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

The current temperature is 37° under cloudy and wintry skies. Today's high is forecast to reach only 40°! The sun will rise today @ 8:17 a.m. and set later @ 6:38 p.m.

There is now in effect a Small Craft Advisory for the "Big Lake." That Advisory will be in effect until 8:00 a.m. tomorrow. You know what that means. If you don't have a very large ship or if you don't know what you are doing, stay off the water.

A Gale Warning will also be in effect during the hours of 2:0 p.m. until 8:00 a.m. Friday. Winds will be 15 to 30 knots today, building to over 34 knots as the day wears on! Waves may get as high as 11 feet! Anyone with outdoor Halloween decorations are strongly encouraged to tie them down or put them away.

Of course, what would a Gale Warning be without another Lakeshore Flood Warning, also in effect during that time. That indicates that those Gale Force Winds will cause further erosion along the lake-shore. 

The current forecast from the NWS calls for a combination of rain, wind, and snow today with a 100% probability. A perfect day to stay in and do indoor chores and art activities. The NWS has dubbed those conditions a Winter Weather Warning. Another Halloween Trick or Treating day with less than nice weather.

Otherwise, not much is happening here in GH.

I managed to bake that cinnamon apple bread yesterday. I wasn't sure of the outcome, but once I baked it long enough, about 10 minutes longer than the recipe recommended, it came out great, with some assistance from the Chief Cook and Bottle Washer of the manse, Mary. I would have given up, but she took it out of the oven, let it cool for a bit, and then turned it out of the pan. Later, I flipped it onto a plate and it was fine. I also made another batch of vegan Italian sausages that became part of our dinner.

Mary was off to her weekly volunteer session at the library yesterday afternoon, so I finished up my kitchen activities and then headed up to my studio to try to remodel my latest painting. I was not successful and so I'll be starting over. However, the time I spent in my studio was not wasted, as I once again practiced calligraphy.  I have a lot of practice to do, but I think I can get the hang of calligraphy sometime in the not too distant future. I have so many hobbies now, that retirement is necessary to have enough time to so them all.

Otherwise, I didn't do much except let the fur-children out after their dinner. STWD was being her usual self, not wanting to go onto the wet bark chips in the back-forty and getting caught between a patio chair and the fence surrounding Mary's rose garden. 15 minutes later, she finally gave in and did her duty. She did that little trick withe patio chair again during her final out last evening @ 8:00 p.m. I was not pleased to have to go out in the rain and solve her problem.

As mentioned, today is a good day for indoor chores, reading, calligraphy, painting, and whatever else comes to mind. We have an appointment at the chiropractor @ 3:00 p.m. this afternoon, and I need his ministrations on my lower yak. Mary needs him too, so we will make it if at all possible. Ciao.

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

The current temperature is a relatively warm, 49° under mostly-cloudy skies. Today's high is forecast to reach  51°. No rain is likely to develop until late this evening, starting around 11:00 p.m. @ 25% and growing to 65% by about 7:00 a.m. Tuesday. The sun will rise today @ 8:14 a.m. and set later @ 6:42 p.m.

We had a good day of doing nothing yesterday. We watched some TV news and then did some reading. I am about 1/2 way through a book I heard about at the Harbor Springs Festival of the Book that we recently attended. The author, Chanelle Benz, was one of the panelists at the festival and this is her debut novel entitled, The Cone Dead. Ms. Benz has written numerous short-stories and received many awards for her work. She currently lives in Memphis and teaches college there. This book is about life in a small Mississippi town. It has become a real page-turner for moi.

Yesterday, we saved all kinds of time by paying scant attention to the Bears loss, 16 - 17, to the visiting Chargers. We also avoided watching the Lions, but they were more successful, defeating the 31 - 26 win over the visiting NY Giants. OH, in limited baseball news, the visiting Astros defeated the National, 7 - 1, to go up 3 - 1 in the 2019 World Series.

I didn't get to any of the cooking things that I had planned. Instead, I used my time to work on a pair of socks for Mary that required coloring with fabric markers. It took me abut one-hour to color her Unicorn socks as seen below.

One more craft project down, many more to go.

I also found time to decide on a name for my newest ukulele. I hereby present, Lorelei, a name that originated in Germany and which while not Hawaiian, is a girls name that means alluring or temptress. That seems apropos to me. Here she is.

She is tuned like a guitar, so she is much easier for a player with my skill-set.

