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.
Good morning, 47 and partly sunny outside my windows today. It’s been dark and rainy so seeing some blue sky is most welcome. My sister is home now and I’m starting to recover from all the activity. I’ve got a desk full of work, a basement full of laundry, a Christmas list to find and follow, some holly and ivy waiting to be arranged, and a pair of old legs that are easily annoyed. Oh well, I feel more rested so I’ll do what I can. As always, my best wishes to all.
Good morning, meeses! Thursday …
It is 50 degrees in Tucson 🌵 with an expected daytime high of 77. Sunny skies are in the forecast. Yesterday we hit 77 and it was sunny all day. It does stay cool in the mornings and I usually wait until it hits 70 before I take my walk. I am not seeing the moon in the mornings any longer, she is in the WNW sky which I cannot see from where I live. I could go outside and probably see her but then I have to worry about the coyotes and javelinas! Tuesday overnight, the coyotes were partying all night. Every hour or so, one of them would start howling then the entire pack would chime in and create a ruckus for about 10 minutes. The voices included little yelps and squeals so I think they must have some pups in the pack. This happened about 3 or 4 times from 11pm until about 3am. Last night they were – thankfully! – quiet.
Our new oligarchic overlords are flexing their muscles to show that they can and will shut down the government. Perhaps someone should tell the MAGAts who are thrilled that the billionaire buddies of tRump are running things that BILLIONAIRES DO NOT NEED THE GOVERNMENT! They don’t need public airports, they don’t need a monthly social security check to pay the rent, they don’t need government health care to stay alive – they can happily crash the government and the economy without it leaving a mark on them personally. Goddess save us from ignoramuses who literally have no idea how anything works.
I have a meeting from yesterday that was rescheduled to today which gave me a nice break from project deadlines. I got the holiday cards in the mail, did some banking errands and got my office rearranged for my new printer. I still have gifts to wrap and put under the tree but other than that I am ready for Solstice. We will celebrate on Sunday because of other Saturday commitments so there is no rush.
See all y’all later!
Thursday Meese. I am getting really sick and tired of the fauxgressives spending all their time attacking Democrats – especially Kamala Harris, and Hakeem Jeffries. Grrr.
Puerto Rico
At the LGBTQ+ Federation of Puerto Rico, we feel great pride in the historic fact that a trans person holds an elective office in our country. It is a milestone that we celebrate and that demonstrates the continuous progress of our fight for equality
I trust Hakeem Jeffries to make the right decisions for our caucus. I wish Democrats would stop ripping each other apart – we are all going to need to stay positive and forward looking to get through what will be a tough few years. We can take back the House in 2026 and if the courts don’t destroy what is left of our democracy, we can regain the presidency in 2028. What we should not do as a party is go too far to the left or too far to the right – we need to find how to promote the core values of our party and claim the Rational Middle.
Nails it.
Good morning. Back to cold weather, but not so terrible. I ran 1.25 of my 1.64 total this morning. A little over 3 weeks till I want to do 1.6 running. So actual POTUS-elect Elno wants a government shutdown and the Republicans leap to do his bidding. Great. Maybe the other guy will finally get sick of him, wonder who’d win that fight.
Good Thursday morning, Meese! It’s 39 F. on a clearing morning. I’ve been able to see Herself waning for the last couple of days, it’s been great! The bottom right of Her face is slowly disappearing. It rained yesterday—hurrah! After that a cold front came through, so today’s high will be only in the 40s.
I will not take any more nighttime cold meds. Two nights in succession of waking up too early and then being unable to go back to sleep are wearing me down. Today I have an actors’ workshop at 2:30, the building party from 5 to 7, and then there’s a singalong at 7:30 at Blue Ridge clubhouse. Can’t sing, but I would enjoy the company—if I’m not too tired.
Still having first-world problems. I wish I could get a new printer! The Xerox model the guy recommended simply won’t fit. I need a model that will fit on my desk.
Well, that’s all from me today. Wishing everyone at the Pond a good day!
