Good early morning GH. It is just past 4:00 a.m. in "The City," and the current indoor temperature is 72 digitally reported and climate controlled degrees. Outdoors, the analog weather instruments are reporting that the temperature is 52°. The view out the Weather Window is one of darkness and windy conditions. Monday was a beautiful day, the best we have had in months.

Once again, the morning walk with Sugar the Weather Dog was a bit chilly down by the waterfront, as Mary and I let Sugar take us for a walk. However, it was a lot better than what we have been experiencing lately. My solo afternoon walk with the intrepid Weather Dog was very nice. The temperatures had climbed into the upper 50s and that allowed me to skip wearing a hat. I did keep my gloves on because my hands are always cold. I was originally going to wear just a fleece, but Mary said it was too cold. I felt that she was right, judging by mud room conditions. However, it was colder in there than outdoors. So that meant that I could have gone with the fleece.

Mary and I worked away a lot of the afternoon, but that didn't stop us from getting out for the evening. Mary wanted to walk, but by then I was too tired. Unfortunately, the next several days are going to barely make it into the 40s, and nothing in the forecast indicates that we will see the 50s again anytime soon. Sigh. Mary has several of our spring vegetable plants growing beneath the living room window, and at the rate we are going, she'll be harvesting peppers and tomatoes from there.

I took some pictures for my chronology, and I'll add a few at the end. They are more prophetic than I would like at this time. I know that it is April Fools day, and the cool temperatures make me feel like one.

In sports, the boys in blue started off the season, as they all too often do, with an 0 - 1 loss to the Pirates. My beloved Red Sox also lost too, to the Orioles, 1 - 2. However, the Tigers were victorious in their home opener, 4 - 3 over the Royals. I guess that in baseball parlance, my teams are batting .333. I'd prefer it if they were batting 1.000. Once again, sigh.

I got up earlier after I heard the train going by. To borrow from the Dooby Brothers hit song, it was a Long Train Running, running "Out of the south like the fair winds over my shoulder," yesterday. I say out of the south, but I don't know for certain. My thanks to Crosby, Stills, and Nash for some of those words, as I didn't get up soon enough to actually see it. I do know that it was a Long Train Running though, because I could feel it in the Bones of This Old House. Additional thanks must also go to both Fox and PBS.

Otherwise, I have more highlighting to do today, more editing on Mary's work from yesterday, and then, I can relax, I hope. Sugar will take me for a morning and afternoon walk, I am sure. I also have to find time to program my replacement pedometer too. Sunrise will be at 7:26 a.m. and sunset will happen at 8:10 p.m. I think I'll have another bowl of that heavenly crisped rice cereal with apples for breakfast. I always share the dregs of my morning cereal with our Sous Dog, Sugar, and I bet she wondered what happened to our regular cereal, Cheerios. Now for those pictures. Ciao.

Somehow, I bet our neighbors are so over this sentiment.

Although we aren't in Kansas, or Oz, it's melting in the front.

With the warm temperatures on Monday, the outdoor entrance to the man-cave is now fully ice free.

Also true of this pile.

And more of the back yard is now showing too.