Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 4:30 a.m. in "The City."

I believe that the weather is a good place to begin. The ginormous snow storm that was supposed to dump copious amounts of snow on GH never really materialized. We have gotten some snow, but the amounts are less than three inches, so far. We have a current temperature of 31/32° depending on the source consulted, under cloudy skies. The NWS is forecasting three to eight inches of additional snowfall but unless it starts to snow more heavily. and soon, that seems unlikely. In addition, the windy conditions will produce wind chill conditions of 10° to 15° above zero.

It is worthy of note that parts of Southwest Michigan have gotten hit much harder than our fair city. Mary likes to say that we are often in a sweet spot and the snow seemingly goes around our fair city. Additionally, near Lansing, which is east of GH, there was a major auto/truck crash involving over 40 cars and trucks. That crash was reported on the national news. Tragically, three people lost their lives when black ice and whiteout conditions caused the cars and trucks on I-96 to tangle according to authorities.

Mary and I took separate safaris with the fur-children yesterday morning. Sugar has bonded with GTWD, so she does not like to leave her sister behind. However, the lure of a treat @ The Bookman was enough to propel her out and back. Mostly I stayed in as did Mary. I read and watched TV while Mary worked on an index.

Mary announced @ about 4:00 p.m., that we should go to the store to stock up for the coming storm and so we did. However, as previously reported, that storm has yet to arrive. I watched the city plow go by about 15 minutes ago, so we should be able to walk on the streets with the fur-children on today's morning safari if the sidewalks are not to our liking. I have officially started using my winter boots and also my heavier coat. My old bones are just not as amenable to the cold as they once were and both Mary and I break more easily than I used to do.

Today, Mary continues to work, I continue to read and do crosswords, and also to do more of the puzzle that I/we started yesterday. In this case, the puzzle with which I started the winter season, is actually 18 separate puzzles of various butterflies. Collectively, there are 500 pieces. I believe that Mary has plans for placing the finished butterflies in the mudroom.

I may or may not spot some trains today. After the meager traffic last Wednesday, there may be none.

The sun will rise today @ 8:05 a.m. and set @ 5"09 p.m. Ciao.