Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 2:30 a.m. in "The City."

Per the NWS, we have a current temperature of 66° under mostly-clear skies, as we drop down to an overnight low of 60°. Later today, the temperature is expected to rise to a very summer-like 84°, with  59% relative humidity. That shouldn't feel too bad, as long as I can stay relatively idle. I will have to water, as the chance of scattered rain is only 20%. The sun will rise @ 6:34 a.m. and set later tonight @ 9:07 p.m.

The 61 - 44, 1st in the NL Central Cubs, were off yesterday before they open an abbreviated 2-game series against the 3rd place, 55 - 52 Pirates tonight in Pittsburgh @ 7:05 p.m.

My beloved 1st place in the AL East, 65 - 33 Red Sox, eked out a 2 run win over the 58 - 48, 1st place in the NL East Phillies, 2 - 1. All it took was a ground-rule double in the bottom of the ninth to cement the win in a seesaw game. As I suspected, 2nd baseman Dustin Pedroia is still not ready to return to the Sox' lineup, so the Sox traded for journeyman 2nd baseman Ian Kinsler. Kinsler is 36 years old, two years older than Pedroia, but with similar career offensive numbers. He is expected to play 2nd base for the balance of this season.The Sox and the Phillies play again tonight @ 7:10 p.m.

The 45 - 62, 3rd place in the AL Central Tigers were also off yesterday. They host the 48 - 53, 5th place in the NL Central Reds, tonight @ 7:10 p.m.

The now 5th place in the MWL East Whitecaps defeated the 51 - 55 South Bend, IN Cubs once again, which dropped the SB Cubs to 7th place. The Caps and the SB Cubs play again tonight @ 7:05 p.m.

Nearly on schedule yesterday, the USCG ships and a lone Canadian Coast Guard ship arrived in GH around 1:00 p.m. We were there to watch and take some pictures. In addition, we snapped a few pix of the annual Coast Guard Fest carnival as we walked down Washington.

As always, there were large crowds on hand to greet the ships. Several local dignitaries also went out in smaller boats to board the Escanaba and ride with her into port. I'll share some of the carnival pix and also the pix of the ships as they arrived.

Washington will soon be filled with crowds and rides.

While this is a Jeep from one of the rides, I have never before seen one with a Detroit Diesel.

I forgot to include  the following picture in yesterday's blog. This is a Mercedes Benz Unimog, perhaps the ultimate all-wheel drive vehicle.

First in was the Canadian Coast Guard's Constable Carriere, a patrol ship, followed by the USCGC Neah Bay, an icebreaker, and finally, the USCGC Escanaba. There was a fourth, smaller ship or tugboat, but I was unable to identify her. The Constable Carriere, was the first ship we sighted as she rounded the point and headed into the channel from the "Big Lake" with all flags flying.

Next in was the Neah Bay.

Last, but certainly not least, was the USCGC Escanaba.

This is the ship on which the local dignitaries rode into port.

In an attempt to add various elements of interest to my pictures, I used my zoom lens and shot through some natural and man-made things.

This is the USCGC Escanab shot through a waterfront sculpture.

Also on hand, were smaller USCG boats to assist with controlling the many watercraft that came to see the arrivals.

As you may or may not know, Grand Haven is one of 21 cities designated as a Coast Guard City, by an Act of Congress in 1998. Grand Haven was the first city so designated on November 13, 1998. GH held their first Coast Guard themed event in 1924, a picnic, and in 1974, the city officially recognized the annual Coast Guard Fest. A ship's anchor sits atop Dewey Hill, above the official title.

Today, will be good day to do as little as possible. Between Sunday and yesterday, I logged over 18,000 steps on my pedometer. Mary had similar numbers on hers.

We will walk the fur-children and then I plan to do very little other than water and read. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening,wherever you may be. It is just past 4:00 a.m. in "The City."

I wanted to follow the KISS formula for this blog. Too bad I wasn't able to do it.

We have a current temperature of 63° under partly-cloudy skies here in GH. Later today, the temperature will rise to 82°, also under partly-cloudy skies. There is a 10% chance for showers, so I will be watering the vast gardens and lawns of the PE. Perhaps Tuesday's forecast from the NWS that calls for rain in the late afternoon @ 40% will come true. The sun will rise today @ 6:33 a.m. and set later @ 9:08 p.m.

