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

We took our fur-children to their veterinarian's appointment today. Everything went well and the girls are home and resting now. 

We didn't accomplish much else today except for solving a crossword puzzle and doing a lot of reading.

Tuesday, we took the fur-children to Grand Haven's City Beach and they had a good time romping in the sand and barking at the passage of strangers. Well actually, Ginger barked. STWD was her usual quiet self. I took along my camera and captured some great shots of the beach, the dog tracks, the outer lighthouse, the birds, and a gate at the nearby condo.

To avoid close contact with other people, we parked across the street from the beach. 

Mary and Ginger tracked through the drifting sand in the parking area for Noto's restaurant.

We have no clue why a locked gate is located next to a roped off patio area at the condos. 

If you snap the shutter often enough you get some great pix of a gull or one of its relatives, a tern.

Or, a crow in flight.

The waves were rolling, as befits the Small Craft Advisory that was in effect 
Tuesday afternoon.

Another gull or tern in flight. 

A feather from one of the gulls.

Driftwood, not drifting. 

The weather today was windy, but comfortable. We have a current temperature of 42° under cloudy skies. The low tonight is expected to drop to 37° before we rebound to tomorrow's high temperature of 43° under mostly-cloudy skies. The low for tomorrow, Friday, will be 32°. All of the is sandwiched between the sunrise @ 8:16 a.m. and the sunset @ 6:39 p.m.

tomorrow, we anticipate doing some cleaning, some reading, playing some music, and whatever else comes to mind. Ciao.

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

I'm going to begin with a partial trainspotting report, We still have trains passing by the manse at odd time. For instance, last night @ 11:10 p.m., MMRR locomotives 2019 and 2025 passed by heading south towing 12 CHCs, 10 DBTCs, and three DWTCs. Mary thinks they are hiding something and I tend to agree. Is that a conspiracy theory? Probably not, but it still is odd.

We have a current temperature of 41° that feels like 34° with a 14 mph wind blowing. That wind is part of the Small Craft Advisory that will be in effect until 8:00 p.m. tonight from St. Joseph to Whitehall. Wind speeds will reach as high as 10 - 25 knots today, diminishing to 10 - 20 knots and waves will be 4 - 7 feet until they diminish to 3 - 5 feet later today too.

Today's high will reach 50° under sunny skies after the sun rises @ 8:15 a.m., with 17 mph winds here in Southwest MI. Tonight's low will drop to 39° once we pass sunset @ 6:41 p.m.

Mary put her baking skills on display over the last two days and nights and produced another fine loaf of artisan bread. To paraphrase the movie Airplane! I had the green tomato pie. Well, that was my overnight snack. We tried the bread yesterday afternoon and it is terrific!

This was the best looking and best tasting bread since Mary's last loaf of bread!

I am finished with my knee injections until next spring/summer. 

Before dinner, we watched another episode of  Lark Rise to Candleford and we are still loving the program. 

Today, indoor chores, more music, more reading, and more raking. Like Marshall, our old neighbor, I do a little raking each week and sooner or later, all of the leaves will have fallen and been raked.

In baseball news, the LA Dodgers took last night's game from the Tampa Bay Rays, 3 - 1, to win the World Series, four games to two. One of my favorite players, former Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts, was a huge part of the Dodgers success.

Otherwise, that's enough for one day. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 1:00 a.m. in "The City."

We have a current temperature of 39° that feels like 39° with a one mile per hour wind blowing and all of that under cloudy skies.

The sun will rise this morning @ 8:13 a.m. and set later @ 6:42 p.m.

I watched the 5 - 2 Bears embarrass themselves last night, as they lost to the 5 - 2 LA Rams, 10 - 24. Too many penalties, some deserved, some not, too many turnovers, and too little imagination on offense. Nuff said. The Bears welcome the New Orleans Saints to Soldier Field next Sunday @ 4:25 p.m. EST.

The way the Bears played last night, may turn me into a Detroit Lions fan yet, as the Lions came back in their game Sunday afternoon to defeat the Atlanta Falcons, 23 - 22. 

Yesterday afternoon, I went up to my studio to play some music, while Mary traveled to the local big-box nearly everything store to pick up some needed things. After her stop there, she took a ride by herself to the Lake Forest Cemetery to walk the trails of the adjacent Duncan Woods near the area we recently walked with the fur-children. She discovered some trails that would have been difficult for me to navigate with the leaves covering some roots that would likely have tripped me. 