Otherwise, we walked the fur-children to the library to return some books and went to our favorite watering hole later, once the Lions' fans had headed for home.

Today, I may get to to that apple bread I had planned for yesterday. Or not. Mary is still reading The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

In keeping with Adam's advice, John will be by today to do some painting in the foyer, turning our mattress, and "assisting" me in removing and storing my window A/C unit for the winter. That means that I'll mostly watch as he does the bulk of the work.

Time now for some early-morning TV. Ciao.

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

The current temperature is a chilly 34° under partly-cloudy skies. Today's high is forecast to reach  53°, with rain developing later this afternoon and into this evening, starting around 3:00 p.m. @ 30% and growing to 100% by about 7:00 p.m.. The sun will rise today @ 8:11 a.m. and set later @ 6:4 p.m.


Well, none of the things I had planned for yesterday happened. I didn't do any gardening, I didn't do any cooking, I didn't get anything done in the man-cave, and I didn't do any painting. But, that was just fine with me, as while I was sleeping yesterday morning, Mary was researching an alternative plan for our day.


About the only thing that might be considered a regular activity was feeding the fur-children their morning and evening meals.


Mary decided that since it was such a fine fall day, filled with mostly-sunny skies, no rain, and moderate temperatures, it would be a good day to travel north to the city of Luddington to see what we could see. Rather than leaving Ginger waiting on the back of the couch, we dropped her at daycare. STWD probably realized shortly after our departure that she could get some rest upstairs, That's where she was when we returned after 5:00 p.m.

As it turns out, there was a music store in Luddington that sold ukuleles. More on that later.


One thing that is for certain is that the traffic from GH to just north of Muskegon was a bear. Large pickup trucks and larger box and semi-tractor trailer trucks were speeding alongside tiny cars, often well over the posted speed limit. I know that Adam often says that speed limits are just suggestions, but in this case, they were suggestions to be ignored entirely. Fortunately, once we were past Muskegon and on our way to Luddington, things calmed down.


As we traveled, I used my trusty Olympus DSLR camera to take numerous pix of clouds, electric generating wind turbines, trees, industrial sites and just about anything that caught my attention. I'll share some of those now.

No trip to Luddington would be complete without some pix of the gigantic wind-turbines that seemingly sprout from every hilltop around. These wind-turbines will probably be one source of renewable power when the GHBLP shuts down the Sims Plant on Harbor Island early next year.

Some politicians have suggested that these turbines cause cancer, in spite of scientific proof to the contrary. However, tt is true that they do cause noise pollution.

In spite of the numerous turbines, puffy clouds and trees did the real domination.

During our trip to Harbor Springs two weeks ago, the trees had only a limited amount of color change in evidence.

Rt. 31 is mostly empty once you get far enough north.

Sometimes the trees are dwarfed by the turbines.

Once we were in Luddington, there was much to see and more to photograph.

Murals are everywhere in Luddington.

As are reminders of the American Civil War.

You can't visit a city with an Irish Pub without stopping for a pint.

As we drove home, we stopped to take some pix of this chemical plant

I pretended I was a lost photographer.

But was I?

This tipple was on a road outside of Luddington. It is similar to the one in GH and yet, it may have had another function.

The City Beach in Luddington was nearly deserted during the off-season.

Not completely deserted though.

Hah, their lighthouse is puny compared to the two on our own north pier.

We stopped in at our favorite watering hole before we got Ginger out of daycare. She was glad to come home.

About my new, as yet unnamed, ukulele that I got in Luddington. She is a baritone uke, tuned like the four higher strings on a guitar and with lots of space for my fingers. I don't yet know what I'll do with Leilani, my concert uke, but I won't rush that decision.

Worthy of note. I think I found the right way to change the file-saving of pictures on my camera so that I don't get two saved photos for every time I push the shutter button. Yesterday's shooting produced one pic in JPG format and one in ORF format. ORF is an acronym for Olympus Raw Format. I won't know until I try later today, but here's hoping.

Otherwise, I hope to get to some of those outdoor chores, some of my indoor activities and little else. No real predictions though.  Ciao.

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

The current temperature is 40° under partly-cloudy skies. Today's high is forecast to reach only 48°, The sun will rise today @ 8:10 a.m. and set later @ 6:46 p.m.

