Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 3:30 a.m. in "The City."

Where shall I begin, to tell the story of ... Oops, I got that song from the movie Love Story into my head and now I can't seem to get it out. Oh well, maybe if I just blog through it, I can overcome the urge, to say I'm sorry.  Oops again, "Love means never having to say you're sorry." Maybe that's because I'm not really sorry. I'll just get on with this blog.

We had a great day yesterday, We didn't get up too early and so Mary made smoothies for she and I, while Ed sat down to a bowl of Kellogg's Rice Krispies™. While he was here, he had to make do with almond milk, vegan roast beest and spicy tomato loaf on sandwiches to go with a breakfast that was as healthy as commercially made cereals can be.

It was great to afford Mary and Ed the chance to reminisce and see each other, which unfortunately happens too infrequently. Ed lives in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Texas during the year, while we live in Michigan. Naturally, that makes getting together more difficult. When you get to a certain age, as we all have, you have to treasure the opportunity to meet and enjoy each other's company as often as time allows.

I took the morning safari with STWD while Mary packed the picnic lunch that we would be enjoying later in the afternoon. Our first stop was the USS Silversides WWII Submarine Museum in Muskegon. We have lived here for five years and have passed the site numerous times. However, it was Ed's visit that prompted us to actually visit. Given our certain age, we skipped the Silversides tour and instead toured the adjacent museum. I'll include some pictures now to give a flavor of our visit.

With Mary in the foreground, we approached the museum. 

The exhibit opens with a reenactment of the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Movies were used to educate the public about the efforts of the U.S. Navy submarine fleet during WWII. 

The big kid in me just had to try my hand at driving a submarine.

A nice model of the USS Silversides. 

The actual conning tower of the Silversides which is in the channel outside the museum. 

Inside the museum, there was an exhibit about German POW camps, Stalags, of the type that housed Ed and Mary's father during WWII. The POWs  and  their father, who were captured during the war spent time in a camp similar to the one depicted here. 

Sleeping conditions were tight and the food was sparse. This exhibit depicted the life of a sailor from Michigan who was captured during the Battle of the Bulge. He lost over 75 pounds during his incarceration. Frostbite and other maladies were all too common. Most of the former POWs didn't talk much after WWII about their personal experiences in the war and the stalags.

Time was getting away from us, so it was time to endure the numerous road construction detours in Muskegon as we traveled farther north to the cities of Whitehall and Montague. We stopped in Whitehall to give Ed a chance to see the world's largest weather vane located there. Then we continued on to a local park that is part of the Montague park system for our picnic lunch.

The park is located on the White River and we had the entire deserted picnic pavilion to ourselves.

We took some pictures of the wildlife while we were there. Eagles, Herons, and Canada Geese were well represented.

The park itself had some outstanding scenery to offer as you can see. A plus was the playground for kids of all ages to enjoy. I just had to try out one of my personal favorites, the mechanical shovel designed to move the ubiquitous sands of Michigan.

One of the offerings at the playground was this Jeep™.

Do I look like I was in a Jeep?

Time to head home and rest up from our busy day. Mary worked in her kitchen, while Ed and I rested in the living room of the manse. Then we chose to walk to JWs for our evening repast. Mary and I had our usual vegetarian burrito, while Ed enjoyed the perch dinner that was on special.

Once we returned home, I got tired and so I left brother and sister to their own devices and headed up to the media room and then sleep.

I'll endeavor to keep the sports report brief after the numerous photos and prose already displayed.

Cubs win, 7 - 0 over the Cardinals in an NL Central game that finds the Cubs just one game short of clinching their division. The Cubs have a 1st place record of 93 - 52, 17 games ahead of the Cardinals. The Cubs greet the Brewers tonight @ Wrigley Field @ 8:05 p.m.

The Tigers too were victorious over the Twins, 9 - 6 last night. They still find themselves in 2nd place in the AL Central, 6.0 games behind the winning Indians. The Tigers and the Twins play later today @ 1:10 p.m.

My beloved Red Sox fell to the Orioles by a slim 0 - 1 score. Rick Porcello pitched well, but the Sox had serious slumber in their lumber last night. The Sox now have an equally slim 1 - 0 lead over the Orioles. Both teams face each other again tonight @ 7:10 p.m.

Ed has to catch the ferry out of Muskegon this morning @ 10:15 a.m., so we'll be up and out early today. It has been a beautiful week of weather and visiting here in West Michigan. Hopefully, the "Big Lake" will be calmer today for Ed's return passage.

We have a current temperature of 55° under clear skies. Today's high will be 76° under mostly clear skies. The sun will rise @ 7:25 a.m. and set @ 7:54 p.m.

We have no specific plans for today that are any different than my usual outdoor chores. Ciao.