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 68 degrees in the Desert Southwest with an expected daytime high of 90. Sunny skies are in the forecast.
Have a great day, all y’alls!!
Sunday Meese. 44 going up to 61 here in Kingston. On Mother’s Day am shuddering over the efforts to allow women no choice on whether or when they choose to be mothers.
Puerto Rico
Black Music Sunday posted
I forgot about the new week again, here’s my check in. Good morning. Got tea steeping, berries thawing so I can make breakfast for the week. Today’s the farewell for one of our associate pastors, really sorry to see her go. Oh, and my boys went to Ukraine.
Sunny & 60s heading for 80s today. Yesterday we generated just over 20 KWHs and brought the m-t-d to 65 – if we do it again today we’ll be on track for 300 and gaining ground for my “real” target of 450. The furnace is going off today and won’t be turned on again until next Saturday night.
I had a nice telephone visit with my older son last night and expect to have one with my younger son sometime today. Meanwhile, Sunday is Sunday and that means chores. I’m taking a break for breakfast right now but I want to get back to it and get it done before the day warms up. So I’ll be late to twitter and to Dee’s diary. But I’ll get there.
Happy Mothers Day to moms & happy memories to those who had good relationships with their no-longer-here moms. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Happy Monday. Summer is here already, highs in the upper 90s all week. At least today I’m using the state’s electricity.
Good morning, meeses! Monday …
It is 66 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 86. Sunny skies are in the forecast.
The news appears to be unchanged since I last looked on Friday. Republicans are emboldened by the Sanders-Collins Supreme Court and look likely to ban contraception as well as abortion. Good luck, women of child bearing age! Perhaps more of you should have voted in 2014 and 2016 instead of staking your future on one court’s opinion when the clear evidence showed that as soon as an anti-abortion majority was appointed, the “right” would be repealed. Rights are not granted by courts or legislators – they need to be embedded in the Constitution or they are meaningless. I suspect that the Equal Rights Amendment might have helped bolster our cause but unfortunately male-identified women were told that they would lose rights instead of gain rights and fought against it. Foolish and short-sighted – and now life threatening. It will be interesting to see if the current anger over the loss of reproductive rights can be sustained until it can be turned into a pro-choice vote in November.
See all y’all later!
Samuel Alito, he of the 13th Century:
Yes, we will always have the right to “keep on fightin’!” Maybe.
Thanks for the early morning laugh, Jan!
Yup – “It will be interesting to see if the current anger over the loss of reproductive rights can be sustained until it can be turned into a pro-choice vote in November”
We shall see.
It’s 72 heading for 89 today and sunny. Yesterday we generated just over 19 KWHs and the m-t-d starts the day with 84.5 – on track for 300 and starting, just barely, to gain on 450. So that part’s definitely good.
I got about 5-1/2 hours of sleep in 2 chunks but the sun was coming up with I woke the 2nd time so no use trying for more. Early voting starts today – primaries plus the “non-partisan” AR Supreme Court races. The latter are hard. There’s a flat-out evil person running for each open position. One of them the incumbent (who destroyed evidence in a death penalty case) so he’s a hard nope – but both his opponents are “originalists”. The other race I couldn’t find out enough about the incumbent to be comfortable voting for her but her opponent is evil. After I vote I need to do a Tractor Supply run – cat food & litter. I hope they’ve gotten the canned food back in stock. Otherwise there’s a PetSmart run in my near future. (Dad rat it! I’m trying to reduce the number of stores I go to and number of times I need to go out!) I’ll be leaving in about 15 minutes so not heading to Twitter until I get back.
Everybody’s doing about the same as far as I know. One indicator of how much worse Aji is this year from a little over a year ago though – she’s stopped writing her annual memorial diary/posts. When she wasn’t in so much pain, she wrote one for every human, horse, dog, and chicken they’ve lost. Now she doesn’t have the time or the focus. sigh or prayers or something.
Need to get ready to go. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good Monday morning, Moosekind! It’s 56 F. here in Ashburn, warm in the sunshine, Dearly says, but cold in the shadow. It’s nice to wake up to cloudless blue skies, sunshine, and a promise of 69 F. Owing to the delightful, Goddess-blessed rain of Friday, we are now caught up with rainfall for the year to date.
