Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 11:15 p.m. in "The City."

Well, the NWS forecast for snow has come to pass. In fact, there is a Winter Weather Advisory in effect until 1:00 p.m. tomorrow for Central, South Central, Southwestern and West Central, MI, Two to six inches of snow have been forecast and the driving conditions will be hazardous.

We have a current temperature of 28° that feels like 16° with winds out of the southwest @ 15 mph. Tonight's low is forecast to be 27° before the sun rises tomorrow @ 8:16 a.m. and long before it sets @ 5:18 p.m.

Tomorrow, the forecast from the NWS calls for a high temperature of 40° and a 100% chance for rain/snow. 

In addition to that Winter Weather Advisory, there is a Small Craft Advisory in effect from St. Joseph to Manistee until Thursday @ 10:00 a.m. South winds of 30 knots will propel waves  from four to eight feet.

Earlier, I watched as MMRR locomotives 2170 and 2019 raced past on the RSTL towing 10 CGCs, and four DBTCs. It is worthy of note, that the DBTCs were of the Large Economy Size. That means that they were capable of carrying larger amounts of crude oil than their smaller brethren. Fortunately they were empty.

While they were out, STWD and I made more vegan Italian meatballs to go with our dinner of spaghetti with Mary's secret sauce. Yes I know, meatballs twice in one day, but sometimes, you gotta go with the flow. Of course, the meatballs necessitate mushrooms, so with Ginger out on the town with Mary, Sugar was able to enjoy all of the mushroom cuttings herself. 

After our lunch of cucumber salad and vegan Italian meatballs, Mary and her wing gal, Ginger, went to that big-box nearly everything store earlier today, so we can stay in tomorrow. 

While they were out, Mary and Ginger stopped at the beach and Mary took this pic of a tire that had returned from its watery grave. 

She couldn't tell a the time, but the Smart Phone camera captured a great shot of the cloudy sky too. 

Earlier tonight, I was watching Wheeler Dealers, one of my favorite car shows on Motor Trend, when our senior staff photographer captured these pix of a visitor to our parkway garden.

When the weather goes south, I guess that you munch anything you can find. 

Same here.

Today, we finished our indoor chores and vegged out for a while along with some TV viewing. 

Tomorrow, I  have a crossword to finish, more music to play, and a new book to start. Mary wants to read more in between helping me with getting our fur-children to go out. They do love the snow, so it should not be too difficult. However, it is the getting them to came back that is the hard part. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 9:00 p.m. in "The City.

Let's follow the KISS formula for this blog and minimize my verbiage.

We have a current temperature of 32° under cloudy skies that feels like 22° with winds out of the west @ 15 mph. Our overnight low is forecast to drop to an actual 24°. 

There is still a Small Craft Advisory in effect from St. Joseph to Manistee, with NW wind speeds of 25 knots that may produce waves from four to seven feet. That Small Craft Advisory will expire tomorrow @ 7:00 a.m. However, it will be replaced by a Winter Weather Advisory that is forecast to go into effect @ 10:00 p.m. tomorrow night and continue until Wednesday afternoon @ 1:00 p.m. 

Driving will become hazardous and the forecast calls for two to six inches of additional snow accumulation and an icy glaze. 

Tomorrow's high is expected to reach 32° with an overnight low of 29°. 

The current NWS barometric pressure reading is 30.39" and rising, while my DTWS is showing 29.77" and falling. 

We took the fur-children for a walkabout at the Lake Forest Cemetery where we saw the deer grazing. We walked amongst the markers to avoid the ice covered roads and then we headed home to feed the fur-children and prepare our evening repast of vegan meatloaf from an old family recipe, to go along with our own Coleslaw. The vegan meatloaf is definitely a keeper. 

Otherwise, I finished a crossword puzzle and we did some additional reading and TV viewing. 

Tomorrow is indoor chore day and perhaps another walkabout. Not much else is on our agenda. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 9:00 p.m. in "The City."

Well, we had a snowy weekend and that kept us indoors. However, we made good use of our time by reading, watching Book TV, and working in the kitchen. In fact, our Sunday brunch was a great salad that featured a Michigan Spring Mix blend of greens with white button mushrooms and chickpeas, all topped with Mary's homemade ranch dressing. 