She didn't take along her camera, but she did manage to use her Smart Phone to snap a couple of nifty pix of the trails she was traversing.

I don't think she was in Kansas.

But the ravines look very inviting, especially in warm and dry weather. 

We watched another episode of Lark Rise to Candleford before dinner. We can't wait for the elections to be over so that we no longer have to see an endless stream of political ads on network TV, many of them filled with innuendos, half-truths, outright lies and very little that was true.

I was up early yesterday morning and earlier this morning to watch the southbound run of the trains on the RSTL that passes just to the east of the manse. 

Yesterday, I observed MMRR locomotives 2019 and 2025 passing by at a high rate of speed towing six CHCs, all loaded, @ 12:20 a.m.

This morning, I watched as those same locomotives reversed their order and passed by heading once again heading south, towing four CHCs, and 15 CGCs. The cars seemed partially loaded.

Once again, I was awake enough to not the passage of the train heading north @ 5:03 a.m., but I was too lazy to get up and look. I only know that it was much longer than the southbound run earlier this morning. 

Today, the only plans we have are for me to visit my orthopedist this afternoon for my final set of knee injections. Otherwise, I want to read more from a book I am thoroughly enjoying written by Lucian K. Truscott, IV written in 1998, entitled Full Dress Gray. I wanted to try this book before I checked out Mr. Truscott's newer works. Plus, more music beckons me.

We do have some indoor chores to accomplish, but they can wait for another day. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 1:30 a.m. in :The City."

Next week, November 1, 2020, we return to Eastern Standard Time. Mary had a great suggestion when it comes to my Citizen's Eco Drive watch that is always a pain to reset. Her suggestion? DON'T! Since I have another watch that is easy to set, and since we won't be going anywhere for the foreseeable future., if I wait until next spring, it will be like that proverbial stopped clock, it will once again be accurate. 

We have a current temperature of 37° that feels like 33° with only a 4 mph wind. That's because the temperatures are now low enough overnight that the Wind Chill Factor is applicable. 

Today's high temperature will reach up to 50° before the overnight low of 38°. We have no alerts in effect at this time. The sun will rise later this morning @ 8:11 a.m. and set @ 6:45 p.m.

Good news, we didn't have to make a run to GR last night, as Ginger is much improved. We even canceled her appointment at her local doctor's off too. Whew!

College football yesterday was very interesting, to say the least. The Michigan State Spartans are now 0 - 1. They were so turnover prone in their game versus the 1 - 0 Scarlet Knights of Rutgers, that the final score could have been a lot worse than the final 27 - 38 would seem to indicate. 

However, the Little Brown Jug will remain in MI again this year, as the 1 - 0 Wolverines of MI, soundly defeated the 0 - 1 Golden Gophers of MN, 49 - 24. 

I spent some time in the kitchen yesterday making another green tomato pie. Like my last, it turned out delicious.

Mmmm Good!

Afterwards, we took the fur-children for a walkabout in the Lake Forest Cemetery and although we were not in the most photogenic area of the cemetery grounds, I managed to snap some pix of the flora and the clouds.

Puffy clouds in an azure blue sky.

Some clouds hid the sun in this shot. 

Looking into one of the many ravines in the cemetery.

Just a nice panoramic shot.

When we got home, I took some pix of the remnants of our basil plants. They produced well this year, but they had overstayed their season, as had the Black Eyed Susans in the other pot nearby. .

The end of a successful growing season. 

Since I had my camera along for the ride, I took some pix of the last rose of the season too, both outside and on our end table. I also took a shot of the wax begonias that I have been watering all summer..

Close.

And closer.

The wax begonias.

The last rose on our end table.

Today, we have no specific plans. The indoor chores are done. Our reading is progressing nicely. The fur-children are doing well, but another walkabout is not out of the question after the Lions game. Ciao.

Good mornig or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 6:30 p.m in "The City."

We have a current temperature of 46°under rainy/hazy skies. The low for tonight will be in the upper 30s and tomorrow's high is forecast to reach 46° before the overnight low of 35° sets in. 

There is a Small Craft Advisory in effect until 11:00 a.m. tomorrow with north winds of 30 knots and waves reaching to nine feet from St. Joseph to Manistee.

The sun will rise tomorrow at 8:16 a.m. and set later @ 6:47 p.m.

