Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 1:30 a.m. in "The City."

Where shall I begin, to tell the story of how great a day can be? I guess that the beginning is always the best place. The last day of summerlike weather here in GH was yesterday. We had a high temperature that was near 70°, a vast difference from the current temperature of 46° with windy conditions. Later today the forecast from the NWS includes rain/snow/wind and a high temperature of 38°. The precipitation is not in the forecast for Sunday, but the cold temperatures certainly are.

At any rate, I rode my bike down to the waterfront/beach here in GH yesterday after my morning safari with STWD That's where I met Mary and Ginger on their morning safari. I was the only bike rider, but there were many people there, who like myself, appeared to be retired. I took some pictures of the waves breaking on the now closed north pier as they were also being recorded for the local news on WZZM, channel 13. There was no on-scene reporter, just the cameraman shooting what they call "B" roll for the newscasters to do a voice over in a later newscast. I am just going to add some random pictures that I took while I was there.

Mary took this picture of me sitting on the rocks near the pier. I think she captured the sun through the clouds very nicely. I hate to admit it, but Mary was right when she urged me to wear a long sleeve shirt on my ride, due to the high winds and cooler temperatures near the mouth of the Grand River where it enters "The Big Lake."

The pier is without our famous catwalk until late next year as the Army Corps of Engineers repairs the underpinnings of  the pier itself . The catwalk was removed for refurbishing and is being stored off-site until it can be repaired and then returned and replaced @ a cost of slightly over $1,000,000. Our pier looks naked without its catwalk which was installed by the U.S. Coastguard to assist in the maintenance of the lighthouses shown in this picture.

This gull or tern was using the strong winds over the pier to just hover in place.

My bike in the foreground, the WZZM cameraman in the background.

These life preservers are intended to help when people fall into the heavy surf.

Ironically, the life preservers for the pier are on the other side of  the locked gate that leads to the pier.

The beaches are deserted, and yet very beautiful without the people.

I returned home to hang the bicycles in the garage and then to do some yard work on the PE. I raked a bag of leaves just in time, as the rains began to fall very heavily around 2:00 p.m. The rains are gone now, but they came sporadically throughout the afternoon and evening yesterday. We took our umbrellas to the chiropractor # 3:30 p.m., but we didn't walk downtown as planned for "Light Night", opting instead for a stop @ JWs. While I was doing the yard work, I clipped what is the last rose of summer from the rosebush that we have named John, pictured in a vase near Mary's desk.

The rose looks and smells great.

When Mary returned from her morning safari, she made a salad for lunch. She graciously gave me the last of the tomatoes from our garden for mine. She then made the latest incarnation of her spicy vegan tomato loaf and placed it into the oven before she repaired to her office for her afternoon chat session. I was left to tend to the loaf in the oven as I prepared my banana nut bread with STSD's assistance. My bread looks great, as usual.

Mary took the day off from her work yesterday in order to savor the last great day here in GH. Since the weather will be less than wonderful today while I am @ the Irish Jam session, she felt that she could work today after having enjoyed being outside yesterday. 

The trainspotting report is about 55%. I witnessed the southbound passage of EMD GP-38-2 locomotives 2057 and 2019 @ 8:47 a.m. as they passed by on the RSTL towing 13 CHCs, six DBTCs, one GTC, and five DWTCs. I added the extra 5% because I only heard the northbound passage as I was riding home @ 12:30 p.m.

Today in sports, there is no baseball, sigh. However, the 9 - 1 Wolverines of Michigan hope to rebound from their loss to the 6 - 4 Hawkeyes of Iowa when they host the 5 - 5 Hoosiers of Indiana for a game @ 3:30 p.m. The 3 - 7 Spartans of MSU host the 9 - 1 Buckeyes of  "The Ohio State University" for a game @ 12:00 p.m. The 4 - 7 Huskies of NIU won their game on Tuesday over the 6 - 5 Eastern Michigan Eagles. The Huskies play again on November 25 when they visit the 3 - 8 Kent State Golden Flashes for their final game of the season. In a game that should be a win, the 10 - 0 Mustangs of Western Michigan host the 2 - 8 Bills of Buffalo @ 3:30 p.m.

The sun will rise today @ 7:42 a.m. and set @ 5:17 p.m. Ciao.