Tasted as good as it looks!

I broke my own rule about pro football, and watched the 8 - 7 Chicago Bears demolish the 1 - 14 Jacksonville Jaguars, 41 - 17. All it takes now to make the playoffs is for the Bears to beat Green Bay next week The Packers are currently 11 - 3 and they are playing the 10 - 4 Tennessee Titans. Or, the Bears need to have the AZ Cardinals lose. Time will tell,

Since I was downstairs, I decided it was time to make another batch of my soon to be famous squash and kale soup. Normally, I use a butternut squash, which are relatively easy to peel. However,  since we had an acorn squash on hand, I had to get creative and learn how to peel that. With some thinking on mine and Mary's parts, we devised a way to peel that squash easily. Then it was just chopping, which I can live without, but which Mary loves and sautéing some onions and carrots. The rest was easy. 

Yesterday, Mary had started some vegetable broth that was exactly what the recipe called for. I had to sauté the carrots and onions, add the spices and other ingredients, bring it to a boil, and then simmer, add the kale and garlic, and wait. We had some of the soup for dinner along with Mary's version of breaded tofu on rye with homemade tartar sauce. All good.

Squash, kale, onions, garlic, vegetable broth, and diced tomatoes combined to make an excellent soup.

Somewhere in there, we watched another episode of Mr. Robot and a couple of episodes of Wings. 

I should mention that we got around to grooming Ginger yesterday. I worked on her paws while Mary worked on Ginger's face. I then gave her a bath and after a couple of hours of dry time, Ginger looks presentable.

We have a current temperature of 36° that feels like 32° with a wind out of the east @ six mph. We also have a Small Craft Advisory in effect until 7:00 a.m. Tuesday, with an expectation for winds of 15 - 30 knots out of the south, switching to northwest winds overnight that will propel waves from five to eight feet. 

Tomorrow's high temperature will reach only 34° under mostly-cloudy skies and a forecast low of 23°. The NWS is showing a barometric pressure of 29.67" and falling, while my own DTWS is showing 29.06" and rising.

The sun will rise tomorrow @ 8:15 a.m. and set later tomorrow evening @ 5:16 p.m. We have crossed that magical line and the days are once again getting longer. 

Our plans for tomorrow call for music, reading, crossword solving, and relaxing. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 8:30 p.m. in "The City."

We just finished watching what some Chicago critics call the best Christmas movie ever, Die Hard, starring Bruce Willis. Oddly, I think that those critics are right.

Those same critics from Chicago say it isn't  Christmas until you see Hans go out the window and fall to his death. Be that as it may, we enjoyed Die Hard over a fine Christmas dinner as prepared by Mary. 

Vegan dressing, green bean casserole, mushroom gravy, and glazed tofu. It all came together very well. I was also treated to a couple of shots of Bushmill's Irish Whiskey. What's not to like?

Mmmmm! Clockwise, left to right: Green bean casserole, dressing, glazed tofu, and mushroom gravy.

We were fortunate that our snow removal service came earlier this morning and cleared our walkways and decks. I still had to go out and clear more as it continued to snow throughout the day, but it looks like we are over the worst of it, at least for now. 

We have a current temperature of 26° that feels like 13° with winds out of the west @ 16 mph. Those winds have necessitated the issuance of yet another Small Craft Advisory from St. Joseph to Manistee until 4:00 p.m. tomorrow. Tomorrow's high will only reach 31° under cloudy skies, albeit with only a 10% chance for additional precipitation. Tomorrow night's low will once again drop to 26° before we see 39° on Sunday accompanied by a 40% chance for rain/snow-showers in the evening. 

A perusal of my DTWS shows a barometric pressure of 29.24 and steady, while the NWS in GR is showing 29.84" and also steady. 

The sun will rise tomorrow @ 8:15 a.m. and set later tomorrow evening, @ 5:15 p.m. on what will be Boxing Day in Canada, the British Isles, Bermuda, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and some other parts of Europe. A short explanation is that the 26th of December was the day that the Alms Boxes were opened in churches and the contents distributed to the poor. A side note, coincidentally it is also St. Stephen's Day, or "The Feast of Stephen." The song Good King Wenceslaus about that day, was featured in the movie Love Actually, but here is another version as performed by the Irish Rovers. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5E8CXQwtrg

Tomorrow, things go back to the same old same old. Indoor chores, music, reading, crossword solving and whatever comes our way, to paraphrase the song by the band Steppenwolf, Born to be Wild.

