Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation, and perhaps, across the world. It is just after 5:00 a.m. in "The City."

The current temperature is 54° under cloudy, but not yet rainy, skies. Winds of 15 mph make it feel like 50°. Today's high-temperature forecast calls for 57º under those rainy skies with a 70% probability. I'm excited because my DTWS concurs with the current temperature readings from the NWS. The rain will fall throughout the day, beginning in earnest @ 7:00 a.m.


By the by, today's high-temperature forecast will be about 8º cooler than yesterday, but we will return to the 60s by tomorrow, albeit with a 70% possibility of more rain. Both the NWS and I are forecasting that the high-temperatures will continue in the 60s from then on.

The sun will rise this morning @ 6:18 a.m. and it will set later @ 9:04 p.m.

A Lakeshore Flood Warning will go into effect starting @ 5:00 p.m. today and continuing until 8:00 a.m. tomorrow for Ottawa, Allegan, and Van Buren counties. Erosion of beaches and dunes, with possible significant inundation of low-lying areas along the lakeshore and in river mouths, and road closures are possible. Piers, breakwaters and unprotected shoreline will see hazardous wave action and areas near Lake Michigan will see flooded roads and parking lots.  


A Small Craft Advisory goes into effect from 6:00 a.m. today until 2:00 a.m. tomorrow. East winds of 20 to 30 knots with waves 3 to 5 feet are expected. from St Joseph to Manistee. Conditions will be hazardous to small craft, so inexperienced mariners, especially those operating smaller vessels should avoid navigating in hazardous conditions.

Not surprisingly, there will also be a  Flood Watch in effect from this morning through tomorrow morning for portions of central Michigan, south-central Michigan, Southwest Michigan, and west-central Michigan, including the following areas: Clare, Gratiot, Isabella, Mecosta, Montcalm, and Osceola. In south-central Michigan, Calhoun, Clinton, Eaton, Ingham, Ionia, and Jackson. In southwest Michigan, Allegan, Barry, Kalamazoo, Kent, Ottawa, and Van Buren. In west-central Michigan, Lake, Mason, Muskegon, Newaygo, and Oceana. Rain will be overspreading the watch area Sunday morning. It will then persist into Monday morning. The rain will be heavy at times. Most locations are forecasted to see 1 to 2 inches of rain. However...heavier bands of rain could result in more than 3 inches before it winds down. There is some uncertainty about the location of where this heaviest rain will fall. Small streams, poor drainage, and urban flooding will be possible. Water levels are already high in places from recent rainfall...especially along and south of a Muskegon to Grand Rapids to Lansing line.

Before we got our outdoor activities started, Mary used up several of our leftovers for brunch.

Vegan Italian meatballs, baked-beans with homemade barbecue sauce, English muffin bread toast, and pasta salad.

I'm glad that the rains held off until today. That gave us a chance to accomplish that repotting on the potting bench located on the deck as the fur-children frolicked in the back-forty and on the deck.

Ginger was excited, as I had brought up the cushion for the chaise lounge. STWD had to check her out.

On the left, are my seedlings before they were moved to their new homes. On the right, our small gardening tools in their bag.

Many, but not all, of the tomato and pepper seedlings, were transplanted and watered. They'll all be coming in at night.

After the transplantation, Ginger sat in my lap as I gazed upon the vast gardens, wearing my complete "summer uniform": for the first time this year!

Life is good!

All pictures are courtesy of or Senior Staff Photographer.

As my loyal readers may recall, there was a protest planned for yesterday afternoon @ the Grand Haven State Park. According to an article posted on Twitter™ by the local TV station WZZM TV 13, the protest dubbed the Beach Bash by organizer Brandon Hall, started around 3:30 p.m., and lasted just a few hours as anywhere between 80 and 100 people dropped by to protest the closing of the parking lots by the MI DNR.

Hall was quoted as saying, "Just like at the demonstration in front of Governor Whitmer's the taxpayer-funded mansion, the largest of its kind in Michigan history, we are committed to working with law enforcement to ensure a safe event for all." All grammatical errors are those of Mr. Hall.

Apparently, Hall and his followers don't believe in the need to avoid gathering in large groups nor in wearing face masks. Here is a video of the protest from WZZM TV 13.

https://wzzm13.com/embeds/video/69-57533e08-98c9-4b57-96f4-ae210925235a/iframe?jwsource=cl 

According to an article in the Grand Haven Tribune, elsewhere in the world and specifically here in GH, an event began streaming on Friday and will continue through today The event entitled Bookstock 2020, with the tagline “Peace, Indie Bookstores and Music". Bookstock 2020, was organized by Driftless Books and Music in Viroqua, Wisconsin. According to Alexa McGuinness, The Bookman in Grand Haven is participating. Their book buyer, Scott Lange, is their performer.

Here at the manse, we're doing our part to help keep The Bookman in business during these trying times.

Dinner last night was my vegan Italian meatball recipe converted into burgers and served with French Fries as a side dish. I had my fries with malt vinegar and ketchup.

With today's rain, comes an opportunity to do more reading, writing, music playing etcetera. I erroneously reported that Mary had finished her latest novel. I was wrong on two counts. Her book isn't a novel, it is a non-fiction book and she has about 20 more pages to go.

I won't be in the kitchen. My kitchen work is done for now. Ciao.