Lest anyone get the wrong idea, I lived through the day yesterday. By early afternoon, I was feeling much better. The side-effects of the flu shot had dissipated. I still believe that everyone should get a flu vaccination so that a "Herd Immunity" can take hold and protect everyone from the ravages of a flu that is forecast to be a particularly virulent strain this year. As Mary reminded me, one night of discomfort is far better than two weeks of the actual flu.

We didn't get out until late yesterday to take a walk with the fur-children and then go to the chiropractor. In between, we thinly sliced some onions for a batch of caramelized onions made in our slow-cooker. They came out of the slow-cooker around 11:00 p.m. last night.

Mary made a great ham and pineapple pizza for dinner last night that used the vegan hammish following our lunch of my soon to be famous vegan Italian meatballs and mashed potatoes.

By the by, the rumor about the Cubs' next field manager is no longer a rumor. The team named David Ross to that position yesterday. As a Die hard Cubs Fan, and a long suffering one at that, I am rooting for his success. The latest Cubs rumors concern the fate of front-line players like Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Willson Contreras and Kyle Schwarber, who are all rumored to be possible trade candidates for front-line pitching. We shall see.

Today, I have to get out and do a minimal amount of work in the vast gardens of the PE. I have to dig up, separate, and then transplant some hostas, remove some overgrown irises, and put away some of our outdoor furniture. I have no plans to overdo it.

Otherwise, I want to bake some apple bread and finish the crossword puzzle I am working on. I'd also like to do more painting in my studio, and craft activities in the man-cave. That should be more than enough for one day. In fact, that is probably a more ambitious list than I can accomplish in one or two days.  Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 3:45 a.m. in "The City."

The current temperature is 43° under cloudy skies. Today's high is forecast to reach only 49°, albeit under cloudy skies this morning that will give way to sunny skies later this afternoon. The sun will rise today @ 8:09 a.m. and set later @ 6:48 p.m.

Not much is happening here in GH. Outside the WW,  the streets are quiet and the rain has abated.

We got up early yesterday and went to the big-box drug store for our annual flu shots. I now remember what side-effect I suffer from following those shots. I couldn't get warm last night and I have a headache that will not go away. Apparently, there isn't enough ibuprofen nor acetaminophen on the planes to give me relief. I won't take more than the recommended dosage, but I'm not sure that that would make any difference if I did. Sigh. As of right now, I can't seem to get cool, another side-effect.

I did spend some time in the kitchen yesterday making a hammish and vegan Italian meatballs. Both turned out great and part of the hammish was our dinner. The meatballs will probably appear later today. At this point, I don't care. I just feel like I have the flu.

Mary continued her volunteer activities at the Loutit District Library local history room yesterday and she is still enjoying herself. Ginger isn't that thrilled to have Mary gone for over three hours.

After our flu shots, we made it down to the shores of the "Big Lake" where the waves were much calmer than they had been on Tuesday. Mary noted that north of here, on Tuesday, one buoy recorded wind speeds of over 60 mph! Those winds are regularly propelling the water towards the shoreline with devastating effect and some people are losing their homes to the raging waters, while others are actually moving their homes away from the shore, but that may only be a stop-gap measure.

The Cubs appear to be close to naming former catcher, David Ross, to the position of field manager. He has no managerial experience, but like Alex Cora of my beloved Red Sox, that may work out fine, or not. The major-leagues are littered with both successes and failures from that kind of move. However, catchers make the best managers, as they have seen the game as only someone behind the plate can.

Today, we'll be off to the chiropractor and then home. That's the extent of my level of ambition.
Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 7:30 a.m. in "The City."

The current temperature is 53° under cloudy skies. Today's high is forecast to reach a much cooler 54°, also under cloudy skies that may produce rain with a 50% probability. The sun will rise today @ 8:06 a.m. and set later @ 6:51 p.m.

That Gale Watch that was issued yesterday by the NWS is still in effect until tomorrow @ 8:00  a.m. The NWS has also added a Lakeshore Flood Warning in effect until 8:00 a.m. tomorrow. Plus, there may be a chance that a Small Craft Advisory will be added later tomorrow morning and extend into late tomorrow evening.

All of that being said, that's one of the reasons that we traveled to the shores of the "Big Lake" yesterday to allow out Senior Staff Photographer to take some additional pix of the building waves. We were not disappointed, as the wave action had already increased significantly since our visit on Sunday. By way of reminder, I'll include a couple of pix from Sunday's visit for comparison.

