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." Yes my loyal readers, I'm back! More on my absence from the blogosphere later in this blog.

The current temperature is 39° under clear skies. Today's high is forecast to reach 45° under mostly-sunny skies. The sun will rise today @ 7:48 a.m. and set later @ 5:14 p.m.

There is still a Small Craft Advisory in effect for the "Big Lake" until 7:00 p.m. today, with winds west up to 30 knots and waves of 3 to 5 feet. A Small Craft Advisory means that winds or waves are expected to produce hazardous conditions to small craft. Inexperienced mariners...especially those operating smaller vessels should avoid navigating in these conditions.Ya think?

The daytime temperatures are forecast by the NWS to stay in the mid 40s through Wednesday, albeit with showers developing late Wednesday and hampering travel for people heading to grandma's house for the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday when temperatures fall into the 30s.

Now, for a brief explanation for my absence from the blogosphere.

Mary had just placed her latest cast-iron pan pizza on the table Thursday evening, when an extremely loud noise was heard and the cable went out along with most of the lights in the house along with the furnace. We still had lights in the dining room and the kitchen, but that was about it.

Naturally, I went to the basement to check the circuit breakers, although why I thought that that many breakers would all trip at the same time, I don't know. Meanwhile, STWD came downstairs like the man in the Night Before Christmas, you know, the man in that poem about Santa Claus when he heard a clatter on the front lawn and sprang from his bed to see what was the matter.  Maybe I should have looked out there first, but as always, hindsight is 20/20.

Finally, I went outside on the back deck and what to my wondering eyes appeared? I saw that our ornamental pear tree was now lying in the back-forty of the PE and across the driveway. Its fall had taken down the power lines and the cable line leading to our house. Plus, the meter box had been ripped off the wall and was lying in the driveway. How or why that tree fell, we have no idea.

Mary wisely called the GHDPS and they dispatched an officer to check things out. What we collectively discovered was that the power lines had been torn asunder when the tree fell, but that one-half of them was still connected, thus the partial power in the manse. The officer called the GHBLP, that's the Grand Haven Board of Light and Power, and he stayed until the GHBLP people had done their work.

They came, assessed the situation and promptly disconnected the other part of the feed-line, plunging the manse into complete darkness. We made an executive decision to stay in the bedroom with the fur-children and make some calls in the morning.

We first called the folks from R-V Tree service in Muskegon to get the tree removed. That turned out to be a fortuitous call, as the owner of R-V Tree also knew a liscensed electrician who could repair the damage to the meter box and the pipe that carried power from the GHBLP lines to the manse. So, the tree was quickly removed, the electrician came around noon, and the GHBLP folks reconnected the power to the manse around 2:30 p.m.

Unfortunately, there was damage to the manse, some of our garden decorations, and some of the ornamental fencing around the vast-gardens. Of course, the cable was still out and didn't get reconnected until late yesterday afternoon. All of that is a long-winded way of telling my loyal readers why I have been absent for a few days/night. Here are some pix I took  of the tree and the damaged power lines, both the night of the incident and the following day.

The tree had fallen on the vast-gardens and partially across the driveway.

Yes, the meter box should be on the side of the manse, not on top of the entrance to the man-cave.

The fine folks at R-V Tree were quickly ready, willing, and able to help.

The electrician installed a new meter box and a new snorkel for the downed lines Saturday afternoon.

Sadly, our weather vane was also crushed by the falling tree.

As was the ornamental fencing.

Yesterday, I went to a great session at The Camera Store in Muskegon regarding tips on how to take pix of architectural things. However, since I have overstayed my time here at my desk, I'll save that for tomorrow's blog. Ciao.