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, 46, cloudy and windy in Bellingham. Now that the leaves have dropped I can see Bellingham Bay outside my window and it looks choppy and cold. Makes me grateful our boating days are over. The white caps are much safer to see from the shore!
I’m starting to think about Christmas, and I’m not inspired. I usually sew a few gifts but I’m going to try to avoid that this year. It’s always creative fun but too much pressure along with everything else the season brings. Best wishes to all.
Good thinking, princesspat. I find myself inclined to cut back as well. It’s just too much work and pressure.
We’ve both been there, done that.
Good morning, meeses! It is 27 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 57. Mostly cloudy skies are in the forecast with rain expected in the evening. Starting Friday, the expected daytime highs will be in the upper 30s – Second Summer is over!
A federal judge in DC said that tRump can’t hide the evidence of his crime of sedition. The January 6th panel subpoenas suggest that the smoking gun – both the planning and the implementation of the attempted violent overthrow of the government – happened in the White House. tRump will never be brought to justice but I hope enough of his enablers spend time behind bars to make it a little less tempting to try it again. Watergate yielded 40 indictments and 8 major figures jailed including the former attorney general – we have a toothless Congressional committee who will issue a report describing how awful this was. The subpoenas are useless btw, tRumpian loyalists won’t spill any beans even if they show up. Maybe the evidence being gathered will be impossible for the Justice Department to ignore but I am not going to hold my breath.
America 2021 – a Republican Congressman who advocated the murder of a colleague and a physical attack on the president is celebrated in his caucus while Republican Congresspeople who voted for an infrastructure bill that will fix roads and bridges and ports in their districts are stripped of power.
It is Wednesday and after a fractured day yesterday, I lost track of what I need to be working on and have to sit back and put together a good to-do list. I seem easily distracted by bright shiny baubles like a “new” phone and buying stuff for it. I think I am done with that now.
See all y’all later!
Perhaps it’s the time of year, Jan. If I let myself think about national politics I get so depressed I become dysfunctional.
Will just get on with what I have to do.
Good Wednesday morning, Moose Peeps! The sky is clearing in Ashburn, and it’s 60 F. It’ll be cooler today than yesterday, but there’s going to be sun around.
I suppose I’ll wash the rug again. Washed it early yesterday, dried it in the sun all day, then Monty barfed green vomit on it at 5 a.m. today. I’m totally sick of this, but how can I stop him from eating grass? It’s awful grass, too. Thank Goddess it’s going to rain either tomorrow night or Friday morning and wash all the nasty stuff off it.
In slightly more intellectual news, I plan to interview our Director of Philanthropy this morning for an article. Also, at some point I’ve got have a nap after my 3 a.m. wakeup call. Lay awake until 5, got up at that hour.
Bfitz, I’m curious to know how you’re making out without coffee. I lasted 2 and 1/3 days without it. I was in such pain from withdrawal (I’m talking physical pain here) that I just couldn’t take it. Speaking of that, the WaPo Health section yesterday ran an article about a 99-year-old woman and how she got that way. Right after she described her daily diet (breakfast—coffee, toast, and fruit), her “Rules for Health” appeared in a sidebar. No. 3 was to skip breakfast, no one needs it. At the end was advice to avoid coffee, tea, meat, sugar, white bread, and bla bla bla. No one seemed to catch the fact that she contradicted herself.
So I’ll ask Dearly to make some coffee (I’ve made coffee too many times for too many men to ever make it again), and then I’ll get on with cooking an egg for him, served with white-bread toast.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!
{{{Diana}}} I’m fine as best I can tell at this point without the coffee. I had a real skullbanger for the first 2 days. Then my friend came over to visit with lattes. It’s quite true the headache went away immediately. And while a headache did come back once the latte wore of, it wasn’t nearly as bad. That lasted several more days. By the end of a full week that was that. I’m not having caffeine-withdrawal headaches any longer. (Just the sinusitis-related ones. sigh.)