A beautiful shot taken from the North Pier on Sunday.

As you can see, the pier was dry and walking was easy.

Not true yesterday afternoon, as the winds were picking up and the waves were lapping over the pier where we had been walking on Sunday afternoon.

Same here.

Mary's framing of the lighthouses from the beach.

Versus my framing.

I think both shots have merit, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

We took STWD to her doctor's appointment yesterday afternoon for her Bordatella Booster. Ginger went along for the ride because of her seemingly insatiable need to be by Mary all the time. In and out in less than five minutes for Sugar, during which time I understand that Ginger kept careful watch awaiting our return. Both of the fur-children have appointments for their wellness checks early next month.

We returned home and the fur-children got an early dinner before I had one of my favorites, tomato soup and a sandwich before I departed for my art meetup. Since it had been raining, Mary dropped me at the library to keep me and my bag of art supplies dry, while she traveled to Don Luis for a lengthy time of reading and dining. Since it was no longer raining when I left the library, I walked home. Mary had just arrived a short-time earlier.

Today, we have nothing on our official agenda. I may create a vegan hammish and we may also go out to that big-box arts and crafts store, but that's about it. We should start a batch of vegetable broth using the vegetables we picked up during a short visit to the grocery store yesterday. All of our indoor chores are done and the rains of yesterday when coupled with the expected rain today preclude any outdoor gardening activities. That's okay, as we have plenty to keep us busy indoors. Ciao.

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

The current temperature is 48° under partly-cloudy skies. Today's high is forecast to reach 62°, also under partly-cloudy-skies. The sun will rise today @ 8:05 a.m. and set later @ 6:52 p.m. However, that Gale Watch that was issued yesterday by the NWS has been upgraded to a Gale Warning in effect from 11:00 today until Wednesday @ 8:00  a.m. Once again, the local surfers will cry, Surfs Up! Plus, starting around 11:00 a.m. today, the NWS is also forecasting anywhere from a 35% to a 95% chance for rain and possible T-storms.


More on the conditions on or near the "Big Lake" later in this blog. Right now, I will try to take our day in some form of chronological order. Don't forget, that all pix can be seen in a larger size by clicking on each and every one.

I should mention, that I peeled nearly all of the remaining apples from our 1/2 bushel. I've already made an apple pie, some apple sauce and some Coleslaw with those apples, but before they could get too old, we decided to convert most of the balance to more of the best homemade applesauce we can remember. We ended up with about six quarts of applesauce as seen below.

The apple pie, the Coleslaw and this sauce were all made from made from Cortland apples, purchased on the return trip from Harbor Springs at the end of September. With the apples safely ensconced in our slow-cooker, we were free to travel.

We set out to go to the Spring Lake District Library yesterday afternoon for a Concert By The Fireplace performed by a Michigan based, husband-wife duo, Wyatt and Shari Knapp. They were there to perform songs from the 40s thru the 70s. We planned to run some errands after that, but as is often said, "People plan and goddess laughs." However, our Senior Staff Photographer had taken her trusty Olympus Tough TG-6 Waterproof Camera along for the ride, so I have some pix to include.

Nice harmonies and solid picking.

This is that aforementioned Fireplace.

As I said, we had planned to do some shopping, but the late fall day was so nice, that we scrapped those plans and headed to the beach in GH. As I noted above, there is a Gale Warning in effect starting @ 11:00 a.m. today, so the chance to visit the newly reopened south-pier and catwalk was just too tempting. We scrapped our shopping plans and headed to the Grand Haven State Park Campground and parked.

I often mention the waterfront in my blogs, but unless you have visited GH, you can't get a real picture of what the beach, the pier, and the catwalk are like. With little to no wave action, it was the perfect time to walk on the south-pier and take some pix.

Since our Senior Staff Photographer still had her camera, she took numerous pix, some at my suggestion and some that caught her eye. I'll include many here.

As we approached the south-pier, this driftwood caught Mary's eye.

A nice shot of a nearly-empty state park beach.

Looking out into the "Big Lake."

A perfectly framed shot of a boat heading out into Lake Michigan.

Apparently during our last Gale Force Winds, this piece of driftwood got solidly jammed into the barrier.

A memorial to the people who have lost their lives when they ignored the Red Flag warnings.

Nobody home.

On the north-pier side of the channel, someone is building a huge residence right on the point.

