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 39 degrees in the Desert Southwest with an expected daytime high of 51. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.
Have a great day, all y’alls!!
Christmas Eve Sunday Meese. 32 degrees here in Kingston NY and it looks like we are getting a little snow, or freezing rain.
Good for Congresswoman Velasquez! It’s about time that doctrine was repealed. The “Founding Enslavers” didn’t know everything. They just thought, because they were rich white males, that they were omniscient.
Good morning Rainy and much cooler here.. We need the rain, so yay. Watching the news in my warm, dry apartment so I’m grateful for that. (Capeheart is doing a segment on homelessness) Anyway, church this morning and evening — the nighttime one is so magical, with candles and bells, just really lovely.
Good Sunday morning, Moosekind, and happy Christmas Eve! For once I didn’t have to cook a big Sunday breakfast, as The Home is serving us a brunch-type thing at 11, nor do I have to rush off somewhere on an errand. We had Karl with us for a couple of days this past week, including Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon. I took him to Barnes & Noble yesterday to get him away from that wretched iPad for an hour. He headed straight for the cookbook section, to my surprise, to choose Julia Child’s The French Chef’s Cookbook for his father, then a book for himself in the children’s section.
Have missed you all, but have sometimes found a few minutes to catch up on everyone’s posts. Right now it’s cloudy and 40 F. in Ashburn, going up to 50 F. or something. After I woke up I was surprised to see that the screened porch was showing traces of a brief shower.
You’ll think I’m brainwashed, but I love this time of year, despite all the hype, and even though Christmas starts right after Labor Day. These December days when I look through the glass doors leading to the screened porch, the woods look misty grey, with the sun shining down on still pools of water. It makes me feel reflective, like a bear about to hibernate.
I love the gaiety of people in general: the ones who put a big green Christmas wreath with a red bow on the grilles of their cars, or fake antlers on each side of the car roof. It makes me smile. One day I passed a young woman who smiled when she saw my Christmas mask. It’s bright red and shows a baby in a Santa cap emerging from a Christmas stocking. I love the way people generally seem to be in a better mood and the words “Merry Christmas” fall like a benediction on those in earshot. I’ve been wearing Christmas ornament earrings and a necklace of flashing miniature Christmas tree bulbs. Those make people smile too.
Bin and Nora returned from Japan yesterday afternoon, so Trevor swung by to pick up Karl and meet them at the airport. Eric, Mindy, and Ethan will return home from Hershey Park today. You should see our flat: Trevor’s ex-girlfriend, with whom I am very good friends, sent me a box of See’s chocolates; my friend in Greenspring sent a box of fancy nuts; one of the writers in the writers’ group I lead gave me a box of Godiva chocolates; my friend Suzi a small sack of chocolate truffles and a small, beautiful notebook; and Darling Niece sent the boys over with more See’s chocs, chocolate-covered popcorn, and a tin of homemade savory mix, which even Dearly likes. We’re all ready for the predicted 12-15 inches of snow in February!
After all the rushing around, I just want to sit in front of YouTube and listen to dogs barking “Jingle Bells.” I love Yule and Christmas, but it’s exhausting!
Wishing an enjoyable Christmas Eve to all at the Pond! It’s going to be foggy here, so Santa will definitely need Rudolf, with his nose so bright, to guide his sleigh tonight.
Posted:
It’s 57 heading for 59, cloudy and rainy. Supposedly all day. Yesterday we generated 4.9 KWHs and the m-t-d at 115 actually could reach 150 by end of month. But it’s not going to.
Housework done, hands and back complaining of course, and the sinusitis flare is a little better. Sitting at the computer with a cat on my lap eating oatmeal. Off to start my boosting day. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}
Christmas Day Meese. 34 going up to 45 here in Kingston.
Watched this. I am now officially OLD
Puerto Rico
“In this special time, we send you our love and gratitude. Your trust motivates us to move forward, to face challenges and fight for a more transparent and fair society.”
Good morning, meeses! Merry Monday Christmas to those who celebrate the day …
It is 37 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 54. There are some high clouds over the mountains but we are expecting to see the sun all day. Yesterday was gorgeous – not for the warmth (it is definitely chilly!) but for the sun. The sun makes a huge difference.
We are planning to do carry-out today from the Thai restaurant we found. For whatever reason, Chinese restaurants close on Christmas day here unlike in Wisconsin where they are almost universally open and providing carry-out to people who don’t celebrate Christmas as their Winter holiday. Last year we called our regular Chinese restaurant and found out it was closed! In an event, we found this great Thai restaurant which has the best Mango Sticky Rice and delicious entrees that are clearly marked for “heat” and allergies.
I have some projects that I have been working on over the four day weekend – most of my clients were closed on Friday – that I hope to finish up today.
See all y’all later!
Enjoy your Thai meal Jan. Mango Sticky Rice sounds yummy
Good morning. It got cold overnight, low 40s now – yesterday was warm enough for capris & sandals. Watching the news and eating breakfast. Made my tea today, so I’m enjoying the smell while it steeps. Will enjoy my risotto later.
Merry Christmas Monday, Moosekind! We have another misty grey morning today, 40 F. now, going up to 55 F. later. Very un-Christmassy.