My personal opinion about food/diet/eating (backed by reading, research, & a couple of nutrition classes back in the day) is to check out required nutrients for good health and calorie budget for desired weight, find the foods you like that together fulfill those requirements within that budget, and eat them whenever you want to. Life’s a balance.
Wednesday Meese. 49 going up to 62 today here in Kingston. Think I’m going to go out and take some fall colors photos – change of seasons is so glorious here.
Puerto Rico
SCOTUS Blog posted a detailed background and a summary from yesterday
Good morning. Dermatologist took the red thing off my temple yesterday, that spot still feels….. not “painful” as such, just…..noticeable, I guess. Another work from home day, yay.
{{{anotherdemocrat}}} Yay! for working from home & wish they’d let you do it more. Healing Energy – hope the spot stops being “noticeable” soon – & more {{{HUGS}}}
I logged out from work, the not-quite-pain was just too distracting. I’ll try again this afternoon.
Moar Healing Energy.
It’s 60 heading for 68 and overcast. Rain should move in about dark and looks like most of the night. Cooler weather coming in after the rain. Off and on sunshine. sigh. Yesterday we generated 5.68 KWHs. The m-t-d at 53.1 is losing ground but not as much as I was afraid of. We’ll see what today brings.
Jill’s stalker sent her an email last night pretending to be from her son. Jill of course is still upset. They’re trying to track it back to have legal evidence. That would be the final piece needed to get a warrant for the stalker. Aji’s internet is being intermittent again. Not going to credit them back part of the outrageous bill just because they’re not providing consistent service of course. Everybody’s hanging on but the ropes are fraying.
Shopping went pretty much as expected yesterday (except for no green beans in the freezer section). All the employees and most of the customers were masked at Aldi’s. Only the girl at the register and me were masked at Tractor Supply. Most of the employees and maybe half the customers at Harp’s. We’ll see what the co-op and USPS are like either tomorrow or next Thursday, whenever I choose to go. I at least got more sleep last night. (Almost 6 hours followed by intermittent dozing for another 2.) Off to do my twitter chores. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 46 and partly sunny. I couldn’t wake up yesterday so I basically did nothing. Sure hope I’ll have more energy today but I’m off to a slow start. RonK is taking his camera for a walk in search of yet another moss photo so he will be busy :)
Best wishes to all.
Good morning, meeses! Thursday …
It is 54 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 48. Mostly cloudy skies – we are expecting snow overnight!
The only good news coming out of the trial of Rittenhouse in Kenosha is that the ridiculous judge has, since day one, set the stage for a mistrial. I don’t know if he did it on purpose, so he wouldn’t be the guy presiding over the conviction of a right-wing darling, or if he is just that ignorant. That the prosecution can’t ask Rittenhouse why he was in Kenosha with an assault rifle is insane – that the murderer is allowed to claim self-defense when he put himself in the position where people thought he was an active shooter and people tried to disarm him is insane. The NRA said that citizens should be all about disarming potential killers, how do they feel when those citizens are then killed and the killer gets off scot-free. Gak. I had the trial on mute on my TV while I did other things and the jury will never convict the big cheeked child who cried on the stand. Gross and disgusting miscarriage of justice.
In other news, Joe Biden was touting his bipartisan infrastructure bill, inflation is pretty high (I see it in food prices – I don’t drive enough to be impacted by high gas prices), and it looks like New York City is getting another mayor who will make a lot of people unhappy about his mayoring. Maybe it is impossible to find consensus when you are running a city with 8 million people.
Today is Veterans Day – banks and post offices will be closed but for most people it is not a day off. I have a few client projects to do and then I need to address an out of control Inbox. It does not help to tag something as “Important” if the Inbox contents (and the tag!) scroll off the page. I will start by deleting newspaper alerts (some go back a few months) just to get the sheer volume down.
See all y’all later!
Thursday Meese. 31 going up to 57 here in Kingston.