We had a great day yesterday. As you may recall, there were several events going on here in GH, the annual Cruise-in Car Show that is part of the annual Coast Guard Festival and the Flea Market on 7th, that is now in it's 3rd, or is it its 4th, year. Each event has grown during our time here in "The City." The Flea Market on 7th now occupies several parking lots off of 7th between Washington and Columbus, whereas when the owner of Vintage Green started the Flea Market on 7th it was just a few vendors and confined to a small area.

The annual Cruise-in Car Show has also grown, and it now spans both sides of Washington from 4th Ave. to Harbor Dr. and all of the numbered avenues along the way, In addition, the parking lot adjacent to the Porto Bello Restaurant and the Piano Factory Mall, was filled with vehicles this year too.

Naturally, newly buoyed by our recent classes in photography, we had to take lots of pictures. As before, we are learning as we go. Since the Cruise in Car Show had the usual cast of characters, I limited my pictures to vehicles that looked interesting to me, and which might also be interesting to Adam and others.

For Dave and Lisa, friends of Adam, there were numerous examples of VW Westies and other styles and derivatives. Interestingly enough, while there were two Westies to photograph, one of the orange Westies was @ the Flea Market on 7th, while the other was on Washington in the downtown.They could almost be twins.

The beautifully restored "Julius" was at the Flea Market on 7th.

I liked this one because it was different.

Very rusty, but in the process of being restored and brought back to life by its owner.

Better condition and also for sale.

For Adam, we saw and took pictures of Jeeps, their ancestors and derivatives as seen below.

With all the trimmings.

One of the Jeep based Pick-up trucks was there.

As was this 1948 ancestor, a Willy's Jeep.

 

A sand buggy that owes much of its heritage to the Jeep.

Of course, there were other things and cars of interest too.

Interesting, but safe?

This Mercury was ready for the Drive in Diner.

Just because.

Shot with my zoom lens.

Our new floral display on the front porch of the manse.

Unfortunately, I had taken off my zoom lens when this USCG helicopter appeared overhead. This was taken with the wide-angle lens. Hopefully, when the helicopter overflies the annual Coast Guard Festival Parade, I will have the zoom lens in place and can get a better picture.

What would any gathering be without a Taco Truck on the corner.

Baseball news yesterday was mostly good. My beloved Red Sox, who lead the AL East with a best in baseball record of 74 - 33, defeated the Twins, 3 - 0. The Sox welcome the Phillies tonight @ 7:10 p.m.

The Cubs are still leading the NL Central with a record of 61 - 44, and they defeated their NL Central rivals, the Cardinals last night, 5 - 2 in St.Louis, The  Cub are off today as they travel to Pittsburgh to face the Pirates Tuesday night @ 7:05 p.m.

The Tigers, with an AL Central record of 45 - 62, got back to their regular ways, as they lost big-time to the AL Central leading Indians, 1 - 8. Like the Cubs, the Tigers are off today before they welcome the Reds to Comerica Park @ 7:10 p.m.

The MWL East, 7th place Caps, took one from the 5th place MWL East South Bend, IN Cubs, 3 - 0. While the teams have similar overall records, the SB Cubs fared better in the first half of the season and are therefore in 5th place. The Caps and the Cubs play tonight @ 7:05 p.m.

Today, watering, walks with the fur-children, reading, and other sundry things will occupy our day. We also plan to get to the waterfront @ 1:00 p.m. to see and photograph the arrival of the USCG cutters. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 12:30 a.m. in "The City."

I guess I was tired last night, so I'm sticking to that as my reason/excuse for no blog. You might say that I've been busy the last two days, as I've been taking classes towards becoming an accomplished mediocre amateur photographer.

Friday afternoon and evening, the class covered urban landscape photography. Some of the time was spent in the classroom learning about how to frame shots, while another part of the time was spent in downtown Muskegon actually taking some pictures. I took many pix, some good, and some just average. However, the instructor, Aaron Norberg, of the Sigma Lens Corp., said that one way to get better as a photographer is to take a lot of pictures and then both share them and critique them for composition, perspective, etc. Unfortunately, in my dotage, I wasn't able to do all of the walk in the downtown area.

Since I am supposed to share, I'll do that now without much commentary, except to note why I chose the subject of each included shot. I'd also like to say that the majority of the pix were taken at the Monet Garden in Muskegon.

One thing that we were encouraged to try for was a long view that leads the viewers eye.

While this pic has some direct objects, I think that I captured some of the reflected beauty of the gardens too.

I was trying to capture the wispy clouds on the horizon.

This photo allowed me to capture many colors and textures, and especially, the cat in the window on the right.