Anyway, I took a day off from politics yesterday and just enjoyed being a grandmother and mother. My daughter sent a sweet birthday card with a loving message, Elder Son gave me a card that said he was glad we weren’t a family of birds, and Younger Son sent a “Happy Mother’s Day” text with little flowers. Little Ethan made a card that asserted he loved his “Monty Grandma” more than he loves Pokemon. We had Karl here for a sleepover, and it was nice to spend time with him. He’s easy to get along with. I took him swimming at the nearest club house pool, which he enjoyed. I was still exhausted from Covid jab fatigue, so simply could not get into the car to take him to Barnes & Noble to choose his birthday present. We sat in my office so he could pick out his birthday present from Amazon, which is supposed to deliver it today.
Elder Son and DIL prepared a magnificent Sunday brunch, like something out of Better Homes & Gardens. It took us the rest of the day to recover. Her parents came too, so with Karl, the almost 8-year-old, and Ethan, the rising 7-year-old, chasing each other around the house, it was noisy and fun. Hudson, the greying chocolate Lab looked mournful, as he always does, and licked us as much as he could in case we hadn’t had a bath.
And now it’s Monday, a week since the leak, and I’m still in shock from Roe being overturned a few weeks from now, and don’t know what to do. I hold the media responsible in large part for this.
Well, I have a dermatologist’s appointment this morning, so I’d better get ready for it. After that I have essays to read and articles to work on. I feel quite peppy, so let’s hope nothing disrupts that. I still want to visit Target to buy up their supply of OTC contraceptives for family members who will need them in the future.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.
Monday Meese. Beautiful day here in Kingston, 60 going up to 70 and sunny – sadly I’ll be stuck inside writing, since I need to pre-write diaries for DKos since I’ll be away for a week
Puerto Rico
Good morning, 46 and cloudy outside my window today. Yesterday was a fun family day, time with my sons, phone visits with my daughters, flowers to arrange, tasty tacos for breakfast, and some time outdoors to just be. I don’t have a plan for today yet, but given the lists scattered around I can be as busy as I chose to be! Best wishes to all.
Good morning. Summer weather here, weather guy is talking about the “concerning” drought report. Today: just work.
Good Tuesday Moaning, Meese. Yes, I’m moaning in spite of our blue skies, sunshine, and 52 F. temperatures because the Rethugs are predicting that no one cares about abortion rights and they’ll sweep the miid-terms in November. Our high today will be 72 F., although with the winds it will feel cooler.
Was reading through the essays submitted by the Writers’ Group last evening and was impressed by the way we all poured our hearts out. The subject was whether we missed our old home or whether we preferred life here. The consensus was that although they loved and missed their old homes, they’ll always have the memories. Either home wasn’t really home because their husband died, or the upkeep of house and garden simply became too much as they aged. One can admit the truth of that. Still, I long for the sights and smells I’ll never experience again, especially in the summer and autumn.
But enough of this nostalgic chitchat. Yesterday I produced my first Sheet Pan Dinner and it was so tasty I will do it again when the occasion arises. I also made a small pineapple upside-down cake and texted a picture of it to the family. Daughter sent a photo of a cake she’d just made, mentioning that ghost pepper jelly was one of the ingredients. Ghost peppers? Say what?
I simply must get my hair cut today, it’s out of control. Re the outcry against people demonstrating outside the homes of Roberts and Keggernaugh: Cry me a river, chicky-boom. They have no compunction about making US miserable! First they’ll overturn Roe, then Griswold, then Loving, then Obergefell, and then they’ll overturn the 19th amendment because nowhere does the Constitution give women and people of color the right to vote. Bye, bye, Merry Car, and hell-oh, Gilead!
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond and triumph to Ukraine.