Did you think I'd just mention that song? Wrongo bucko!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igvP806798U

Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 9:00 p.m. in "The City."

We have a current temperature of 21° with winds blowing out of the north @ 11 mph that make it feel like 9°. There is a light snow falling that will continue overnight with a 45% chance for accumulations up to eight inches. That is if you live west of US Route 31, Beacon Blvd., which we do. 

Our overnight low will be 20°, so we are almost there. That's before we ratchet our way up to tomorrow's high temperature of 28°. The NWS in GR is showing a barometric pressure of 29.80" and rising, while my own DTWS is showing 29.24" and falling. I'm going with my DTWS reading, 

We do have a Winter Weather Advisory in effect for Mason, Muskegon, Oceana, and Otrtawa counties in MI until 7:00 p.m. tomorrow night.

In addition, there is a Small Craft Advisory in effect from St. Joseph to Manistee until 7:00 a.m. tomorrow, with wind speeds of 20 - 30 knots and wave heights of four to eight feet. Why anyone would b out on the "Big Lake" tonight is beyond me, but there are a few crazies out there. 

The sun will rise tomorrow @ 8:14 a.m. and set tomorrow evening @ 5:14 p.m.

We got our first delivery from Doorganics this afternoon. The fresh produce looks great and some of it will find its way into my next batch of squash and kale soup. 

Cucumber, celery, kale, zucchini, potatoes, carrots, Brussel sprouts, spring salad mix,
and white button mushrooms.  

I made more of my soon tp be famous vegan Italian meatballs that became part of our dinner. Mary has plans for our Christmas dinner tomorrow, that include her famous mushroom gravy, dressing, and green bean casserole as sides for glazed tofu. No Ocean Spray™ nor generic jellied cranberry sauce was available at this time. Sigh.

I finished two crossword puzzles today and that was about the extent of my activity. Ginger did not get groomed and it is unlikely that that will be happening tomorrow. But, there is always the weekend. 

I hope for more music, more reading, more retirement tomorrow. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. We've returned from our walkabout with the fur-children and it is just past 5:15 p.m. in "The City."

We have a current temperature of 52° that feels like 46° with winds blowing out of the south @ 22 mph. Tonight, we can expect rain with a 100% probability, coupled with cloudy and windy conditions. However, it was a great afternoon for a walkabout and a picture taking session at the Lake Forest Cemetery. 

The winds were brisk, and STWD had bad memories of hearing gunshots on a previous visit, so I had to coax her to stay out of the car. 

We still have a Gale Warning in effect until 1:00 a.m. tomorrow, with winds of 20 -30 knots and waves from seven to 10 feet. I'll add some pix later that I took at the Grand Haven State Park on our return trip.

There will be a Winter Weather Advisory going into effect @ 4:00 a.m. tomorrow, for Allegan, Muskegon, Oceana, Ottawa, and Van Buren counties. The forecast calls for snow accumulations of up to nine inches for communities east and south of GH. We may have a white Christmas, but it should be manageable. However, for those who must travel, driving conditions will be hazardous for both ends of the daily commute.

The sun will rise tomorrow @ 8:14 a.m. and set later tomorrow evening @ 5:14 p.m.

As I noted, we took that walkabout and I got some great pix of various markers, the flora, and the fauna. 

I just realized that this marker is for the Fischer family of Bowen and Fishcher Motors in Muskegon. They are a used Jeep dealer now, but at some point in the past, they sold Studebakers, which explains the Avanti on the back side and the Studebaker on the front side. 

The back side.

Andrew has a devoted family and "followers."

"

I don't have an explanation, but these were left on a grave. 

Like I said, flora.

A close up of the same flora.

Just because.

Clouds and sun over the treetops.

It was getting darker as we were departing. 

The aforementioned fauna.

We drove past the state park on the way home, and Mary pointed out the sun as it peeked through the clouds over Lake Michigan as dusk approached. So, I switched my camera over to the sunset mode to take some pix there.