Since the fur-children were safe, we decided to stop at the World Famous Tip A Few Tavern for a snack before heading home. We had already seen the losing score, 30 - 42, of the Lions/Vikings game, but there was more bad news in store. We watched part of the the equally inept Bears loss to the Saints, 25 - 36. Apparently, after an opening safety, the game didn't get any better. I guess that the dreams for the Bears to have a breakout season were just that, dreams.

The music at the Tip A Few Tavern was loud when we arrived and the place was emptying out following the Lions' loss. It soon filled up again and we watched as Mandy, one of the waitstaff, and a patron showed their moves to the rhythm of the music. We also ran into our recently moved neighbor and her brother.

A final pic from that Olympus camera shows the last of our roses on display in the Flower Room. Sigh.

My acrylic pumpkins still make a great backdrop for Mary' rose pic.

Today, we may or may not go out to run those errands. We do have an appointment for STWD at her doctor later this afternoon, but if the prediction for today of possible T-storms drive Sugar to her hide-e-hole, then all bets are off.

I repainted part of my acrylic painting yesterday morning, but I am still not satisfied with the results. So another repaint is in order. As long as I don't run out of paint, I'm good to go. Later this evening, I plan to travel to the library for another Grand Haven Art Meetup session. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 6:30 a.m. in "The City."

The current temperature is 53° under partly-cloudy skies. Today's high is forecast to reach 59°, still under partly-cloudy-skies. The sun will rise today @ 8:04 a.m. and set later @ 6:54 p.m. However, there is a future Gale Watch in effect from late Monday until Wednesday morning @ 8:00  a.m.

That watch was issued by the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids. WINDS, Southwest gales of 35 to 40 knots shifting to the west late Tuesday are likely. Those winds may cause  WAVES of 8 to 11 feet, north of Holland. A Gale Watch is issued by the NWS when the risk of gale force winds of 34 to 47 knots has significantly increased...but the specific timing and/or location is still uncertain. It is intended to provide additional lead time for mariners who may wish to consider altering their plans. Ya Think? Generally, when the NWS issues a watch, the chances are good that the local surfers will cry, Surfs Up!

Yesterday, it was quiet here in GH. Mary opted not to go to that presentation/hike @ Hemlock Crossing, owing to her recent bout of mold-induced allergies. Instead, she opted to go to the grocery store while I was at my Irish Jam Session.

Larry Halverson, Loutit Library's Director of the Public Relations, is also the coordinator of those sessions and he reminded us that it has been nearly  six and one-half years since the sessions started. I was there for the earliest ones, and I've learned a lot over those years.

Otherwise, I mostly did nothing. Sometimes, that's just, The way I like it uh, huh, uh huh", to borrow from K.C. and the Sunshine Band and their mega 1975 hit, That's the way I like it. Surprisingly, the band had a few more Disco-Era hits than I had remembered. Maybe that's because I wasn't all that into disco back then and we were too busy becoming new parents and getting started in life. However, I'd be remiss if I didn't add a cut from YouTube™ of that song. Of course, that's before the song became a part of an advertising piece for one of the chain fast-food restaurants in the 1990s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH2E6peFz3Q

Otherwise, I did more painting on my latest acrylic painting in my studio. I'm not satisfied with the current results, so I may start a small portion of that painting over. That's the beauty of acrylic painting, if you don't like how something looks, wait a short time, let it dry, and then paint over what you don't like. In fact, you can usually get a textured effect from the underlying layers of paint.

I also read the weekend edition of the Grand Haven Tribune. We took a walk with the fur-children after their dinner. Our dinner of spaghetti with vegan pepperoni-spiced sauce was served while we watched Harrison Ford in Air Force One. That movie is packed with action and the good guys win, albeit not without some casualties.

I nearly forgot to mention that the Nittany Lions of Penn State are for real, as they defeated the Wolverines of Michigan last night 28 - 21, to go to 7 - 0 on the season, while the Wolverines dropped to 5 - 2. The Huskies of NIU lost yet again, this time 24 - 27, to the Miami RedHawks.

In what had to be a surprise to many, the now 3 -2 Fighting Illini of Illinois, defeated/stunned the now 6 - 1 Badgers of Wisconsin, 24 - 23.