Again, the idea was to lead the eye of the viewer.

A combination of man-made and natural objects.

I dunno, I just liked this one.

A nice mix of natural colors,

That's Aaron in the middle with some fellow students.

Downtown Muskegon is home to many restaurants that make use of the old buildings for new purposes.

Late Saturday afternoon, Aaron offered up another class with some information on how to take action pictures. It is not as easy as it sounds and so I have a lot of shots to take to improve my technique. I want to take pictures of the MMRR locomotives and their towed cars as they pass by the manse. In addition, I'd like to get some color pix of the Coast Guard Parade and the annual fireworks that close out the festival. With a little luck and perseverance, I plan to get some pix of the USCG cutters as they arrive in port early Monday afternoon. I may take a tour of the Escanaba, namesake of one of the cutters that used to call Coast Guard Station Grand Haven its home port. By way of note, the original Escanaba was lost with all hands serving in WWII.

Later today, there is the annual car show that accompanies the festival and also a flea market just around the corner. I suspect that Mary may take advantage of her macro lens for that, while I'll use the wide angle zoom lenses at the car show.

Tuesday, is the annual street dance that is part and parcel to the festival. Plus, at the Lynn Sherwood Waterfront Stadium over the course of the festival, there are several tribute bands that I'd like to see and photograph. This year, there are two such bands I'd like to see. One is called The System, a tribute to Detroit rocker, Bob Seeger, while the other is called Hotel California, a tribute to The Eagles. In short, there are so many things to take pictures of and so many interesting buildings in GH too.

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen yesterday, making more grind, a perfectly ordinary beest, and some imitation HP style sauce while Mary was taking a class and a tour that focused on macro photography, mostly at the busy Farmer's Market in Muskegon. In addition, I walked with STWD to The Bookman, and took Ginger for an extended walk around GH. I should be more tired now than I am. I'll make up for the loss of sleep tonight, I hope.

Baseball news yesterday was interesting, the Cubs lost, while my beloved Red Sox, the Tigers, and the Caps all won. All those teams play again today or tonight.

The current temperature is 64° and very comfortable. I watered last evening because we will be so busy today. In fact, we had considered going to the movies later and seeing the Flashback Cinema reprise of The Wrath of Kahn, AKA, Star Trek II. However while I was at class and one of the big-box home centers, Mary made an executive decision and ordered the movie beamed right into our media-room. I liked her idea along with the vegan chip-dip she made.

But once again, I digress. The sun will rise into mostly sunny skies today @ 6:32 a.m. and set later @ 9:09 p.m. There is s slight chance for T-storms Monday and showers Tuesday. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 2:00 a.m. in "The City."

I hadn't planned on being  up.

I went to bed early and promptly fell asleep listening to my beloved, 71- 33, 1st place in the AL East Red Sox, only to awake to the announcers telling me that the Sox had lost to the 2nd place in the AL Central, 48 - 53, 2nd place in the AL Central, Twins, 1 - 2. Ouch! Once again, the Sox fell to a team that they should beat, easily. The Sox play the Twins again tonight @ 7:10 p.m.

On the other hand, earlier in the day, I got to hear the 60 - 42, 1st place in the NL Central Cubs, win their game over the 56 - 48, 2nd place in the NL West D'Backs, on a walk-off home-run by Anthony Rizzo in the bottom of the 9th. Rizzo's home-run followed a two-run blast from newly recalled David Bote. Bote was recalled from Triple A Iowa because, once again, Kris Bryant is back on the DL with a sore shoulder. I can identify with that. The Cubs are off to St. Louis tonight to face their rivals in the NL Central, the 4th place, 51 - 51 Cardinals tonight @ 8:15 p.m.

Worthy of note is that the Cubs made a deal late yesterday for starting pitcher, Cole Hamels, from the TX Rangers. Hamels is 34 years old and has always pitched well in Wrigley Field. Hamels was a teammate of Yu Darvish on the Rangers. Darvish, if you remember, is the pitcher who has made only eight starts for the Cubs this season following a much-ballyhooed, $126,000,000, six-year deal in the off-season. Darvish has yet to help the Cubs win games in a tough division that was supposed to be made easier by Darvish's signing.

Hamels' acquisition is an admission by Cubs President, Theo Epstein and Exec.V.P  and GM Jed Hoyer, that the current starting rotation is not the answer. If I were current rotation member, Tyler Chatwood, I'd be worried. Chatwood can't seem to throw strikes.

