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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Wednesday Meese. 24 degrees right now here in Kingston.
Puerto Rico
“Hurricane Melissa
Good Wednesday morning, Moosekind! It’s 30 F. in slowly dawning Ashburn, going up to 55 F. today.
It’s still pitch black outside. Had a horrible night’s non-sleep. Today I received my SS, but it’s the usual amount. The funeral home supposedly notified SSA of my husband’s demise that supposedly means I would receive the survivor benefit. With another shutdown looming, things don’t look good for finding out anything.
Gad, it’s got to the point where I can cope with national news better than my own tiresome problems. Right now I’m wondering how to put together a winter solstice ritual. Looking online hasn’t helped much. This is a time of literal and metaphorical darkness, but our Earth needs her long, cold winter sleep. The light will return bit by bit and we all HOPE it will really return, metaphorically speaking, when a stake is driven through Mango’s alleged heart at a crossroads at midnight. That would do a lot to help people!
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.
Good morning. Getting ready for wfh. Hope that maybe today the plumber will come by. My problem isn’t that bad, things are working, just not as they should. Anyway, happy Wednesday to everyone.
Good morning, meeses! Wednesday …
It is 52 degrees in Tucson 🌵 with an expected daytime high of 75. Sunny skies are in the forecast.
I scanned the headlines and I am going to avoid the Susie Wiles stories. I have no idea why she shared what she did about her boss but there is no way that someone as button down as her actually “spilled the beans.” Maybe she wants to get fired, maybe it was to take the attention off of the metric ton of bad news landing on tRump, maybe they got her drunk. But right now, millions of people are about to lose their health care coverage because their premiums quadrupled, millions of people are facing food insecurity because of SNAP changes, and millions of people are scared sh*tless that people they love are going to be shipped out of the country – after being brutally beaten by the Republican Party’s Gestapo. I do admit to enjoying the Republicans In Disarray headlines as the MAGAts realize that there is a limit to how much ordinary Americans will put up with. To have the Cheeto Dictator get on TV and claim that the affordability crisis is a “left-wing invention” is only going to make things worse for them. Believe the guy who is falling apart in front of their eyes or believe your empty pockets when you run out of money to pay the bills and feed your family? Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign mantra is still relevant “It’s the economy, stupid” and the Republican focus on cultural war issues while 2024’s first time tRump voters are having buyers remorse is foolish and shortsighted. Please proceed, MAGAt Republicans, please proceed.
I have a nice short list of things to do this week since I can’t do a thing on my taxes yet because the IRS has not released the tax forms needed to run my first pass. I am going to get a big chunk of deferred client work done, get my hairs cut and work on getting my holiday cards in the mail.
See all y’all later!
It’s 44 heading for 62 and sunny at the moment. Clouds in the northwest sky and in the forecast aren’t promising. Yesterday we generated 6.3 KWHs and were enough ahead that the m-t-d at 97 is still on track. We shall see what today brings. Or doesn’t.
Natalia meant to take today off work at work to get some stuff done at home. But yesterday afternoon “Workday” (the pos program totally not designed or even workable for a public OR educational situation forced on U of A by the R-controlled legislature about 5 years ago) disappeared something like 600+ grades – each of which now has to be individually submitted on a pos Workday form that refuses to complete at least half the time. She’s hoping she can find a workaround of some kind and inform the professors how to do it. All grades must be in by Monday. Classes ended last Thursday and everyone thought they were done for the semester. She’s still hoping she can have half the day to do what she meant to do today.
Meanwhile, I have peanut butter apricot jam bread in the oven and am about to start my boosting day. Holding the Good/Healing/Protecting Thought for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}
Good morning, 44 and partly sunny. I was awake in the night listening to wind and rain so it’s a relief to see some blue sky today. Communities south of us are without power, trees and down, water is still on the roads, etc. I’m so grateful to be on the edge of all the misery…..warm and dry indoors, wet but safe outdoors. I’ve finally got cards and packages mailed so my list seems more manageable today. Best wishes to all.
Thursday Meese. Temps are going to go up to 52 here in Kingston today – yay. Right now it’s 24. Jan – wish I could stay awake to see my SC Gamecocks play today but the game starts at 7PM and I’ll be asleep.