If anyone is paying attention, the mediocre 2 - 2 - 1 Detroit Lions, play the visiting 4 - 2 MN Vikings today @ 1:00 p.m. EDT. The equally mediocre 3 - 2 Chicago Bears, will be visited by the 5 - 1 New Orleans Saints today @ 4:25 p.m. EDT.

Today, we have nothing specific on tap. Mary stayed up late last night into early this morning, reading or rereading The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein. Perhaps one of the best-known lines/phrases of all time, TANSTAAFL is from that book. TANSTAAFL is an acronym for There ain't no such thing as  a free lunch." The book was first published in 1966, but much of its message still rings true today.

That being said, I'll just say fare the well, or Ciao. Oops, I was channeling once again this time the Dylan song, Don't Think Twice, a song covered by many disparate artists, from the well-known trio, Peter, Paul and Mary, to the more bland Lawrence Welk Orchestra. Talk about elevator music. I might as well leave my readers with on of the best known versions of the song, the one by Peter. Paul and Mary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu-DWUngjhk

Now, Ciao for sure.





 

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

The current temperature is 43° under partly-cloudy skies. Today's high is forecast to reach 62°, a full eight degrees warmer than yesterday, but still under mostly-cloudy-skies. The sun will rise today @ 8:03 a.m. and set later @ 6:56 p.m. There are no advisories, watches, nor warnings in effect. Our next significant chance for rain is Monday @ 100% with a high temperature forecast of 62°.

I made more soy-curl jerky yesterday, this batch a bit more spicy than the last, but just spicy enough to get your attention, along with some baked some tofu cubes without spice that are suitable for many dishes. That was the extent of my kitchen activities yesterday.

I also found time to watch as the trains rolled through GH, with the first occurring @ 9:33 a.m. heading south. Behind locomotives 2025 and 2019 were nine CHCs. seven DWTCs, and five DBTCs. Plus, there was a tank car that was so rusty that I couldn't discern what color it was in the past or now. Later in the afternoon, I espied those same locomotives heading north, towing three CHCs and one DWTC.

Shortly after I let the fur-children out for their morning ritual, I started the taking down of our vast vegetable gardens in preparation for winter. It looks weird out there without the plants that I have been nurturing all summer.

Mary and Ginger went walkabout to the waterfront and then meandered their way home through the mean streets of GH. LOL Since they were out and about, Mary took her trusty waterproof Olympus camera and took some shots of Ginger and other things. I'll include some here.

Ginger without any concerns in the world.

Ginger responding to Mary calling Ginger's name.

The channel, sans the fishing boats of summer.

A similar shot alongside the nearby Chinook Pier.

We returned from a trip to the nearby big-box home center and saw this fallen branch in the vast gardens. It came down while we were out or I would have noticed it while I was working in the garden.

I know it fell while we were out, because it wasn't there in the morning.

While I was perusing the pix on the memory-card of Mary's camera, I came across some shots of our trip to Tunnel Park a couple of weeks ago. I like many of them, so I'll add those now.

Looking back towards the main park from the beach side of the tunnel for which the park is named.

Looking north from the overlook on the beach.

The "Big Lake" is so photogenic.

From almost any angle.

I always like these shots through the beach grasses.

Just beautiful!

A well warn path through the dunes.

There are so many pix yet to be taken, so while I am at my Irish Jam Session this afternoon, Mary has plans to go to Hemlock Crossing for another in their series of nature talks and walks entitled: Wildlife Encounter - Michigan's Marsupial: The Virginia Opossum. There will be a 45 minute lecture followed by a guided hike. I like these too, but music generally wins out over nature programs with me.

The Wolverines of Michigan will be in Pennsylvania tonight @ 7:30 p.m. to face the Penn State Nittany Lions. The lackluster Spartans of MSU are in their bye week. The also disappointing Huskies of NIU will be in Ohio today @ 2:30 to play the Miami RedHawks.

Otherwise, not much is happening here in GH, and that's fine with me. I have some apples to be peeled, some painting I'd like to complete, and a book or two that I'd like to start, so I have plenty to do while the fur-children and I are home and Mary is out. Ciao.

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

The current temperature is 46° under cloudy skies. Today's high is forecast to reach 51°, under mostly-cloudy-skies. The sun will rise today @ 8:00 a.m. and set later @ 6:59 p.m.

A Small Craft Advisory is in effect until 8:00 p.m. tonight. There is also another Frost Advisory in effect for parts of West Michigan that are considerably east of GH, from now until 8:00 p.m. tomorrow. If you are west of US 131, cover your plants or be prepared to lose them!

