Good morning GH. It is just past 3:00 AM in "The City," and our current temperature is 23° as we head for our high today of 32°. The National Weather Service in GR is forecasting, through the Weather Channel™ app., that snow will begin around now and continue until late this evening. A prediction of 1 - 3 inches is possible. Sugar the Weather Dog is sleeping through it, but as long as there is no thunder, she will.

Wednesday was a busy day. I placed more pieces in the perimeter of the puzzle that Mary and I are working on. I finished the laundry and Mary spread some salt around the shared driveway and deck after the area was cleared. Too bad it won't last. Then it was time for doctor's and P/T appointments. The doctor was running late, so my not accepting the earlier P/T appointment was a good idea. However, we did finish up early enough at the doctors so that I was able to get into P/T earlier.

The doctor gave me good and tempered news. My recovery is going as expected and I no longer need to wear my sling. In that respect, I feel like the mythical phoenix who rose from the ashes and became reborn again. Or perhaps like the young bird taking its first flight form the nest. Or the puppy who opens its eyes for the first time to view the world in all its glory. In any case, I now have new homework exercises from the physical therapist. Twice a day, between P/T appointments when we will work on other activities. The tempered part of the news from the doctor is that I will have good weeks and bad for about four to six months. Then by about a year, I should be back to normal.

After the hospital, we stopped at the bank and the bread store downtown. Then off to dinner at our favorite watering hole. We celebrated the good news, drank a wee bit too much, and then came home. Mary went upstairs and I waited long enough to know that I would fall asleep, which led me to the bedroom and I was out.

I awoke about half-way through the movie Philadelphia, starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. While Denzel Washington's acting is reminiscent of the old time actors who made a career out of playing themselves, think Jimmy Stewart or John Wayne, Tom Hanks seems to become whatever character he is portraying. In both cases, it worked. I was reminded how fragile life can be and how important it is to tell those you love that you do, in fact, love them.

The recent loss of our new old friend was certainly a personal reminder of that. The last time we saw her turned out to be the last time that we saw her. For some people, that's fine. But for many others, you need to find a way to make contact.

Oh well, that's enough being maudlin for now. A train went by heading south, probably driven by the horn happy driver from the sound of it. I have yet to hear the return trip heading north, but there always is one. At 4:07 AM, there was. Twin locomotives dashing through the snow. : - )

That looks like about enough for yesterday and today. Sunrise will be at 8:13 AM and sunset at 5:37 PM. Tea time will come before breakfast and then I will attempt to play my guitar. I don't know yet how that will go, but just being able to try is a plus. Otherwise, more puzzle, more "homework" exercises, and that should be about enough. Oh, let's not forget the meals. Now that we have the proper bread, Mary can make her now famous Swiss cheese and sauerkraut sandwiches. Ciao