Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: June 19th

June 18, 2022 JanF Community 75

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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34 Comments

  1. Good “morning”, Motley Meese! The week begins …

    Morning low of 75 degrees in the Desert Southwest with an expected daytime high of 97. Isolated thunderstorms are in the forecast.

    Have a great day, all y’alls!!

  4. Good morning & happy Juneteenth! I’ve got tea steeping, laundry on, and I’m watching the news. They did a story on the Watergate break in; parallels and differences with today. I think today will be our 13th day over 100 for the year, and the highs for the week are all over 100. Sigh. Didn’t work out yesterday, but I did dance while I cooked.

    • Dancing is a good workout, another! That’s how I worked out as a young working woman living at home. Our apartment was tiny, but I would turn on the radio and dance to the music. It made me feel good. That and my weekly trek on foot to the library to pick up a week’s worth of entertainment constituted my exercise in those days.

      • I cooked a huge (overflowing, really) pan of vegetables – spinach, broccoli & mushrooms. The most time-consuming was breaking up the mushrooms into smaller pieces. And spooning them into small yogurt containers to freeze (makes 2 servings, and I don’t have to thaw a big container). And this afternoon I’ll dance while I slice up the thawed-out mango for my overnight oats.

        • Yay! Provision preparation! I am going to make a salad involving rotini pasta and broccoli next week. I find myself cooking more and more because the food here is so AWFUL.

  6. It’s up to 74 and sunny – heading for 91 with a heat index of 93 so sort of cooler. It was 68 when I got up – the house is open and I may not have to turn the A/C on today. Which would be nice. Yesterday the nice rain that dropped the temps also curtailed the electricity generation. The just over 14 KWHs we got isn’t enough to cover the A/C being on and the m-t-d of 287.45 is not on track and losing ground. sigh.

    Since it was 69 when I got up I did all my Sunday chores except making the bed (it’s time to turn the mattress so I’m hoping my son will get by today to help me turn it) including the vacuuming. My hands are shaking but it’s done for another week. I steamed potatoes yesterday morning in the coolth and I did boiled eggs in last night’s coolth – today I will make potato salad to alternate with coleslaw and have cold dinners for the next week.

    I haven’t a clue how folks are doing today but as of last night everybody was hanging on. I guess that’s the best we can do. Live our lives as good people, do what we’re able to do, pray a lot – and appreciate the tiny bits of love and caring and life that periodically show up.

    Off to do my online chores. Get set up anyway, close up the house, then get back to it. And the other two 10-minute sessions on the treadmill sometime or other. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  7. Happy Juneteenth, everyone! And happy Father’s Day. My own father would have been 100 years old in August. I think of him every day.

    It was ridiculously cool when I woke up at six, 56 F. Even now it’s 69 F., heading for a high of 79 F. Yes, it’s sunny, but who the hail cares—the wind is blowing fiercely again at 20 mph.

    Yesterday morning, in keeping with our ungrammatical family motto, “Anything that’s free, go and get it,” we tottered down the winding path to Fisherman’s Pond. The sky was overcast and the wind was gusting up to 30 mph. There were very few people engaging in the Fisherman’s competition, unlike in 2018 and 2019. One young woman caught a fine fish, a bluegill, I believe, but the policy is to throw them all back in the water, so she did that.

    We acquired a couple of ice-cold hot dogs with some runny condiments and a huge pile of paper napkins. All to no avail, however. When I rose from the table to get more napkins (there were just two of us at the round table), the wind came howling into the space and knocked over my half-drunk can of gingerale. Disgusted, I cleaned up the mess as best I could with more table napkins, after which we hobbled a few steps to the campus shuttle, which had obligingly stopped so the lame and the halt could board. We were so cold that when we reached home a few minutes later that we had to have a cup of hot coffee to warm us up. What a dismal failure that Father’s Day celebration was, not at all like those of previous years when the wind bleweth not but the sun did shine, and we even took Monty with us. He enjoyed playing with the children who were present.

    Anyway, our experience at Elder Son’s house was much, much more pleasant. As usual, Elder Son was cooking up a storm on the grill. He had spicy seasoned wings for appetizers. Our DIL’s parents were there also, so we enjoyed seeing them again. Little Ethan had prepared a carefully printed list of what he liked about his grandfathers, and DIL had bought a Father’s Day balloon for each. DIL is such a darling, participating enthusiastically in our family traditions! She also did all the research for sending flowers to our SIL in Australia after Jack’s death. Younger Son was also there with Karl, and it was lovely to see how enthusiastically the boys played together. I enjoyed talking to Younger Son, which I can hardly ever do as I rarely see him. Nora and her mother were at Mission Camp for a week in West Virginia, repairing houses. I can just imagine how well that went over with Miss Teenaged Queen of Virginia.

    We had left Monty home alone, so we traveled back through the fading daylight back to our messy flat. For some reason, the day had felt exhausting. Anyway, it was good to be home and I’ve vowed to go NOWHERE today. I must work on my “oh-bitch-you-ary” and a couple of other writing projects.