It’s 43 heading for 55. The widget says it’s sunny. Well, I can see some blue but there’s an awful lot of white and light gray in the sky as well. Yesterday we generated 7.9 KWHs – best day of the month so far – and the m-t-d at 101 gained a little. It’s still possible to reach 180, but only because this is a 31-day month – and it will take all sunny days to do it.
I saw the moon for a few moments between clouds when I got up this morning. Stiff, a little groggy still, and mostly clumsy and moving very slowly. Oh well. I got my Social Security yesterday. I hope to heaven govt shutdowwn is avoided at least to the extent of folks getting their Social Security next week. Off to start my boosting day. Holding the Good/Healing/Protecting Thought for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}
Friday Meese. My weather forecast says it is snowing here, but it is not. It’s currently 29 degrees.
Thanks bfitz for continuing for Shelly in Vieques who has disappeared off of Twitter
Narco-State
Thirty-four Individuals Indicted for Drug Trafficking within the Puerto Rico Prison System
https://www.justice.gov/usao-pr/pr/thirty-four-individuals-indicted-drug-trafficking-within-puerto-rico-prison-system
Good morning. Did my walk/run, slow steady improvement. I hope President-Elect Musk lets the Republicans pass a CR. I’m just going to listen to music and keep working on my running.
Good morning, meeses! Friday …
It is 52 degrees in Tucson 🌵 with an expected daytime high of 77. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast. We are expected to return to more typical late December temperatures by Christmas Day (mid to upper 60s) but in the meantime, we are enjoying the upper 70s.
Future Speaker Hakeem Jeffries will have none of the Republican’s debt ceiling nonsense so unless the next try at a Continuing Resolution leaves that on the cutting room floor, we will have a government shutdown. The Pentagon is reminding Congress that service members will not be paid over the holidays if the government is shut down. This from Jeffries is the nugget – spread this far and wide:
Another commenter put it in similarly blunt terms:
I am generally not in favor of letting anyone shut down the government to make a point but Democrats need to hold the line on giving a bludgeon to tRump that he can use against people who need government help to survive. Their coalition is already fraying – tRump had to issue a statement saying that he is the president-elect not Melon Husk. Har!!
I have a simple day today after a too busy yesterday. I do want to put together a good to-do list for next week. A lot of people will be off most of the week with the Christmas Day holiday falling on a Wednesday so I have a unique opportunity to work uninterrupted especially since Christmas is not my holiday and working that day should be very quiet.
See all y’all later!
It’s 25, windchill 17, heading for 40 and sunny. Yesterday we generated 7.9 KWHs and the m-t-d at 108 isn’t on track but it gained a little. We shall see what we shall see.
The debt ceiling is a totally-made-up piece of political weaponry with no purpose whatsoever except to keep a sitting president from actually doing what Congress passed in the budget and use as a threat/bargaining bludgeon (too bit to be a chip) in getting very unpopular and not always constitutional measures passed. It should never have been created and it should have been shut down the first time it was used to shut down government. But it’s way too useful to the Rs for that to happen. Unless/until it stops being useful to the Rs.
Saw the not-quite half moon this morning when I got up. That’s always nice. Off to start my boosting day. Holding the Good/Healing/Protecting Thought for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}
Good morning, 47 with cloudy skies and rain showers. My winter garden still is happy with fuchsias and salvias still in bloom but it’s really wet. A year around garden is more work but I really enjoy being outdoors regardless of the rain. I seem to have misplaced my Christmas lists so I’ll do what I can today and hope I find my Christmas cheer as I muddle along. Best wishes to all.
Good morning, meeses! Saturday, Winter Solstice …
It is 52 degrees in Tucson 🌵 with an expected daytime high of 77. Sunny skies are in the forecast. The stars are out in our early morning sky and I can see the moonlight from our almost 3rd quarter moon – she must be directly overhead, based on the shadows.