Puerto Rico
Moment when the singers of El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico sang “La Borinqueña” (national anthem of Puerto Rico) in the Final Farewell to Don Rafael Ithier Natal, founder, pianist, arranger, composer
Hurricane Melissa
The NCAA Volleyball Tournament rudely scheduled the Wisconsin Badgers game at 7pm. I will stay up as long as I can but they better make it worth my while@! AZ basketball is playing tonight too but I mainly watch it on taped replay anyway.
I fell asleep but woke up this morning to see that my SC Gamecocks won 103 to 44. Will now watch the replay
Good morning. Got my walk done and made slips about the AIDS Ride to hand out to people. Good accomplishments for 7am.
It’s 58 possibly going to 60 very overcast. It’s supposed to be/have been raining but it’s mostly just wet air. we got enough an hour ago to wet the streets not even really enough to lay the dust. But we certainly have the clouds. They moved in yesterday early enough we only got 4.39 KWHs and the m-t-d at 101.79 is not on track. Whether or not we get back on track or lose more ground totally depends on when the clouds move out again.
Natalia got home yesterday mid-morning, not sure how much she managed to accomplish at work, and rage cleaned for a couple of hours. So now the fridge is clean (which it hasn’t been for over 10 years). A very visible accomplishment. And managed to get some of the sorting and disposing done that she’d taken the day off to do. Step by step. The living room is almost clear of everything we don’t want in there. LOL.
Meanwhile, I was slow and creaky yesterday and look to be slow and creaky again today. Sigh. But I’m still truckin’ on. Off to start my boosting day. Holding the Good/Healing/Protecting Thought for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}
Good morning, 46, cloudy and windy outside my windows today. Another day of Christmas lists, laundry and housekeeping…..seems endless. Come January I’m going to have a long talk with myself re the reality of being 80 and trying to do what I’ve always done with holiday celebrations. I’ve got a housekeeping day ahead with desk work and laundry, then the lab this afternoon, and in between more Christmas lists. Best wishes to all.
Good Thursday noon, Meese! The sun is shining and it doesn’t feel very cold outside. Rain will move in later, though.
I’m not sleeping well, but after my doctor visit and my hair visit I hope to have a nap. There’s a party at 2 p.m. Trevor and Nora are coming over here tonight. She says a cleaned computer, even an old one like my previous Mac, can fetch a little cash. I have two iPads that don’t work any more, too.
I managed to get a 9 a.m. appointment with one of the doctors here. Takes 8 minutes to walk to the Med Center. The doctor had better not diagnose glioblastoma, stroke, or something equally foul: my silver dancing shoes arrived yesterday and I want to dance at “Open Mic” night.
Update: Saw the doctor, he said it was NOTHING ominous, it was an imbalance in the gait. (My right foot has been dragging from time to time for a year.) He recommended physical therapy, wrote out a referral then and there, and I took it across the hall and made an appointment for Monday morning at 10:30. I cannot trip, stumble, or fall during auditions next month or “Open Mic” next month.
Got to have a quick bite to eat before the party begins at 2 p.m. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!
{{{Diana}}} Glad it’s something PT can fix. Healing Energy. Moar {{{HUGS}}}
Good afternoon, meeses! Thursday …
It is 72 and sunny, tomorrow might be 81! I got two walks in today and got some personal projects done. I pushed work projects out a day but did answer some emails.
See all y’all tomorrow!
Good morning, meeses! Friday …
It is 55 degrees in Tucson 🌵 with an expected daytime high of 79. Sunny skies are in the forecast. Today the moon finishes her waning phase and goes new at 6:43pm MST. Send off your baggage and negative thoughts to disappear with the waning light and get ready to grab some waxing moon energy to begin a new phase which will also usher in a new calendar year. I will not be sad to see 2025 gone.
My Badgers volleyball team lost in 5 sets and gave a valiant effort after their Libero was injured and ineffective for the last 2 1/2 sets. I am not sure why they did not have a backup for that position but it is a tricky one that requires a lot of chemistry with the people on the floor. One of last years Liberos entered the portal and left after they recruited a new freshman and one graduated so the pickings on the bench were probably pretty slim. Risky decision to keep her in but it is what it is; they got farther than anyone expected and it is tough for a 3 seed to beat two 1 seeds in back to back matches. My Arizona basketball team scored their first 100+ point game and won handily. Eight players were in double figures and everyone on the bench got some minutes. I will watch it on replay later today.