One of our fur-children, Ginger, has been feeling ill since last night and continuing into today. She is out of sorts, although she is eating and active. At any rate, we have her set to visit her doctor tomorrow morning. We are hoping that Ginger is feeling better overnight, or a run to GR will be required so that a veterinarian can see her there. Fingers crossed.

Last night, Thursday, the southbound run of the train went rolling past on the RSTL @ 10:56 p.m. Locomotives 2025 and 2019 were towing seven CHCs, five DBTCs, and one DWTC.

Since I was up, I observed the northbound run of those same locomotives @ 2:25 a.m. They were running without cars in tow. 

Today, not much was happening. I read a lot, and that's about it. Mary was making appointments and checking to see that our ballots had been received, which they had.

Tomorrow, is another day of indoor chores and the appointment for Ginger. 

Otherwise, not much is happening and we like it that way. In many ways, the Covid-19 isolation has been a blessing, as we can get things done around the manse. However, we can't travel any farther, or is it further, than the amount of time between home and our destination, for obvious reasons. 

That's all folks! Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 1:00 a.m. in "The City."

The NWS is reporting that our current temperature is 46° with rain falling. Surprisingly, they are right for a change. In addition, the temperature feels more like 43° due to a 5 mph wind. 

Today's high is forecast to reach 60° with a 100% chance for rain all day. Tonight's low will only drop two degrees to 58° before Friday's forecast high of 63°. Unfortunately, while that temperature looks like one more opportunity to don my summer uniform, that 63° is accompanied by a rain forecast of 90%. Sigh.

The sun will rise this morning 8:07 a.m. and set this evening @ 6:50 p.m., a scant 10 hours and 43 minutes later.

I was hard at work in the vast gardens of the PE yesterday afternoon while Mary traveled to pick up our groceries, with Ginger riding shotgun. 

As an aside, I wonder when that phrase, "Riding Shotgun" will no longer have any meaning? That phrase refers to the practice from the "Olden Days" that stage coach  lines had a driver with a person carrying a shotgun sitting beside him. That person's function was to carry a shotgun and thus guard the valuables often carried by a stagecoach, from thieves. Like today, the safety of the passengers was of secondary importance. 

At any rate, Mary and Ginger decided to detour to the mostly-deserted City Beach here in GH, so that Ginger could enjoy one of her favorite activities and Mary could have a reason to walk on the sandy shores of the "Big Lake.". Mary only had her Smartphone camera along, but she took some excellent pictures without being able to see the results until later. 

One direction, looking south towards Holland I believe.

The opposite direction, looking north.

Once again, the trains are still on a weird schedule. Early yesterday morning, the trains passed by at first heading southbound @ 12:26 a.m. with locomotives 2025 and 2019 towing seven CHCs, and 18 CGCs. About 3:45 a.m., I heard those same locomotives pass by heading north, by themselves. While I didn't actually observe their passage, I sensed no cars in tow. 

Last evening @ 10:43 p.m., my journeyman assistant trainspotter, Mary, and Ginger, our trainspotting dog, witnessed the passage of that same tandem heading south. While I have no car count to report, I was given to understand that the few cars in tow were heavily loaded. I anticipate that the train will pass by heading north about 2:00 a.m. this morning, when I hope to be in bed. 

Today. with all the rain in the forecast, we'll have time to do some additional reading and TV viewing. 

Last evening before dinner, we watched the first episode from season two of Lark Rise to Candleford and the episode was a real tear-jerker. Our dinner was an excellent homemade pizza.

Since today will be an indoor kind of day, we'll also do some of those things that we should get to on a regular basis. Or not. 

I may get into the kitchen to make more vegan Italian meatballs and Mary has plans to use up some of our leftovers as taco filling. When you make vegan dishes, you often need about one cup of beans from a can that contains more like one and one-half cups of beans. So, you end up with leftover beans of various types. Hence, the taco filling. 

Otherwise, nothing is planned. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 12:30 a.m. in "The City."

We have a current temperature of 47° that feels like 42° with a 10 mph wind blowing. The high temperature today will be 51° and the low will be 43°.

The sun will rise today @ 8:05 a.m. and it will set tonight @ 6:53 p.m.

In between, we will have a continuation of the Small Craft Advisory  that went into effect last night and which will continue until 8:00 p.m. this evening from St. Joseph to Manistee. Wind speeds of 15 - 25 knots with gusts up to 30 knots can be expected, that will produce waves from three to six feet in height.

