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 22° under cloudy skies with a 60% chance for showers and windy conditions in the evening hours according to the forecast by the NWS in GR. Today's high is forecast to rise to a balmy 45°! The sun will rise today @ 8:16 a.m. and set later @ 5:28 p.m. Tomorrow, the high temperature will also be 45°, with that same 60% chance for showers and windy conditions.

There is a Gale Warning in the forecast for today starting @ 7:00 a.m. and continuing until 1:00 a.m. tomorrow. Winds from the south are expected to reach speeds of 20 - 30 knots, with gusts to 40 mph producing waves of six to nine feet in height from St Joseph to Manistee.

I've been remiss of late, eschewing the inclusion of a daily trainspotting report. By way of explanation, the train runs have been sporadic, at best. However yesterday, at about 12:20 p.m., I saw the southbound run of MMRR EMD-GP38- 2 locomotive # 2019 towing several CHCs, several DWTCs, and several DBTCs. Late last night, I had gone to bed, but my newly promoted journeyman trainspotter espied that same locomotive heading south @ 11:30 p.m., towing numerous CHCs. In her other role as our Senior Staff Photographer, she grabbed the only photographic equipment she had, our Smart Phone, and snapped this pic through the front-window of the manse of the train's passage . I like the almost eerie/surreal effect caused by the reflection of the glass.

Way cool!

I saw that same locomotive heading north @ 4:49 a.m. today, towing two CHCs, one DWTC, one GTC, and one DBTC. Go figure. All of that is my way of describing why I used the term sporadic in describing the seemingly random passage of the trains of late.

More importantly, we took a road trip to Coopersville yesterday afternoon, rather than my waving to Mary as she went to her weekly "Tad" session  at the library. Along the way, I had my trusty Olympus DSLR camera at the ready to take pix of what we were seeing. I shot a lot of pix of the clouds, the trees, and seemingly, a lot of barns that represent the past, present, and future of agriculture in Michigan. So, in no particular order, here they are.

This old farmhouse is now a venue for weddings and other gatherings.

Traveling to Coopersville on Savidge/Cleveland St.., you pass under I-96.

The skies looked both ominous and comforting at the same time.

A barn on a farm that is now mostly a residence.

Not a red barn, but a white barn.

A working farm that is quiet during the winter.

Why not?

I've seen this barn many time over the years. Why is it called "The Big Strawberry", I'll probably never know.

You know how I am about dormant playground equipment.

Fall/winter have bare trees with their own beauty.

I like how this shot used the leafless trees to frame the clouds and the blue sky.

Near Sheridan Park in Coopersville, looking directly into the sun.

 

 

 

The lack of snow took away from the rustic beauty of Sheridan Park.

Is this sign angled on purpose, or just sinking into the ground?

We meandered our way home with a stop @ Stan's in Spring Lake and then watched some TV news and the one-hour version of Jeopardy with their current offering of the Greatest of All-Time tournament. So far, two different contestants have won games. Any player who wins three games wins $1,000,000! We knew some of the questions, but the "Champions" from past years knew a lot more.

During the day yesterday, I did some indoor chores and made some vegan Italian sausages, two of which became part of my requested dinner of vegan buttered noodles with parsley as we watched the TV shows for the evening.

This afternoon, we have an appointment at the chiropractor followed by a session for me @ the Loutit Library entitled Illustrative Portraiture/Caricature from 6:30 until 8:00 p.m. If all goes well, I should finish with a portrait/caricature that uses basic proportioning and shading techniques to craft a character/caricature of my own. What's not to like? This is a free class with an end-product, one of many activities that the libraries of today offer in addition to checking out books, DVDs, and other activities, like my monthly Coffee and Coloring and my Irish Jam Session.

That looks like enough for one day. Ciao.