The Tigers had the day off before they welcome the 1st place in the AL Central, 55 - 46, Cleveland Indians to Comerica Park @ 7:05 p.m. tonight.

The 49 - 53, 7th place Caps, can't seem to beat anybody lately. They lost their MWL East game to the 45 - 57, Lake County, OH Captains, 0 - 2. The Caps and the Captains play again tonight @ 7:05 p.m.

We have a current temperature of 67° under mostly cloudy skies. The NWS is forecasting a high later today of 70° with a 40% chance for showers later this morning. The sun will rise @ 6:30 a.m. and set later @ 9:11 p.m.

I got a lot of things done yesterday. I watered our newly planted parkway plants along with the balance of the lawns and gardens on the PE. In addition, I used the weed-wacker to mow down the only things that seemed to grow following the recent rains, the grasses and weeds in our shared driveway, after which I mowed the vast lawns. Mary was off to the local purveyor of all things vintage, Vintage Green, to purchase a small cart for the front porch that we will use to display the potted plants that we picked up later in the afternoon. The cart needs some painting, but it should look nice.

We walked the fur-children before we went out. My plans to get into the kitchen were put on hold by my outdoor chores, so I hope to get in there today before I go to The Camera Store, in Muskegon for two classes. Since we purchased our camera there, we get these classes, "Free." Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 6:00 a.m. in "The City."

I spent a good deal of time in-the saddle yesterday, well actually on the seat of my bicycle, but this being the 21st century, a bike seat is almost the same. I walked with STWD to The Bookman to pick up the Wednesday edition of the Grand Haven Tribune and then I was off on the first of my bike rides for the day.

I rode to my orthopedist appointment and arrived right on time. The doctor examined my ailing left-shoulder and still feels as though the problem is not deep-seated in the joint, but rather some sort of impingement in the musculature. He administered a shot of cortisone and gave me a referral to my choice of physical-therapists along with another appointment to see him in eight weeks.

I rode home by way of the big-box nearly everything store and took the back-streets once again. I arrived and found John hard at work on the outdoor painting. Plus, the landscapers had just finished up the plantings in the parkway and they look spectacular. As promised, Mary and I took several pictures of the work in progress and the final outcome. I'll include them now.

The parkway after the original tear-out/digging last week.

In process with the final layer of black-dirt being spread.

The right amount of fertilizer/weed killer was spread into the soil

While the plantings are drought-tolerant, they will require watering every-other day for a couple of weeks to ensure their long-term viability.viability. Roses, Cone-Flowers, Black-Eyed Susans, Stella D'oro Lilies, and Hostas mingled among the boulders to make a delightful appearance. With a little nudge from the landscape-designer, Dale Kwekel, of Grand haven Garden House, we opted for chocolate-colored mulch over small river-rocks, that should allow the plantings to spread over the ensuing years.

All in all, we love it!

Since I was now home, I called the P/T provider and got an appointment yesterday afternoon @ 3:00 p.m. This was an initial evaluation and a first therapy session. I have six more to go. In between sessions, I have some exercises to work on that should help me regain the strength and range of motion in my shoulder along with significant pain-reduction. Here's hoping.

I returned with bean-burritos from Taco Bell™ in hand for dinner, before Mary headed out to her evening activity, a guided tour through the Lake Forest Cemetery under the auspices of the Tri-Cities Historical Museum. Mary took numerous pictures, but she plans to write about her excursion in a personal blog.

Baseball news yesterday for my beloved, 71 - 32 Red Sox was a rain-out in their game on the East Coast against the 29 - 73, last place in the same AL East division, Orioles. The Sox will face the 2nd place in the AL Central Twins, with a sub -.500, 47 - 53  record in the AL Central, tonight in Fenway Park @ 7:10 p.m.

The 3rd place, 44 - 60 in the AL Central Tigers, are off today before they welcome the 1st place in the AL Central, 55 - 46 Indians, to Comerica Park @ 7:10 p.m. Friday night.

The 1st place in the NL Central, 59 - 42 Cubs, eked out a win over the 2nd place in the NL West, 56 - 47 D'Backs, 2 - 1. Those same two teams meet again today in Wrigley Field @ 2:20 p.m.l

We have a current temperature of 68° under mostly-cloudy skies. The rain that was in the forecast from the NWS @ 60% has been postponed too, with no make-up date scheduled. The sun rose today @ 6:29 a.m. and will be setting later @ 9:12 p.m.