I have organized my holiday card list and will send out cards to the people who I have received cards from and who I know still send cards then decide on the rest. I try to keep up the tradition to show my solidarity with the US Postal Service workers and in memory of my mother who sent out scores of cards every year but this year I am not feeling it. At least I have an up-to-date list. Maybe I will get a second wind with the waxing moon.
See all y’all later!
Good morning. It isn’t freezing, but my walk was pretty brisk. Here in the office, one of the few. Just have to hold on until 5.
It’s 26 heading for 56 and sunny – going into a warm spell next week. Not only won’t see freezing again for a while but the lows will be our current highs. I wish the days would all be sunny but they won’t. Yesterday we generated 4.69 KWHs and the m-t-d at 106.51 lost more ground. We are close enough to being on track that a 7.5 day today would do it. We shall see what we shall see.
Rocky night. One of those where just at the point you’re about to give up and get up you fall asleep – hard – then oversleep and wake with a headache. Oh well. The headache is passing off. Or at least lightening up. I’d best be about my boosting day. Holding the Good/Healing/Protecting Thought for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}
Good morning, 47 and cloudy in Bellingham today. I have a lab appointment this morning, see a new dermatologist this afternoon, and in between will tend to the endless Christmas list. Best wishes to all.
I am still staring at my stack of holiday cards and trying to decide what to do. I did send return cards to the ones I have received so far and will try to keep up with those. I don’t know how you muster the energy to keep the holiday pace!
I’m really tired Jan, so today’s list is getting a good edit of things I will not do. Take care.
Good Saturday morning, Meese. It’s a nugly 29 F. on a blue-and-silver morning, going up to 44 F. later.
Yesterday was very intense. I was gone most of the day, and by the time I tottered home at 3 p.m., I was mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted. I will say no more.
Meanwhile, back in The Twilight Zone, he does anything he wants and gets away with it! A few people try to stop him, judges say he can’t do that, but he simply ignores the rule of law. We live in an alternative reality.
Been up since 5 a.m. (ugh, I hate this not sleeping business), so must get washed and brushed. I’ll run to Trader Joe’s to get a few things for the ritual tomorrow, go to the gym at long last, and work on the ritual itself. I have a date for dinner and a movie afterward with a Drama Club friend, so will need to work toward that too.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond. Like our BlogGoddess Jan, I will not be sorry to see the year 2025 depart. A year to forget!
I am not sure what we will do for Solstice yet. The good news is that stores and restaurants are not closed on our holiday so we aren’t limited like people are on the December 25th holiday. We are going to get carryout at a restaurant, still deciding which one, and spend a quiet day being glad that we don’t have to fight the crowds and the traffic.
{{{Diana}}} Sending you lot of Healing Energy for your shaping. Moar {{{HUGS}}}
Thank you!
Good morning, meeses! Saturday …
It is 55 degrees in Tucson 🌵 with an expected daytime high of 79. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.
Following Arizona news unfortunately means getting a lot of right-wing MAGAt Turning Point news since it is based in Phoenix. That they are fighting over whether to embrace or reject anti-semitism, Hitler worship, and Holocaust denialism tells you pretty much everything you need to know. The boys in charge are nervous about Charlie Kirk’s widow being in charge because she is a woman. All of them are a little nervous about the crazy-even-for-them conspiracy theorists latest insanities. My fervent wish is for them to continue fracturing and to not be a force to drive election turnout for the Republicans in 2026 and 2028.
I love quiet Saturday mornings in my office where I can decide what to work on and at what pace. It doesn’t change what I need to work on but it does make me feel like I can take some time to follow some interesting threads on personal projects. Right now I am organizing activities around searching through houses for rent, weighing pros and cons of the various options and deciding what I can afford. I have it narrowed down to an area (not too far from where I live now) and just need to find the right property. I will tweak my notes for a little while longer then start doing the things I need to do.
See all y’all later!
Ooh, I’m excited by your house hunting! You must tell us what you find.
Good morning. Doing my normal Saturday things: kickboxing, groceries, cooking. I’m making risotto with mushrooms & spinach for next week. Happy Saturday everyone.
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