The House passed a Continuing Resolution to keep the government open until March. The Senate takes it up next; I am not sure when they will reconvene. They did vote yesterday and the 235th judge of the Biden Administration was confirmed, helping to tilt the federal judiciary towards more women, more people of color and more public defenders. I hope every other judge thinking of retiring stays in place until the Federalist Society is no longer in charge of the judiciary in America. Right now, only 34% of the people trust the courts to do the right thing, an all time low. Nice job, Chief “Justice” John Roberts, you managed to ratfk all three branches of government. Future historians will not forget your role in promoting gerrymandered Congressional districts which deny people of color the vote and allowing a literal insurrectionist to regain the presidency. Fie on you!
I finished my gift wrapping just in time and now I will work on my to-do list in the hopes of carving out time for a break later today. The Arizona Wildcats Women’s Basketball Team plays at 2pm MST, debuting in the Big XII in a game at BYU. College sports is so mucked up right now with portals and transfers and NILs and, soon, player compensation sure to be leveraged by the deep pockets schools. Teams like Arizona’s will have a more difficult path to a championship – I wish them luck, they are a fun team to watch.
See all y’all later!
It sounds like the Senate approved the CR and also separately passed the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act, a bill that had already passed the House and will provide more than $12 million a year in funding for pediatric cancer research for five years. It had been stripped out of the CR by sociopathic Republican (is that redundant?) House members to please their oligarchs. Thank you, Senate.
Saturday Meese. 27 here – will be 9 tomorrow morning. Will be celebrating solstice, midwinter and all the holidays on Black Music Sunday.
Today’s Caribbean Matters is a cross Caribbean holiday piece
I’m making Coquito today (minus the rum)
Good morning. On my way to kickboxing then walk/run in the park. I’m only working Monday & Friday next week, so I do have to have breakfast cooked but I’ll have the other days for other weekend stuff. Hope everyone has a good day today.
Posted:
Good Saturday morning, Meese! It’s a glorious clear morning in Ashburn, but quite cold–34 F. and that’s also going to be our high today. Tomorrow will be even colder.
Woke up when the Solstice happened. How did my bod know to do that? We’re not doing the Winter Solstice ritual after all, did I tell you? I think I did. This morning I have to trot to UPS to return the second yellow cartridge; pick up some groceries; attend a meeting at 2 p.m.; and then I plan to collapse.
Yesterday I went to see a friend I hadn’t seen since early summer. We had morning coffee in her charming living room and enjoyed the sight of the snow falling. Of course, this being Northern Virginia, it didn’t stick—it melted when it hit my car and the grass. However, it was kind of a thrill, we see it so rarely.
In the afternoon we went to a pop-up “Christmas bar” at the Pub. It was rather fun. Santa Claus turned up. There were hot chocolate and drinks and a horrid snack of corn chips and awful dip. It was great to see the neighbors, though.
The Actors’ Workshop on Thursday was interesting but I didn’t do well, being drunk with fatigue. I’ve stopped taking the nighttime cold meds and consequently am sleeping much better. Then we staggered off to the building party. We had a nice time but had to come home and conk out. We’re so ancient!
Yikes, it’s nearly 10 o’clock! I need to get moving. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond! Glad the CR passed. I wish Hakeem would become the next speaker and kill the debt ceiling. Blessed be.
Happy Yule/Solstice! It’s 26 heading for 47 and sunny for one more day at least. Yesterday celebrated the last of the waning light by generating 8.05 KWHs (best single day this month, so far) and the m-t-d at 116.7 while still not on track did gain a little.
Aside from my hands being cold and stiff, I’m doing OK. But so very many people are not. None of the small businesses I know of are doing well. The holiday sales they depend on to carry them through the year have not come. The “wonderful economy” is wonderful for the people at the top. The folks at the bottom aren’t making it at all much less doing well. sigh. The best I can do is boost them – their businesses and their crowdfunding they’re having to do because their businesses aren’t making it. So I’d best get to it. Holding the Good/Healing/Protecting Thought for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}
Good morning, 47 and raining outside my windows today. I dug into my desk yesterday so I have some time today to see what I can do with ivy, evergreen branches, holly and a few flowers from TJ’s. I just don’t have the creative energy for the mixed bloom arrangements I usually make so I hope staying simple will be ok. Best wishes to all.