Good early morning GH. It is just past 1:30 a.m. in "The City."  I am going to digress for just a bit to remind those of you who read regularly, that this is my blog post #730. If you do the math, you will realize that that is exactly two years worth of blogs. I started this blog shortly after we moved to GH, and I never thought that I would still be at it. When I was in the hospital recovering from spinal surgery and later brain surgery a few years ago, I think that it would have been interesting to have been writing a blog. Of course as Mary can attest, I had lost the ability to form cohesive thoughts sometimes. So perhaps my blogs would have been less than readable.

I was thinking about the changes that have come my way over the last few years. I've come to believe that although we often see the changes in others, we are less likely to see the changes in ourselves. We age, we change, and we learn to both accept and adapt to those changes. I think that that was my point when I wrote not too long ago about Mary. To me she has changed very little over the years, and any changes have been for the better.

Mary and I have had conversations about the benefits of having shared experiences with a spouse or significant other. Collectively we can fill in the blanks that come from having the same set of shared experiences. When we were first together, I had suggested that we visit a famous place in Chicago. She knows the one. She said in an off handed manner, "Once you have been to the one in London, England, the others pale by comparison." I also remember that she once referred to something that was in her memory, but not in our shared memory. She had that experience and I didn't.

Mary has taught me a lot over the last 40 years. I believe that my viewpoint on life has generally changed for the better. When Mary and I talk about Adam and the things that he did and said when he was just a young man, it is nice to have a shared frame of reference. I believe that I have grown and that Mary has improved. A mutual positive. Oh well, enough of a journey down the road of life. Time for the regular blog things.

Our current temperature is 51° under rainy skies. We anticipate a high today of 62° with a 60% chance of showers/T-showers. The temperatures will drop on Wednesday and the showers will continue. The rain that had been predicted for earlier Monday in GH is just now arriving. The temperatures are still predicted to not rise out of the 50s anytime soon. I heard earlier that Lake Superior had an 85% ice cover and Lake Michigan had an ice cover of 15%. Both of those are records. That is at least partially the explanation for our heavy snow fall this past winter and the low temperatures this spring.

I was awakened by the passage of the regular train around 12:45 a.m. The regular twin EMD GP 38 locomotives towing a lone box car, 31 covered hopper cars, five of those dreaded black tank cars, and one black and white tank car, all heading south.

In other news, Sugar the Weather Dog and I braved the gales out of the east as we sallied forth to get the daily newspaper. Mary stayed behind to wash the dishes. When I got back, I told her that next time, I would gladly stay back and wash. For breakfast, Mary had to once again improvise in the kitchen. She made French toast using bagels. I liked it.

Once I was back and done with breakfast, I played my guitars some and did a little reading. Then Mary decided to go to Holland to get our puzzle framed. Once we found the relocated frame store, the process was easy. Those winds made driving a challenge for Mary. I didn't have a problem.

We stopped off at the big box grocery and everything store on the way home to get a few things. Mary had created a list before we left, and that made the process go more smoothly. Then it was time for lunch at our second favorite watering hole on either side of the bridge. Then home, unpack, watch TV, have a light dinner and fall asleep in my media room chair. I did have to go down to resolve a TV problem that Mary was having. She had changed channels and the TV switched modes of input. Once I coordinated the cable box with the TV, she was set to go.

Today looks like a good day to stay in. Windy, cold, and rainy. Sugar the Weather Dog is currently in the bedroom due to the rain and wind. She likes to be away from the outside walls when those two things are happening. Mary is still downstairs. She'll be along when she awakens. I learned years ago that it is not a good idea to wake her when she is asleep.

The Tigers are set to play that other team from Chicago tonight. The boys in blue were rained out in Cincinnati, so they didn't have a chance to lose in another innovative way. My beloved Red Sox lost. The Caps fell to the Lake County Captains of Eastlake, OH too. Not a great day in sports.

The sun will rise at 6:42 a.m.and set at 8:40 p.m. Ciao.