We have finished our breakfast of grapefruit, cinnamon rolls, and coffee. Rain is coming in tonight, which will obviate the possibility of seeing the Cold Moon in all Her fullness tomorrow night. However, last night, the neatest thing happened! I went out to Great Oak Common to see if I could catch a glimpse, since I’d seen Her outline when I was driving home from the store. At first I couldn’t see anything. I refused to move, just stood and stared, and guess what! The clouds around the Moon began lighting up, like a circle, and suddenly Herself was revealed! Two days from the full, but as near as makes no difference. I was so delighted that I stayed outside for quite 10 minutes, bowing whenever She appeared, which She did, several times.
It’s a good thing I’m old enough not to care whether anyone thinks I’m crazy. We’re due for Christmas tea at Trevor’s at 3 this afternoon, so I have nothing much to do before then except watch the movie I didn’t get to watch last night because Dearly was watching “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
Wish there were something I could do to help the poor starving Gazans. But which organization should one choose to contribute to? I don’t know.
Wishing everyone at the Pond a good day, and peace in Ukraine, Gaza, and everywhere else that people are suffering—Kashmir, for one.
I think we will have clear skies for our full moon. Last night she rose over the mountains in the northeast and looked splendid.
Welp. It’s Christmas. 37 heading for 47 and cloudy. No rain. Just damp and dark. Yesterday we generated 1.58 and the m-t-d is at 116.66. I doubt we’ll reach 120 today.
Yesterday my best friend came over for a visit which was very nice. Although work is as bad/crazy/stressed as ever things are getting better at home. Her husband’s health is improving and the rescue cat I gave her for her birthday last month has come to an agreement with the dogs. If they chase him, he’ll chase them back. They’re not snugglebuddies but that may come too. And my son came over as usual in the afternoon and we had a nice visit then too. I doubt I’ll see anyone today but odds are good sometime – probably while dinner prep is going on – I’ll here from my TX son. And possibly one of my siblings.
Anyway, my hands are stiff which makes keyboarding slow and I need to get to my boosting. People are still hungry & homeless (& being bombed) on Christmas, more’s the pity. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}
I love my neighborhood
Unusual! I didn’t know dragons appeared at Christmas!
Good morning. Very cold – almost freezing (hey, for Central Texas that’s really cold) but it should be nice this afternoon. Took a bit of a walk yesterday, maybe I’ll do the whole mile today. For the moment, I’m happy watching astronomy.
Good Tuesday morning, Meese. It’s 46 F. in Ashburn on a cold, grey morning. In fact, it happens to be raining steadily in a most satisfactory manner. The high today will be 50-something.
Yesterday, while driving home from Christmas tea at Younger Son’s house, we saw a pale yellow Moon hanging cheerily in the fading sky of Christmas afternoon. By the time we reached home, She had turned silvery. In December She’s called “The Cold Moon.” So I’ve had a Moonful and won’t moan about missing the full Moon tonight.
Christmas Eve night both Dearly and I received the gift of 7 hours’ sleep. I didn’t get quite as much last night, so feel like going back to bed after I check in.
Just found out that World Central Kitchen is sending food aid to the poor Gazans. Will donate today, as soon as I feel coherent enough to hold a credit card.
Have a boatload of things to do but don’t feel like doing any of them. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.
“Have a boatload of things to do but don’t feel like doing any of them”
Me, too!
Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …
It is 35 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 55. Sunny skies are in the forecast. We are looking at getting back into the mid-60s this weekend but the averages for January are a high of 66 and a low of 40 so we likely won’t see the 70s again until February.
Last night I saw the nearly full moon over the mountains. The next time she rises enough for me to see her, she will already be waning. I did see her again this morning in the western sky and kept an eye on her until she set – she was at 99.7 illumination.
I managed to fritter away my client-free work time and am behind about a day on my schedule. I sent off emails to clients about my revised schedule and hope to get caught up by Thursday. Friday is the last business day of 2023 and I need to leave it free for last minute things that need to be done. My problem over the long weekend was that I started a project that I shouldn’t have and then I got obsessed with finishing. “Working While Obsessed” is impossible for people with OCD so I needed to get the loose ends tied off before my brain cleared enough to do anything else. I think I am ready now.
See all y’all later!
OMG, Jan.
It’s 35 heading for 48 and sunny – at least at the moment. Yesterday we generated 1.5 KWHs and the m-t-d is 118. If the sunshine holds we may get to 124 today. IF.
My son tried to call but for some reason, even though I answered it, we didn’t connect. It was empty air on my end and continued ringing on his. So he emailed me instead. Got a brief call from one of my sisters but service was bad where she was and she’s going to try to call again today. And Fineena called just before bedtime. Nothing particularly new. Her family being what they are, all the holiday tripe is a bit depressing for her, but she managed to get a couple of different brands of holiday dressing to celebrate with so that part is good. Except that I’m not taking my decorations down until Three Kings Day, the season is over for me.
My hands are stiff and my sinusitis is still flaring but thank heavens not as badly. Otherwise I’m OK. Time to get to my boosting day. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody. {{{Mooses}}}
Good morning, 48 and cloudy outside my windows today. Christmas is over and I hope the post activity crash is as well. We enjoyed our time together, the dogs were all well behaved, the food was tasty, my sewn gifts were well received, and the silly Christmas Cracker sing along games were fun. So now I hope I can relax, read a few books, and slowly start putting everything away. Best wishes to all.
Got sidetracked this morning – then went to treatment.
Puerto Rico
Wednesday Meese. 41 going up to 46 with rain here in Kingston.
Puerto Rico
Good morning. Back to work. At least I get the gentle reintroduction of wfh. It’s cold, not looking forward to tomorrow morning’s walk.