cloudy.
I only have time for a quick hi and bye. Putting my nose to the grindstone means meeting pent up client demand and I will be traveling to a client’s site for the first time since May 10, 2020. That day, I visited a client in the red county of Waukesha, found everyone unmasked and sitting in tiny unventilated rooms and vowed to not go anywhere in Waukesha ever again or to go any client site until the pandemic was over. I am vaccinated and my client’s employees in the blue City of Milwaukee are all vaccinated (requirement) so I am traveling today.
See all y’all later!
We had some storms overnight, and it will be less miserably hot today. I’m still going to do my exercise indoors, playing around with my work schedule to log off early while I still can. I’ll be in the office 2 days a week after July 4th, and they expect us back to normal by the end of summer.
The news is running stories on what to do for people showing signs of heat stress. Not sure if it’s because of the heatwave or because there are so many people moving here & they’re not used to this.
Hi, another! It’s dismal that employers expect people to come back to the office full time, especially if they’re not requiring proof of vaccination. I hate that idea.
Of course, I’m deeply biased in favor of working from home as I’m an introvert.
I’ve been telling people that what I learned the past year is that I am truly an introvert. My best friend told me I am, but I’m talkative, so I thought she was wrong. But I’ve seen so many comments from people who were lonely or stir-crazy, etc — I was fine. Perfectly fine. I never missed being around people, I’m not eager to “get back out there” or whatever. Guess my best friend knew me better than I knew myself.
Considering how much you’ve proved you can be as if not more efficient working from home, you’d think they’d give people the option of continuing to do so at least part time. But it’s never been a productivity issue. It’s always been a control issue. sigh. Holding the Good Thoughts & sending Healing Energy. {{{HUGS}}}
It’s in the low 60s heading for mid 80s (I might even get a walk today) and sunny. Everything except my hands are totally happy with this. Yesterday we got much-needed rain then it cleared off long enough to generate 8.6 KWHs. Covers yesterday’s usage but we lost more ground toward the 500-for-June goal. M-t-d is 349.7 with 9 production days left in the month. We shall see what we shall see.
Jill’s got a new twitter account and is gathering in her followers. He tried to hack the new one last night. Fortunately this time Twitter blocked him. My friend just found out the university insurance is covering less but costing more. There’s a person Aji’s boosting (First Nations person, got a chance to move home/homelands/Native community but has to get there) I sent some to and would send more since the PayPal/Pool deadline is end of the day tomorrow but my friend needed it. sigh. Aji’s still keeping on and waiting until she can get the MRIs for the Dx so they can start treating it. I haven’t heard from Fineena and am getting worried. Amelia is fighting (or drowning in) fatigue – it got a little better for several weeks after she was vaxxed but the energy’s gone again.
Step by step back into the dark – but this year maybe it will be a warm dark, a secure dark, a dark of plenty in the pantry, a dark of rest and regeneration. Meanwhile there is work. To fill that pantry, to get the warm situation set up, to shove the evil ones under their rocks – & seal them in – so we can rest. Holding the Good Thoughts.
More coffee then off to twitter. I may or may not do laundry today. But any day this week is fine and it will be warmer tomorrow (clothes with dry faster). Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Tuesday Meese. Couldn’t get on puter due to power outage – back now
Puerto Rico