Veterans Day
Wow, your Dad was a very handsome guy!
You’ve inherited his genes.
They’re having a memorial for Veterans’ Day next door in the auditorium even as I write, but I am unwashed, undressed (except for night clothes0 and can’t attend.
Thank you!
Puerto Rico
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Good morning. I didn’t exercise yesterday — the spot on my head where the dermatologist removed the thing was bothering me. I actually logged out of work for a couple of hours to re-bandage it and rest up. Today: laundry, and…… I dunno what else.
It’s 48 heading for 60 and sunny. The wind’s up a bit so windchill’s about 5 degrees lower. Yesterday we generated 5.4 KWHs – m-t-d is 58.5 which is not on track and in fact is losing ground. sigh.
Lousy sleep. Sinusitis just will not settle down. I wish my memory was better. I know it’s been months. I just can’t remember how many. My son could be right. The 6th cat may have pushed my body over what it could handle. But I’m not sure because I can’t remember when it started. Or exactly when the 6th cat moved in, although that I could look up. Vet records and date stamp on the 1st photo I have of him. But even if it is, these cats aren’t particularly rehomeable. All of them are rescues and I’m not going to betray them by dumping them or “surrendering” them to any of our shelters. I’ve got to find some way to deal with the symptoms no matter what. But things that used to work don’t any longer. sigh.
As far as I know not much has changed except the details for any of my friends. And all of their situations are so very much worse than mine. The best I can do is boost their stuff. When/if they have stuff to boost. So I’m heading over to twitter to do that. & to Dee’s diary of course. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good Thursday morning, Meese. It’s 56 F. and fair, although the temp. was only 48 F. when I took Monty out. Today is our last glorious day with blue skies and sunlight shining on orange and golden leaves.
We’ve had grave news from Australia this morning. Dearly’s older brother Jack, aged 93, feels that his time has come and wants his wife to set up a Zoom call on Saturday to say goodbye to everyone. Jack’s had pretty good innings. Before he was taken ill, he was one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. He invented a waterless toilet that he hoped would make his fortune but alas, it didn’t. Elder Son was so inspired by the idea of a waterless toilet that could be marketed all around the world that he actually went to Australia for a year in the mid-90s to see whether he could help. That didn’t work out either, but Eric certainly had a wonderful time traveling around Oz.
Oh, dear. Looking on the bright side, I’ll be leading the Blue Ridge Writers’ Group this afternoon for our monthly meeting. The leader of the other group, who has always been rude to yrs truly, has invited herself to the meeting as an observer.
And in other news, Birch Point is now at 85 percent in donations to the Staff Appreciation Fund! We Birch Pointers are a generous lot.
I’m remembering my father today, who was a veteran. Dearly Beloved is too, in a way—he served two years in the Royal Air Force.
I must get washed and brushed pronto, because I need to read through all the essays again before I lead the meeting. I always arrive early so I can set up.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.
That’s a real shame about Jack – both that he feels his time has come, and that his invention didn’t take off. Sending good thoughts to all the family.
Thank you, another.
Good Thoughts & Healing Energy to your family – however it’s needed. {{{HUGS}}}
Thank you, dear bfitz!
Good morning, 44 and cloudy in Bellingham. I woke up early today and my thoughts are full of memories of tending the family grave site with my grandparents. We would walk up the path in the evening to change the water, leave some flowers and just be there. My grandparents were very kind and loving people so as a child I didn’t realize they were visiting the graves of their children. Three white marble gravestones, so far away in those Nevada hills. I hope someone will tend to them today.
Best wishes to all.
Good morning, meeses! Friday …
It is 36 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 37. My weather widget says it is snowing right now but it doesn’t appear to be – the forecast calls for mixed precipitation all day, though. I hope it is wrong! I have a couple of errands I want to run. They can be put off until tomorrow but I prefer not to.
