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 21° under mostly-cloudy skies. Today's high is forecast to reach 30°, a full eight degrees warmer than yesterday, also under mostly-cloudy skies. As of now, there is no precipitation in the forecast from the NWS. The sun will rise today @ 8:12 a.m. and set later @ 5:37 p.m.

However, there are now several warnings and/or advisories either in effect or soon to be in effect. A River Flood Warning remains in effect until 1:00 p.m. Tuesday, January 21, 2020. 

In addition a Gale Watch will be in effect from 1:00 a.m. tomorrow until 10:00 a.m. Sunday morning. South winds of 20 to 30 knots Friday night will become west gales to 40 knots Saturday. Waves will be building to 8 to 12 feet Saturday afternoon and up to 10 to 14 feet Saturday night from St Joseph to Manistee. Those strong winds will cause hazardous waves which could capsize or damage vessels and reduce visibility.

But wait, there's more!

There is also a Lakeshore Flood Warning that will be in effect from 7:00 a.m. Saturday until 7:00 p.m. Sunday for Mason, Oceana, Muskegon, Ottawa, Allegan and Van Buren counties. Significant erosion of beaches and dunes, inundation of low-lying areas along the lakeshore and in river mouths, and road closures are possible due to those strong, Gale Force Winds.

But I'm not done yet!

There is also a Winter Weather Advisory going into effect @ 12:00 a.m. tomorrow, that's midnight tonight, continuing until 7:00 p.m. tomorrow night. Total snow accumulations of 5 to 8 inches are possible with those winds gusting as high as 40 mph. The snow may diminish for awhile during the mid-morning hours Saturday, but it will redevelop as the cold air returns by afternoon with strong west winds and falling temperatures. Portions of central, south central, southwest and west central Michigan including our own Ottawa County will be affected. Travel could be very difficult. Some power outages will be possible due to the winds combining with the weight of the wet snow on tree limbs and power lines. As George Takei might say, "Oh My!" I am supposed to go to my Irush Jam Session on Saturday afternoon, but...

Last Wednesday, Mary went to the library for her weekly"Tad" volunteer session. While she was there, she made a copy of a column that Clarence "Tad" Poel had written on July 11, 1975. This column dealt with the electric interurban railway that had run between Grand Rapids and Grand Have with stops in betwwen. By 1975m that railroad had stopped running due to competition from cars and trucks that could move passengers and freight and people much more quickly than the 1 1/2 hours, or more, that it took on the interurban railroad.

People used to come to Grand Haven to visit the beaches or to take the overnight boat trip from here to Chicago. But, even the daily runs of the train that started @ 5:10 a.m. daily and ran until that last run @ 11:50 p.m. could not compete with automotive traffic and convenience. The trains ceased running after 25 years, but they had once covered most of this side of the state and further south, als the way to Detroit.

As a train buff, I'd have taken it. Now, the only trains that pass through our fair city are freight trains on the MMRR short-line. One of the first lecture presentations that I attended when we moved to GH was on the interurban electric railroad. The only vestiges of that old railroad are some sections of track and a mostly restored car in Coopersville. By the by, regular passenger service stopped in GH in the early 1950s when the Grand Trunk and Western RR also succumbed to the advent of the automobile age. All that is left of that service is our coal tipple, an old steam locomotive, and some rail cars.

In sports news, the fallout from the Houston Astros MLB World Series™ scandal of 2017 continued yesterday with another firing of a field-manager. This time, it was Carlos Beltran of the NY Mets, who was a player for the Astros in 2017. The team and Beltran called this a mutual decision in the "Best Interests" of the Mets. I call it a firing. So far, that means that three field managers, Alex Cora of my beloved Red Sox, A.J. Hinch of the Astros, and Carlos Beltran of the Mets along with one GM, Jeff Luhnow of the Astros have been fired. Are there more "mutual decisions" in the offing?

Yesterday afternoon we traveled to the mall in Norton Shores and used it as a place to get in some steps. We weren't alone. I don't know how the mall stays in business, since the majority of the people that were either employees of the mostly empty stores or stores without customers, or mall walkers, like ourselves. We had dropped Ginger off at daycare to wile away her time. Today, we will try to take the fur-children to that nearby big-box home-center that welcomes fur-children and do some walking with them. While there, we'll shop for some bathroom accessories. They appear to have many varieqqties of what we are seeking in stock. We'll let John install that item and save my yak.

Today, we hope to do some cooking and some cabinet rearranging, a couple things that we have been putting off until a better time. I think that time has arrived. Of course, I have to get to the man-cave for some "work" there too. I think that I have too many hobbies/interests. Plus, there is a need for more indoor chores too. Ciao.