Good early morning GH. It is just before 6:00 a.m. in "The City," and our current temperature is 18°. We anticipate a high today of 24°. I feel like we are going backwards. Fortunately, we are still on track for a return to the lower forties by next Thursday. Here's hoping. Sugar the Weather Dog doesn't seem to mind, but then unless it is raining or bitterly cold, she doesn't.

Saturday found us lying in bed and listening to the auto talk radio show and then a show about home gardening. I slept through much of the auto show, but when Mary and I heard the gardening show, our ears perked up. It turns out that the principals of the show were having a couple of presentations starting at 11:00 a.m. So instead of all of the things I had planned, we hopped into the car and off we went to Kentwood. Coincidentally, Kentwood was the place we visited to pick up my 12 string guitar, Ivy. We made it just in time, but that was no thanks to the traffic gods. We arrived to hear two very excellent presentations and bought a few things in anticipation of the snow melting, someday.  All in all, a worthwhile trip. Mary got a book by a local author that was one of the presenters. This author shares many of Mary's passions, so the purchase was a lock.

However since this was a Saturday, the traffic was like Hanover Park, IL, or maybe Crystal Lake, IL on steroids. If you can picture two or three lanes of cars moving or mostly not moving, in both directions, a never ending succession of big-box stores, malls, and every type of restaurant, both chain and independent, you can possibly imagine, you may get a picture. We lost a few minutes going to the presentations, according to our GPS device, which we nicknamed HAL. According to HAL, we lost over 15 minutes returning home due to the heavy traffic and limited driving skills of the majority of motorists. Let's just say that the chance of our returning to this location are slim to none, and Slim left town years ago.

We made it back, but a few places or towns that beckoned on our outbound trip, were passed over in favor of escape. We didn't make it back without noting that it was nearing 4:00 p.m. by the time we arrived in GH. Plus, the price of gasoline had risen by over 20 cents between the time we left and the time we returned. We can wait until it comes back down after the weekend. Since it is highly unlikely that a delivery happened to all of the local gas stations while we were gone, this was a prime example of profit taking. Oh well, that's capitalism for you. Price is always dictated by demand and profit requirements, not by product cost. If you don't need a product, the price is irrelevant to you.

By the time we got back, we stopped for dinner and then came home. I was too pooped to pop, but Mary seemed energized by the experience, as she often does.  She went to the alternate craft/media room downstairs, while I retired to the upstairs media room for some TV viewing and then to my office for some Web surfing. I finally gave up and retired to bed where I slept the night away. I got up around 5:15 a.m., to take an OTC pain pill and wait. I'll finish this blog and then re-retire; to bed that is.

Today, I'll put all of yesterday's plans back on my schedule. The laundry seemed to grow exponentially, so that will take several hours. Puzzle solving and reading will be possible as I sit downstairs and await the laundry. Strumming with the "Girls" and exercising will have to wait as they take place upstairs. Hopefully, we can sleep in a bit more today and then when we arise, Mary can be convinced to make her now famous Swiss cheese and Sauerkraut sandwiches. All of those activities after Sugar takes me for a morning walk. I just have to watch out for any patches of residual ice and snow on the sidewalks.

So now that I am getting sleepy again and no trains are on the horizon, I can return to bed. Sunrise will occur at 7:41 a.m., right before...Tea time and those sandwiches. Sunset will be at 8:00 p.m. Ciao.