Today, I have no specific plans. I don't know about Mary's plans. We will walk the fur-children and after that, I may make something in the kitchen. Speaking of which, while I was at that big-box nearly everything store yesterday, I picked up some new vegan lunch-meat to try. Fortunately for yours truly, I reread the ingredients label and discovered that one of the ingredients is sesame-seeds, an all too common ingredient in many vegan products such as cheeses and meats. So, rather than succumb to my severe, possibly life-threatening allergy to sesame seeds and related products, I had a vegan, non-sesame seed containing cheese sandwich, as my late-night snack. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening,wherever you may be. It is just past 4:00 a.m. in "The City.

We have a current temperature of 67° under clear skies that will lead to today's high of 78° under partly-cloudy skies. The sun will rise later this morning @ 6:28 a.m. and set later tonight @ 9:13 p.m. Thursday's forecast from the NWS still calls for T-storms in the a.m., but the percentage has been decreased to 60%.

We had a great day yesterday. We had decided to go to Coopersville and visit Across the Tracks, a small store that sells surplus food products. In addition, somewhere in my sleep, I had come up with the idea to have a picnic lunch somewhere near Coopersville. As Mary says, mention a picnic and she's there. A bit of quick internet research by Mary and we found Polkton Township's Sheridan Park. This park, named for longtime resident Dr. Harold (Red) Sheridan, is located along the banks of several creeks, Fox, Beaver, and Deer Creeks, and not surprisingly, the creeks are named for the abundant wildlife that roam the area.

The late Dr. Sheridan, was a local veterinarian who donated the 57 acres to Polkton Township with the understanding that it would be developed into a park where people could participate in physical activity and also enjoy the beautiful scenery.

A committee was established in 2008 to plan and develop the land and the park has been slowly evolving to match Dr. Sheridan's dreams. In April of this year, the pavilion was completed with a barn-raising for the picnic pavilion using materials from old farm barns. Picnic benches, grills, and benches made this an ideal place to have our picnic.

Since we were there with our camera, we took many photos to commemorate our visit.

Ready to picnic!

An aerial map of the park.

Waiting to eat the picnic lunch that Mary put together, that included vegan sausages, Coleslaw, and pickles.

Really, no need for description.

While large wildlife is everywhere, we also saw many small creatures too.

On the way back, we stopped in Conklin, MI at the Conklin Bar, formerly Fenian's Irish Pub. Conklin is home to the self-proclaimed "Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade", and also an Irish Jam session that is held in what is now called the Conklin Bar, every Wednesday night. Sadly, it is just too far for me to travel on dark rural roads. At any rate, here are some photos we took in Conklin, MI.

Conklin is a small Irish farming community founded in 1867, by Oscar F. Conklin

Mr. Conklin convinced the federal government to establish a post office in Conklin and name the town Conklin.

Although the general store that Conklin established around the same time to serve the needs of the area's farmers is now a small grocery store, the grain elevator is still in operation.

On our way out to Coopersville and Conklin, we stopped at the library to get the final signatures on my Beachcomber's Book Bingo card and claim my reward for reading eight books and listening to one CD, for a total of nine items. I took a picture of this year's reward.

Brightly colored, and "Free."

Since it was Tuesday and on Tuesday nights in the summer months there is live music in Central Park courtesy of WGHN 92.1 on the FM dial, and many other sponsors, I decided it was such a great day that the chance to see Uneven Ground, a locals favorite Irish band. The band features Larry Halverson, the organizer of the monthly Irish Jam Sessions that I go to every month, on whistle, flute, and bodhran, along with Tim Staudacher on mandolin and guitar, Courtney Hutson on fiddle and vocals, and Dave Closz on guitar and vocals.Uneven Ground provided some great music. With the aid of my trusty telephoto lens, I took many pictures of the band and the crowd, that included some of the local canine fans that are part and parcel to the the Tuesday's in the Park concert series that is free to everyone.

Says it all!

WGHN has a banana mascot. Why? I don't know.

Too many dogs to show, so this photo is representative of them all.

Uneven Ground.

The crowd was large on this fine summe's evening.

Baseball news yesterday was all losses and one off day, so I'll just skip baseball for yesterday.

Today, the landscapers will be along to finish the parkway. I'll include pictures of the parkway in my next blog, courtesy of our staff photographer, Mary. Otherwise, I have an appointment at the orthopedist to get a recheck on my aching left-shoulder later this morning. I'll be riding my bike and eating lunch at the hospital cafeteria. Ciao.