Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just passing 2:30 a.m. in "The City." I decided that I needed some additional information about the weather and the wind that goes with it, so I consulted the internet. Here is what I learned.

When the wind is described as being a southeast wind, that means that the wind is blowing out of the southeast and heading towards the northwest. Not something that most people will ever need to know, but I was curious.

I also learned that the winter solstice is not really the day of the year with the latest sunrise and the earliest sunset. That actually happened earlier this month. So, today, the sun will rise at 8:13 a.m. and set at 5:12 p.m., slightly less than 24 hours, but not the shortest day. The winter solstice is based on a Pagan ritual from long ago, on a day when King Arthur was supposedly born.

In addition, thousands of people gather at Stonehenge in England to celebrate the birth of the sun. The tilt of the earth is what makes winter colder than summer, even though we are closer to the sun at this time of year. The sun shines more on the Tropic of Capricorn at this time. The Tropic of Capricorn is an imaginary line that is 22 1/2 degrees south of the Equator. As I said earlier, not essential information, but something about which I was curious.

In other news, "That Index" left the building again yesterday. Both Mary and I are certain that it will be back. Now we can get on with the other work we have to do for a few days.

In sports news, the Lions play tonight as previously noted. The Bears fell to the Vikings, 17 - 38. Ouch. The Carolina Panthers were nearly upended by the N Y Giants, a sub .500 team, who overcame a 7 - 35 deficit at the end of the third quarter to tie the game. A literally last second drive and field goal by the Panthers won the game and moved their record to 14 - 0. However, it was a major defensive meltdown for them in the third quarter. The Broncos started strong, but ultimately fell to the Steelers, 27 - 34. I guess that the backup QB for Peyton Manning may not be the answer, in spite of his recent win over the Bears.

It was warmer yesterday, but with the strong winds, it felt much colder and that necessitated cold weather gear for the morning safari with STWD and later in the afternoon when we walked downtown. Speaking of temperatures, the current outdoor temperature is 46°. The forecast calls for an overnight low of 36° before we return to today's high of 46°. The ten day forecast doesn't call for any snow until the first part of 2016, and then not much. Sorry ski fans.

Today we have our dentist appointments in Holland along with an appointment for the Soul. Those will consume a good part of our day. We have also scheduled a few other stops while we are out.

I will pick up today's newspaper while I am out with the intrepid weather dog, and I may get it read after I read Saturday's edition. Like I said, "That Index" consumed a lot of time over the weekend.

I forgot to mention that the results of the tests for STWD were all good. Ciao.