The DC Appeals court blocked the release of the documentation of tRump’s January coup attempt but set a hearing for November 30th. If they move as quickly as the district judge did, this will not linger long in appeals and the Alito-Trump Court’s shadow docket will have one last chance to save their party’s leader from what will likely be the smoking gun evidence on the insurrection. I hope that if they do that, some patriotic person at the National Archives finds a way to get the documents to a news organization. They have to all be in one big PDF at this point as they were ready to release them. I am not sure that most MAGAts will care that he tried to overturn the election and install himself as essentially a dictator (it is what they want) but in the event that there are still a majority of people who believe that we should remain bound by the Constitution, it could help make the case that Republicans should NOT be allowed to regain power next year and, goddess save us, in 2024.
The Kenosha case is an embarrassment. No one will ever convince me that the prosecutors did not intentionally blow this case because their heart is not in it – they have no interest in convicting a gun-wielding white boy who just wanted to protect the good people of Kenosha from “rioters and looters.” I hope there are federal charges pending that will look at the trial judge, the prosecutors and the courtroom shenanigans and decide that the victims’ civil rights were violated because Wisconsin’s elected judges and prosecutors put party over justice. p.s. I also hope Rittenhouse’s laughable “breakdown” follows him the rest of his life with the mockery it deserves.
It is Friday and I have been working on my to-do stack and making some decent headway. I love the morning darkness of Standard Time when I can work quietly while the world sleeps. It used to be better; I used to be able to send off emails to clients and vendors as I composed them. Now, because people have smartphones with their business email with them at all times (even when they are sleeping!), I save the emails as drafts and send them off at 6am. I will never understand why someone would want to be woken up by a business email at 3am but they do.
See all y’all later!
Friday Meese. Raining :( and 53 going up to 61 here in Kingston
MAGA racists and idiots are now manufacturing outrage because POTUS Joe referred to Satchel Paige as a great pitcher from the Negro Leagues – when he was a great pitcher from the Negro Leagues.
Puerto Rico
Good Friday morning, Moosekind. The clouds moving slowly across the sky look like a lumpy gray comforter. I can’t see any rain falling now at 8 a.m., although I can hear runoff chuckling through the gutters. It was raining heavily at 5:30 a.m. when I released Monty in his raincoat, on a long leash, to do his business in the courtyard while I stood under the awning.
It’s 58 F. now and will rise only to 65 F. We’ll have cold weather this weekend. I’ve got a loaf of bread dough rising on top of the stove. Hope it’s ready to be baked before I have to leave for my nail appointment at 3:30.
Had a pretty decent sleep of 7 and 1/2 hours with only lavender oil and sleep cream, so am feeling encouraged.
Yesterday my writing group was enthusiastic and full of beans! They all seemed to have a really good time, which pleases me greatly. One woman stated after the class that she was gaining in self-confidence.
The observer sat on the window seat (we have a very pleasant room in which to meet) and didn’t contribute much, as was only natural. She had not read any of the essays as she is not a member of our group. I think she attended out of curiosity as I now have several of her former members in my group. One reason is proximity—most of my members are from Neighborhood 2, as am I. Her group is Neighborhood 1. But enough about that except to say that I was very nice to this person, who has been very rude to me in the past.
Lots of writing to do today, and cleaning up this Goddess-forsaken office. I want to do the Zoom call tomorrow with Jack and Marie on my computer. Don will sit beside me. I hope we all don’t break down in tears.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.
My early morning dog “deposit” was done with freezing precipitation spitting down on me because I keep forgetting that a lot of precipitation is not visible from a distance and failed to bring my new boonie hat. I think I will simply take it with me unless it is obviously clear skies – if it looks silly to passersby, Crones Don’t Care!
The marvels of modern technology that allow your Zoom call are to be lauded – being in-person would not have been possible. Sending sympathies for your sadness and pain.
Back in the office today. Cold morning but supposed to be lovely and warm this afternoon. Spot where the doc took the thing off my forehead is finally healing. I might walk after work, or wait till tomorrow.