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

Well, another birthday has come and gone, and I am none the worse for wear. In fact, I am probably better than I was yesterday, but not as good as I'll be tomorrow. Nothing is promised, but as I said to Mary, I'll be sure to see you back here in five years, just before our 50th wedding anniversary.

If you do the math, that means that our 45th anniversary comes up tomorrow, September 1, 2018. Plus, six years from now, Adam's 50th birthday will be happening. Wow, time flies when you are having fun.
 
Speaking of having fun, I did. Well, Mary and I did, along with the fur-children. We all walked to The Bookman after our brunch of vegan hot dogs and Cole slaw, and then Mary and I set out on our journey to Holland to resupply our roasted granulated garlic. We use that in many recipes.

However, back to the fun part of my birthday. We had a plan to go to Tunnel Park, part of the Ottawa County, MI park system, but we ran out of time. So instead of stopping there, we stopped @ Kirk Park on the way home to take some pictures of the flora, the waters of the "Big Lake", and the dunes on her shore. I'll include some pix here to try to give you the sense of serenity that comes from being in any of the parks after the kids are back in school.

Naturally what would one of my blogs be without a reference to a video from YouTube™. In this case, this is one from singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett, singing an homage to his adopted home, the Sunshine State of Florida. In this case, specifically to St. Pete Beach. This song is entitled When The Coast is Clear.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIVVEvKOOgc

However, we like to think that our own adopted home, the Great Lakes State, is just as nice whatever the season. So, why not another YouTube™ reference, this one from our own singer/songwriter, Ruth Bloomquist, as she sings Michigan Girl.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMVG4TJL0lE I hope you enjoy bit as much as I always do.

Meanwhile back to those aforementioned pix.

While not technically from my birthday, this is one I took out the front door is of our own front porch and sidewalk, just after the rains stopped on Tuesday.

Nothing to add.

I can't decide whether I like this one better.

Or this one, though they both are pix of the same stairs.

What can I add, this is the "Inland Ocean" from the beach at Kirk Park. The footprints are in one of  the "DON'T WALK HERE! areas of the dunes that overlook the "Big Lake.":

Nice contrast between light and dark, scrub grass and sand, and blue skies over Lake Michigan.

So quiet and peaceful.

As we were departing, we walked past the sign that read, "No Bicycles Past This Point." Of course, we had just been passed by two idiots riding their bikes toward the dune area. Comedian Ron White said it best in his quote, "You can't fix stupid, there's not a pill you can take, or a class you can go to."

Oh well, since you can't fix stupid, you just have to enjoy what you can before the idiots mess it up beyond all recognition. Wait, that sounds like the military admonition, FUBAR, "Fouled up beyond all recognition." Some of you may recognize that phrase with a slightly different word at the beginning. I'll leave that to your imagination.

Baseball news yesterday was great for those of us who love the game as much as I do. All of the teams that I follow won, even the 54 - 80 in the AL Central Tigers, who defeated the 2nd place team in the AL East, the 84 - 50 Yankees, 8 - 7.

That loss puts the Yankees 8 1/2 games behind my beloved 1st place in the AL East, 93 - 42 Red Sox. J.D. Martinez got his 39th home run and his 114th RBI, while Mookie Betts got his 19th home run and his 70th RBI en route to the 9 - 4 win over that 53 - 81, back to 4th place in the AL Central other team from Chicago.

The 79 - 54 in the NL Central Cubs, once again eked out a win over the 74 - 58, 1st place in the NL East Braves, 5 - 4. The Cubs move on to Philadelphia to play the 2nd place in the NL East, 71 - 62 Phillies tonight @ 7:05 p.m.

The 67 - 68 in the MWL East Caps, defeated the 56 - 78, 8th place Dayton Dragons, 4 - 2.

I'd have taken a picture of the clear skies, but here in "The City" there is just too much light pollution for good sky shot at night. However, since I was downstairs, I took a pic of Mary's gladiolas in her "Flower Room" and also added this pic of her outdoor favorite, "Pink." She had my put my oversize paw in the picture to give some perspective of just how large the flowers are.

Beautiful!

Yes folks, they are that big!

We have a current temperature of 58° under clear skies. Today's high will reach 80° with no rain in the forecast from the NWS. Not true for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday though, as there is rain in the current forecast for each of those days. The sun will rise this morning @ 7:08 a.m. and set later @ 8:21 p.m.

Otherwise, just a few indoor chores, and perhaps another "Road Trip" today. Ciao.