    Hope everyone at the Pond will have a good day!

  8. Good morning, 55 and cloudy with a cool breeze so Dad’s Day brunch/lunch will be indoors. We enjoyed Emma’s graduation party yesterday and are just starting to find coffee this morning. It’s nice to feel relaxed and to not be rushing about. Best wishes to all.

  9. Happy non-holiday Monday. From how empty the garage was, seems some agencies are closed today. Not us. 100+ degree highs all week. Okay, I have got to get myself some ice cream or something today. Too depressing.

  10. Monday Meese. 51 here in Kingaton NY going up to 80 and sunny.
    Heading back out into the garden today to try to finish up planting since it will be raining for the rest of the week. Put in sage, lavender, oregano, basil, thyme, and more rose bushes yesterday.

    Elated to see the news from Columbia
    Colombia’s first Black VP – Francia Márquez Mina

    Puerto Rico

    • Hi, Sis, I love your description of the herb bed! It’s one of the things I miss most about my house. The herb bed was right next to the screened porch so on hot days the sun would beat down and the delightful scent would waft up to the porch, where I was sprawled on the loveseat, reading. Fond memories.

  11. Good Monday, Moosekind! The coffee has made itself in the pot and it’s time for breakfast. When I woke up and looked out the window at 6, the clouds in the sky looked like white scrambled eggs. Now we have cirrus clouds drifting slowly across the blue. At the moment it’s 59 F., going up to 80 F. Despite the fact that we haven’t powerwashed the porch yet, I think I’ll put the cushions on the furniture so we can have tea out there this afternoon.

    I spent hours and hours last night searching for a picture of myself when I was 22 years old. I want to use it in my obituary because I look so innocent in it. Moreover, my jowls didn’t sag then.

    Not much news. I’ll have to get dressed up and go to the Birch Point party this evening. Dearly will go too, but will leave early to keep the dog company at home. I need to meet people and get ideas for stories. There’s always so much food at these things it won’t be necessary to get carryout from one of the restaurants this evening. Thank Goddess!

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.

    • I must have missed where you announced that you were writing your obituary! Is this to get ahead of a possible poorly drafted obit hastily put in place by bereaved relatives and which doesn’t include the events in your life that you consider important? Or is it a writing assignment from your writer’s group? If it is the former, it is probably a good idea for someone who has such an interesting life – the bereaved family would be hard pressed to pick and choose and then your time on earth would be forever memorialized in a way you would not approve of! I thought it was “interesting” what my siblings chose for my parents obituaries. I know neither of them wrote their own or even directed the writing so we will never know if they approved.

      • Hi, Jan, hope your trip went well!

        LOL, killing two birds with one stone. Not only is it an assignment for my Writers’ Group, but also it’s our assignment for the Legacy group, which meets on July 3rd.

        The Post doesn’t publish the obituaries of ordinary people any more: you have to pay for a death notice, which is really an obituary. At least, that’s how people seem to be treating it nowadays. Many of them are quite enthralling. The cutest obituary I ever saw was written in the first person and contained an admission that most people wouldn’t mention to anyone outside the family. My obituary will be for practice, the real one will be written later.

  12. Good morning, meeses! Monday with no mail service but with banks open …

    It is 72 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 95. Partly cloudy skies are in the forecast. This will be our weather for the next few days and then on Thursday we start a period where we will have a greater than 50% chance of rain. I am thankful for the return of the early morning cool downs which did NOT happen during our period of Excessive Heat Warnings.

    I find it a bit alarming that the Texas Republican Party is calling for the slaughter of LGBT people. Sadly, the straight white christian nationalists who hold complete power in Texas have no interest in protecting the rights of anyone who is not a straight white christian nationalist MALE (their womenfolk are content with having no rights). I wonder if the rubber will ever meet the road and the transplanted Californians will realize that they have made a pact with the devil by jettisoning every decent instinct they have in order to avoid the “tyranny” of taxes and safety regulations. I guess we shall see.

    I have been away from my desk and email for several days and I need to catch up on deferred projects.

    See all y’all later!

    • Adam Kinzinger on Twitter warned that Republicans are going to “get ugly.” (IMHO, they already are.) His wife received a written death threat, which he reproduced on Twitter.

      As with all Republicans, nothing hits home until it happens to them. Every woman living in Texas should leave, I think. That includes my daughter, who is too old to have children but who is female. Goddess knows what they’ll do to women in the future, no matter what age.

  13. It’s 67 heading for 92 and sunny. Yesterday we generated 20.76 KWHs and brought the m-t-d to 308 – not on track but gaining ground again. AND I was able to leave the A/C off all day. I opened up the house an hour after sundown and it’s still open. LOL. (I’ll need to close up by 10, but it’s nice to have it open and airing out right now.)

    I baked orange molasses muffin bread this morning (eating some for breakfast right now) and the kitchen is still a bit warm but should be fine by 10. Holding the Good Thought I can go one more day without turning the A/C back on. Holding more Good Thoughts for everybody’s health and well-being. (& their families, fur family, and gardens.)