No explanation necessary. Just enjoy.

The waves were crashing on the beach.

I need to work on my settings, but still interesting. 

The color variations are beautiful.

Tomorrow, we plan to stay inside and out of the weather. Ginger may get groomed, or not. I have a book to finish entitled Dynamic Aging, written by Katy Bowman with the goal of improving everyone's quality of life. So far, so good.

Otherwise, we have no plans set in stone and that's as it should be. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 9:30 p.m. in "The City."

Rather than my usual blog, I am going to only give the basics to allow room for the pix I took earlier today.

There will be a Gale Warning in effect beginning early tomorrow morning @ 1:00 a.m. from St. Joseph to Manistee, and continuing until 1:00 a.m. Thursday morning.. Wind speeds of 20 - 30 knots with gusts up to 40 knots will propel waves from seven to eleven feet. The surf will definitely be up. 

The sun will rise tomorrow morning @ 8:14 a.m. and set later tomorrow evening @ 5:13 p.m. 

Tomorrow's high temperature forecast from the NWS calls for 50° with cloudy/windy conditions. 

But enough about the weather. 

Mary and I decided to pick up my library books and then head over to the Ottawa Sands County Park in Ferrysburg for a photo op and hike. However, we were not alone in our aspirations. The parking lot for Ottawa Sands was jammed as was the overflow lot at nearby Coast Guard Park.

So, we continued out journey and found ourselves @ a park we've never visited, North Beach Park, another in the Ottawa County Parks and Recreation System.

The name does not do justice to this great park!

As we drove up, we noticed that there were trails with boardwalks atop the dunes. We didn't explore those today, but we did get down to the beach on Lake Michigan itself. 

We hope to get back to explore these trails in the near future, weather permitting. 

Mary helped me frame this shot of the lake.

I'm always drawn to fallen trees and fauna.

Of course, there was much more to see and photograph.

Looking north.

Mostly south.

Same direction, a few moments later. 

The inner and outer lighthouses on Grand Haven's South Pier, about two miles distant.

The same, with maximum magnification. 

Like I said, fallen trees attract my attention. 

The sun through the clouds to the southeast.

Of course, I had to take a pic of the empty playground and picnic pavilion. 

Since we were almost there, we continued our safari to the nearby Kitchel-Lindquist Dunes Preserve. This preserve is located across the channel from Coat Guard Station Grand Haven, and is for use by hikers only. 

It is all about the preservation  of this beautiful area for now and the future. 

Coast Guard Station Grand Haven as seen from the other side.

As we headed back towards the Palatial Estate, we stopped in a manufactured home community located on the shores of Lake Michigan. The park is situated so that there is a magnificent view of the GHBLP Sims II power plant on Harbor Island. This is a view that I've never seen before today. 

Some magnification.

And more.

We had a great time exploring another area of Ottawa County and West Michigan that we'd not seen before. 

We came home and with considerable help from Mary, who was kept busy cleaning up after me and my spill-prone ways today, I baked more Funfettti Cookies. They taste as great as the last batch. 

I got up early today and spent time with my harmonica lessons and playing with my Ovation guitar, "Blue." I was able to more easily lay down an F# minor chord, which for me is usually difficult. Who says you can't teach and old guitar player new tricks?

Tomorrow, we plan to take the fur-children for a walkabout on a 50° day, before we settle in for the much more inclement weather on Thursday. That's when Ginger will get another light grooming and a bath. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 9:00 p.m. in "The City."

The Small Craft Advisory remains in effect from St. Joseph to Manistee until 12:00 p.m. tomorrow. Wind speeds from 10 to 20 knots with gusts up to 30 knots are expected to propel waves of four to seven feet in height.

However, even though that Small Craft Advisory will expire, it will be replaced by a Gale Watch from St. Joseph to Manistee beginning @ 1:00 a.m. Wednesday and continuing until Thursday @ 1:00 a.m. Winds of 20 to 30 knots with gusts possible to 45 knots may produce waves from six to nine feet!

Today's high temperature reached 38° and tonight the low is forecast to drop to 35° under cloudy skies. Tomorrow, the high temperature forecast from the NWS calls for 38° with a low temperature of 35°. 