The nostalgia for my old house – as an edifice – does not exist for me. When I am tempted to miss the backyard, I remember the mowing and landscape chores. The other night, we were reminiscing about the neighborhood my daughter had while growing up but the neighborhood had changed – all the kids she grew up with are gone and most of their parents moved, giving way to families with younger children who are noisy and disrespectful. So the memories are indeed all we have and the nice thing about memories is that they are not going to change.
I saw the headline that Republicans are counting on people forgetting about abortion rights and worrying more about inflation. Well, it has always been “the economy, stupid” so perhaps they are right. The only fly in their ointment is that the economy that Senator Rick Snott of Florida wants (and is promoting) is NOT one that it going to be very pleasant for 90% of Americans. Democrats need to lash every Senator and Senate candidate to his proposal and remind people that he wants to repeal Social Security and Medicare. Maybe if the young women of child bearing age don’t care that they are being turned into Wombs for Jebus, us old grannies will more than make up for it when we come out in droves to vote down those who want to impoverish us and leave us dying in the streets.
Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …
It is 61 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 88. Sunny skies are in the forecast.
Primary season continues rolling with West Virginia and Nebraska up next. I am not sure what to wish for – that the most radically unsuited Republican wins so that their voters stay home on election day or that someone not as crazy wins. To wish for the former seems quite dangerous – the capacity for Republican voters to hold their noses and vote for a MAGAt despite evidence that he or she will destroy their livelihood, harm their families and literally kill them, seems endless. One Republican won a primary last week while sitting in jail after killing his wife!! The bar is very low.
Today is May 10th! I have gotten a lot done in the month since arriving here but I have a few more things cleanup things I need to do before I can turn to productive work. I think if I can get crank up the project work to being the week of May 15th, that will work.
See all y’all later!
It’s 75 and heading for 90 with a heat index of about 97. Yesterday it got just hazy enough to cut into electricity production. We ended up with 16.4 KWHs and which got us to 100 for the m-t-d. Gaining but we still have a whole lot of catching up to do.
I’ve already got my treadmilling in. And got sticky doing it – it’s humid here. Oh well. Neither hands nor feet are cold and I’m fine with that. I need to get my laundry on so I can hang it out before it gets too hot to be standing out in the sun for 20 minutes. I need to close up the house but there are cats in all the open windows. LOL.
The world is in a very parlous state and getting more so by the minute. It’s very depressing. More so for those of us who watched it get to this point and tried/are trying to stop it from getting here. With that as background, if not flat-out foundation, personal issues start from a bad place. With folks like Amelia or Jill add chronic pain, insomnia, and toxic families and it’s a serious struggle. With folks like Aji with chronic acute pain, less than 2 hours of sleep a night for over a year and watching things die all around her due to drought or wildfire. . . I wish I could do something besides pray and send dogfood or the occasional Amazon gift card. And boost stuff on twitter. Which I’m off to do. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
I saw the expected temperatures in the middle of the country and thought “yikes”! At least here the humidity is low and 90 actually feels like 86. When you sweat, it evaporates instead of drowning you.
If my situation were different I’d consider moving to AZ, too. And basically for that very reason. (Well, no DST is also a draw. IF I could o it at all. LOL.)
I am fortunate to be in the position to be able to relocate – my family relocated with me so I have no connections to Wisconsin. My daughter will soon be making her own more-or-less permanent connections and I can hope that they will be nearby, in Arizona or Southern California or at least out West, but if they aren’t, I will at least be where I want to be. It was a large expense but one I had planned for and should be one and done. The next move is to a nursing home which I hope is not for another 20 years. :)
Wednesday Meese. 45 going up to a sunny 76 today here in Kingston – am going to get outside in the garden today.
Ceremonial events are going to start for me on Thursday, and kick into high gear on Friday – things will get calmer on next Monday, so if for some reason I don’t post over the weekend – you’ll know why.
Puerto Rico
Good morning. Really hot, we should have highs in the mid 80s, instead mid & upper 90s. Weather person just said “it’s May, but it’s July”. Wfh today. I pre-ordered Bono’s memoir yesterday because of course I did.