    Gonna finish breakfast and get over to twitter. Bright the Day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  15. I’m pissed at people telling Texas to secede.

    Puerto Rico

    • Oh, Ann Richardson and Florence Jordan! Wow! And Molly Ivins! They’re all sipping mint juleps on heaven’s front porch while they sit in rocking chairs and deplore the Deplorables.

      Fifty-seven percent for the child poverty rate in P.R. We’ll never get justice for P.R. untl people who understand its needs sit in Congress and on the Supreme Court.

  16. Good morning. Every day this month has been a record. 100+ degrees every day in the forecast, and 105 this weekend. Ugh. Checking in on my phone because my laptop is acting weird: the screen gets lines running down, it goes white, the cursor vanishes…. It’s just weird.

  17. Good morning, meeses! Tuesday and Summer Solstice …

    It is 73 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 95. Partly cloudy skies with a chance of rain. The rain seems to arrive here between 4pm and 6pm. I am not sure why that is – I will need to do some research. I remember when I vacationed in the Caribbean in my younger (richer) days, it would rain at almost the same time every day for about 4 and a half minutes. It must have something to do with the monsoon.

    Today, the January 6th Panel meets at 10am MST and I want to watch it live if I can. The Speaker of the Arizona House, Rusty Bowers, is going to be interviewed. He is a Republican but he rejected tRump’s and Guilliani’s phone call telling him that Arizona law allowed the legislature to override the voters. He knew damn well it didn’t and challenged them to provide him with the legal basis (they promised to but never did). He told them that he swore an oath to the Constitution and would not break that oath. I hope he huffs and puffs – it must have really ticked him off to have two guys from New York tell him what Arizona law allows him to do. He has been in the legislature for the past 25 years and is a lifelong Arizonan.

    I spent the early morning doing everything except what I should have been doing so I need to get myself in gear.

    See all y’all later!

  18. It’s 75 heading for 95 with heat index of 100. I’ve just closed up the house. Sunny. Yesterday we generated the highest for the month so far – 21.23 KWHs – and brought the m-t-d to a not-on-track but gaining ground 329. We’ve exactly 10 days left to reach 500 (or better). It’s totally possible. We shall see if we manage it.

    Doing laundry today. It’s gonna do nothing but get hotter for the rest of the week. Saturday’s supposed to hit 100 air temps. Thank heavens for the cooler spell the middle of next week. Recovery time or something for the flora that has no choice but to be out in it. I got over 6 hours of sleep. Feeling OK at the moment but I’ve a sneaky suspicion I’ll be zoning out in front of the computer in a few hours. LOL.

    The world is not OK. But it’s still turning and we’re still breathing. Getting by as best we can, trying to hang on until it gets better. Trying to find life and beauty wherever we can – in gardens, in parks, in cracks in the sidewalk if that’s all we can find. It’s there. See it, recognize it, take pleasure and comfort in it. Prayers up.

    Off to read the soltice diary then to twitter to get set up before the washer finishes. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  19. Good Tuesday morning, Meese, and happy Summer Solstice! Overcast in Ashburn this morning, but they say the clouds will dissipate and give us clear skies this afternoon. It’s 72 F. right now in Ashburn, gearing up for a high of 89 F.

    Y’all be sure to get up half an hour early Friday morning to see the exciting lineup of planets—little Mercury, Venus, the crescent moon standing in for Earth, Mars, and the biggies, Jupe and Saturn. Grab your tickets now because this popular show won’t be back until 2040!

    Yesterday I Googled. I found out that Shakuntela Devi, the fortune-teller who said I’d live to the age of 87, died in 2013. They made a movie of her life and released it in India but, y’know, Covid. She was a child when it was discovered that she could do huge mathematical problems in her head, faster than the computers of the 1950s. It was in all the newspapers of the time.

    Old Shakuntela was right about a couple of things but wrong about a couple of others, so we’ll see.

    Anyway, it’s high time to get cleeaned up. I have an 11 a.m. appointment with the social worker for my building.

    Wishing a good Midsummer Day to all at the Pond!

    • Here is the screenshot I took from the article I read about the June 24th gathering of the planets.

      I see Venus every morning and have seen the bigger planets. I am not sure I have seen Mars as it is not as bright as the other planets. I am pretty darn sure I will not be able to spot Mercury but I will look for it.

      • Thank you. Presupposing I get out there in time (& it’s clear, of course) I think I’ll be able to see the moon, probably Venus and Jupiter, and maybe Mars. Mercury is likely to be hidden by the hill east of me and Saturn drowned in the light pollution west of me. But I’ll look anyway.

  20. Good morning. I had a hard time getting people yesterday, maybe today will be better. Why people send in applications, then don’t pick up the phone or return messages…… I’m signing off early from work today to pick up an inter-library loan book, U2 and the Religious Impulse — yes there is a book about my boys that I don’t own (even the e-book is $30, so I’m not going to own this one). And I think I’ll get some ice cream. Because wow it is just so hot.

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