The sun will rise tomorrow @ 8:13 a.m. and set later @ 5:13 p.m. as winter officially begins. Today was the shortest day of the year. From now on, the days get longer and the nights get shorter.

Mary and her "Wing Gal" Ginger, made their trip to that big box nearly everything store for a pick up today and then they traveled to one of their new favorite places, the trail near the BLP Sims II power plant on Harbor Island and Swan Lake.

As I've said, the best camera that you have is the one that you have with you. So, Mary used her Smart Phone camera to capture two pictures of the swans there.

A close up shot.

And one at distance.

Before they left STWD and I on our own, Mary called me upstairs to get some pix of something that we've never before seen, two men working on the cell phone tower atop the nearby telephone building. We both agreed that there is not enough money on the planet to get us up there. However, I took some pix to depict what we saw.

This view out the window of Mary's office makes them look small.

Growing bigger through my everyday telephoto lens.

And bigger still.

Out on a limb, I mean an extension for an antenna. 

Safety harness or not, there is no way we'd go up there, about five stories in the air.

Before Mary and Ginger went out, Mary prepared one of the dishes I remember from my childhood, waffles and hot dogs. Of course, when I was a kid over 50 years ago, the hot dogs were made from pork?

Later, while Mary and Ginger were out on their appointed rounds, I made vegan Italian meatballs and vegan Italian burgers. Since Ginger was out, STWD got all of the mushroom cuttings to herself. 

We had some of the meatballs with our dinner, and they were up to my high standards. Naturally, Mary made her secret recipe pasta sauce with my assistance. However, although I know what is in the sauce, I don't know the quantities, so her secret recipe is safe with me. 

Tomorrow, is another day of indoor chores and a book pick up at the library in the afternoon. That's enough for one day. I should have time to get to my music and other sundry activities. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 11:15 p.m. in "The City."

I just watched the southbound run of MMRR locomotives 2170 and 2019 as they traversed the RSTL, towing nine CHCs, and seven CGCs. The northbound run will likely occur early tomorrow morning when I am fast asleep. 

We have a DTWS barometric reading of 29.10" and rising, while the NWS in GR is showing 29.29 and falling. 

Those readings may in part account for the Small Craft Advisory that is in effect from St. Joseph to Manistee until 5:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Our current temperature is 38° under cloudy skies, but it feels like 30° with winds out of the west/southwest @ 11 mph.

Winds of 20 to 25 knots ands waves from three to five feet will diminish before the sun rises @ 8:13 a.m. and well before the sun sets tomorrow evening @ 5:12p.m.

However, the NWS is forecasting an 80% chance for rain/snow tomorrow and  high temperature of 38°.

hose temperatures should melt the snow before it can accumulate.

However, that Small Craft Advisory allowed me to take some pix of the waves on the "Big Lake."

We were parked across from a local restaurant when I took this pic looking north.

Same location, looking to the west.

The inner lighthouse

And the outer lighthouse.

We left that location and drove over to Harbor Island, where we stopped at what Mary has named Swan Lake, to take some pix of the local swans feeding.

A closeup of one of a pair.

Same pair, one feeding and one watching.

I started to watch the debacle that was supposed to be a game between the 5 - 9 Detroit Lions and the 10 - 4 Tennessee Titans, but the final score of 25 - 40 doesn't begin to tell the tale. So, we headed out to go walkabout without our fur-children and to attempt to put air in the car tires. 

These days, they charge $1.50 for five minutes of use for the air pump. We tried two different locations, but I was more successful at home using my bicycle pump. I liked the olden days, far too many years ago, when a nice man, such as yours truly, would come out, check all of your tires for the correct pressure, and then fill them with free air. Alas, those days are just a memory.

I was unable to watch the 7 - 7 Bears defeat the 6 - 8 Vikings.

I finished another crossword puzzle and later, we watched both another episode of Mr. Robot, and a Hallmark movie. 

Tomorrow, Mary is contemplating a trip to that big-box everything store. If she goes, she plans to take her "Wing Gal", Ginger along for the ride, while STWS and I stay behind and work in the kitchen. 

Otherwise, our plans are fluid. Ciao.