I had a great day in the kitchen yesterday. I made another batch of Mary's favorite, vegan Italian meatballs and another vegan pepperoni. This time, I avoided over-kneading the pepperoni mixture and so while the result is still chewy, it is not too tough. It tastes like animal-based pepperoni, except that no animals had to die in the process.

I was up yesterday when  the early-morning train run passed by. It was a short passage, as only MMRR EMD GP-38-2 locomotive #2025 passed by dead-heading south @ 8:15 a.m. Later in the day, @ 12:30 p.m., that same locomotive passed by heading north, towing 12 CHCs, two DBTCs, and four DWTCs, one with a black stripe around its mid-section, similar to the one shown below. I have to assume that the stripe is another version of anti-corrosive paint.

A modeled version courtesy of the Atlas Model Co.™

Elsewhere in the news, Mary walked to her volunteer job at the library to begin work on a project that will culminate with the complete addition into an electronic database of all the columns written by the late Clarence "Tad" Poel, who served as the Editorial Page Editor for many years before he began to write his daily column, entitled Focus on People for the Grand Haven Tribune. 

Mr. Poel was born in Grand Rapids, MI at the Salvation Army Hospital and was adopted as an infant by Wm. and Marie Poel of GH. He graduated from Grand Haven High School in 1937, worked for GM for several years in Grand Rapids, until he was drafted into the US Army after WWII and served in the Pacific theater as a company clerk. According to one of his sons, that's where he learned to type, sending letters home to his mother and those letters got him his first job in journalism at the Tribune. Mr. Poel passed away at age 91 after a writing career that spanned 65 years! 

Mary is enjoying her trip down "Memory Lane" as she learns more about our adopted home of Grand Haven and about how things and prices have changed over the years that spanned the columns of Mr. Poel from the 1970s until his retirement.

Today, I have plans to continue my painting hobby, play with the girls more, do some wood-working in the man-cave, and perhaps accomplish some reading before we go to the chiropractor this afternoon. 

When I was downstairs earlier, I noticed that Mary has once again resumed to work on cross-stitching my new kitchen apron, perhaps inspired by the arrival of a new catalog that is chock-full of various Christmas themed stitching projects. 

I am going to put off until tomorrow the yard-work that I have planned so that things get a chance to dry out a bit. Ciao.

 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 7:30 a.m. in "The City."

The current temperature is 45° under cloudy skies. Today's high is forecast to reach 49°, under partly-cloudy-skies. The sun will rise today @ 7:57 a.m. and set later @ 7:04 p.m.

A Small Craft Advisory will be in effect until 4:00 p.m. today. There is also a Frost Advisory in effect for parts of West Michigan that are considerably est of GH, from 2:00 a.m. until 8:00 a.m. tomorrow.

We had a good day yesterday in spite of the gray skies. The fur-children did not get a walk, but somehow, I don't think they were that concerned once they had been out for their morning activities.

Later, I made my way to the kitchen and used some home-grown scallions to make another of my soon to be famous stir-fry brunches. I had assistance, as Mary had to come down and help so that I wasn't running the water when she needed it upstairs.

Somewhere in the day, I was upstairs and Mary took time to make that aforementioned Salsa Verde from our home-grown tomatillos. It has a great aroma and great taste. I can't wait to try it on some tortilla chips.

Lots of peppers, some home-grown, went into the salsa.

We spent the afternoon lazing about before we had a light supper of vegan sausages and salad. Then it was time for the concert @ Seven Steps Up, featuring May Erlewine and her band. I cannot express how great it was to hear such a talented group for nearly two hours. If you get a chance, I recommend that you go to YouTube and listen to some samples of her latest offerings. I've included one of her songs entitled Whole Again, a tribute to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, best known for her testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Cavanaugh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcQ3CPEDk9U

Of course, there are many other songs by May on YouTube too.

But, what is a concert @ Seven Steps Up without pictures, so here goes.

Sometimes, May prefaced her songs with some personal commentary.

She closed her show with a happy song and happy thoughts.

May, her backup singers and band as the show was ending.

When it was time to head home to the fur-children, we drove through a late-night traffic jam in Spring Lake as the concertgoers headed out with us.

Today, I'll be off to the Art Meet-Up at the library and we may get to that big-box home center that we avoided yesterday. Ciao.