It’s 70 heading for 90 (air temp)/97 (heat index) and hazy, blast it. If we’re gonna have the heat, can we please have the sunshine – especially if I end up having to run the energy-hog A/C! It was hazy yesterday, too. Generated 14.74 KWHs. Brought the m-t-d to 115.76 which isn’t on track for 400 with no extra to gain ground.
I got the laundry done yesterday – and even got it in before it was covered with grass pollen and dust from the field next door being mowed. Also got a present of a case of Q ginger beer from a friend. ????
I didn’t hear from Aashirs nani/Suzanne yesterday which is very concerning since we usually trade emails several times throughout the afternoon. Nor from my local friend which isn’t as concerning since she’s very busy and sometimes doesn’t get back to me for a week or more. Jill, Lisa, and Aji are pretty much as they’ve been. Except as the wildfires spread and more get started Aji’s situation gets more dangerous. Only the mountains surrounding her have protected her thus far. Jill also but to a lesser extent as she’s much further south than Aji and they so far have managed to catch and put out any fires before they got out of control. So far.
I’ve done my treadmilling for the day, washed off the sweat – it’s very humid/sticky around here – and am about to start my twitter stuff. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, meeses! Wednesday …
It is 57 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 86. The forecast says “cloudy with sunny breaks” but right now the skies are a perfect blue, not a cloud in the sky. It says there is a 20% chance of precipitation but that seems unlikely, I think that is some sort of algorithm that the weather widget applies. It has not rained since we got here but we probably won’t see rain until the monsoon season which will start in June. We have one more “mild” day then temperatures begin climbing towards the first 100 degree day of the year on Sunday.
Susan Collins’ sidewalk was “chalked” and now she is “concerned” that people are unhappy with her role in repealing Roe v Wade. Yes, we are. She did not do due diligence by understanding the history of Federalist Society jurists and their single-minded march towards repealing anything not favored by the white male landowners who wrote the Constitution. I hope that she is remembered forever for the damage she has done by putting her party over the rights of women and others who will be harmed by the regressive policies of those she elevated. The women killed by her negligence should have “Collinsed” as cause of death on their death certificates.
Focusing on inflation is good but we need to be careful about making gasoline too inexpensive. When gas prices fell to $2 during the Obama Administration, it gave people permission to start buying gas guzzling vehicles again. That was a big mistake and one we are paying for now. Americans have no memory that goes beyond a day or two and don’t understand that they did a lot of this to themselves. Fossil fuel is a limited resource and even if it was not destroying our planet’s sustainability and leading to having to make deals with tyrants and murderers, it would still reach a point where there is none left, zero zilch nada. This is not a secret – we have know this since 1970. I hope the Biden Administration makes the right choices.
I want to get some things done today so that we can do some outdoor things tomorrow morning before things start – literally – heating up.
See all y’all later!
Good Wednesday morning, Moosekind! It’s a lovely morning here, with a cloudless blue sky and sunlight gilding the woods across the way, which are not quite fully leafed out. The current temperature is 65 F., going up to 73 F. The wind does not seem to be unduly exuberant.
Yesterday and last night were awful. Just before I was due to get a haircut yesterday morning, I had severe stomach cramps. By the time the visit to the barbershop was finished and I’d picked up a few things at the supermarket, I had a headache and backache as well as the stomach cramps. I couldn’t tolerate anything but iced gingerale and aspirin, plus one Imodium, so I retired for a nap.
After the nap I felt a bit better but continued to feel “blah.” After dinner I sat in the green chair and kept falling asleep, which is unusual nowadays. I’m taking Ativan to sleep, so I usually wake up feeling great and I don’t fall asleep after dinner. Last night I couldn’t sleep to save my life (probably that postprandial nap thing), so took a pill about midnight. Gods, it was awful.
Well, enough whining. I’ve decided that today will be a ME day and I’ll get done some things I really have needed to do for a while, not to mention that June first is looming and I have to have those articles written!
Wishing the best to all at the Pond.
{{{Diana}}} – I hope you are feeling better today. Healing Energy & moar {{{HUGS}}}
Thank you, bfitz!
Yikes! I hope it was simply a one-off digestive flare up and will not recur. That sounds miserable.
Thanks, Jan, I think it was.