We voted yesterday using our absentee ballots. We dropped them in the box in front of city hall late yesterday afternoon and then took a short drive through Ferrysburg and Grand Haven's Harbor Island area. Naturally, I took along my camera and got some shots of the leaves in their vibrant fall colors and some pictures of the swans and ducks by Harbor Island and the BLP power plant there.

Near Ferrysburg.

Another location there.

Ducks near the BLP Sims plant.

Swans nearby by in another lagoon.

Same over a longer distance.

We were there, it was there, so...

We returned home to feed the fur-children and watch the last episode of Season 1 of Lark Rise to Candleford before Mary created my dinner of vegan beaf tips and microwave baked potatoes covered in her famous mushroom gravy. She had the last of the vegan Italian meatballs along with her microwave baked potato. She didn't have as much gravy as I did. 

Late Sunday night @ 11:31 p.m., MMRR locomotives 2019 and 2025 went cruising past the manse heading south on the RSTL, towing seven CHCs, and 12 CGCs. Lo and behold, I was just awake enough to observe the passage of those same locomotives as they headed north, towing 15 DBTCs, and four CHCs.

By the by, the southbound run of those same locomotives passed by the manse again this morning @ 12:20 a.m. They were towing seven CHCs, and 18 CGCs. 

Yesterday, we collectively accomplished more indoor chores and I finished the weekend crossword puzzle without any assistance. 

Today, I have to go get my annual blood tests at the hospital. I'd have done that yesterday when I was there for my orthopedist appointment, but the tests require 12 hours of fasting, so I'll be doing that this morning.

Mary may or may not, go to the Fast Lane™ grocery pickup today. We may also take the fur-children for a walkabout. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is nearing 1:00 a.m. in "The City.

I'm going to dispense with my usual format and simply say that the current temperature of 39° under cloudy skies feels like 39°.The sun will rise this morning @ 8:03 a.m., and set this evening @ 6:54 p.m.

There are no active weather watches, advisories, alerts nor warnings in effect at this time.

We had a great walkabout at the Lake Forest Cemetery yesterday afternoon with our fur-children. I took along my camera and captured a lot of pix of the things we observed, some flora and some non-native fauna.

Fall is in full color in the cemetery.

Non-native fauna.

More like a park, than a cemetery.

We hadn't realized that we had left the cemetery property and gone into Duncan Woods until we saw this sign.

As I said, more like a park setting than a cemetery.

A football fan?

An interesting tree.

A similar theme.

STWD sniffing a mum by an unmarked grave.

The opposite side of that football fan's gravesite. 

This tree has had much of its root system exposed by erosion of the dune.

From the earth that it grew upon to the earth shall it return.

This rock is not granite, nor shale, nor marble.

The path through Duncan Woods.

Just because.

Mary pointed out this interesting tree root formation.

We watched two episodes of Lark Rise to Candleford last evening before our dinner of vegan steaks and Coleslaw. Both were excellent. I completed the Friday crossword puzzle with some assistance from Mary. Before we went walkabout, we traveled to the gas station to fill up. Then we returned to the manse, picked up the fur-children and took that excellent safari. I logged about 4,100 steps yesterday, the equivalent of two miles. 

Today, I have an appointment for the fourth of five knee injections. We need to complete our absentee ballots and drop those off too. Otherwise, we have no plans. I have music to play, a book to read and TV to watch. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation  and across the world. It is just past 6:30 a.m. in "The City."

As is often the case here in GH, most of the severe weather warnings have ended. We no longer have a Gale Warning nor a Lakeshore Flood Advisory in the forecast. However, that is subject to change at any time.

As of now, there is only a Small Craft Advisory in effect until 7:00 p.m. this evening with winds up to 30 knots and waves up to 9 feet. 

The sun will rise this morning @ 8:01 a.m. and set this evenin @ 6:58 p.m. 

We worked hard around the manse yesterday. Indoor chores consumed a few hours, but we still found time to read more from Sarah Kendzior's new book, Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America. So far, this story is turning out to be as bad, or as good, as you might expect, depending upon your political persuasion. 

Plus, we found time to watch some inane TV and another episode of our latest BBC show, Larkrise to Candleford. 

Late in the afternoon, we finally decided that the fur-children and ourselves needed to go walkabout, so off we went to the City Beach, where we didn't stop due to the large number of people there to view the strong winds and waves. Instead, we once again journeyed to the cemetery for some exercise and picture taking of the flora and fauna. 

Yes!

Much the same

Just because.

At a far distance, but keenly aware.

Clouds were forming.

The final resting place of some fallen trees. 

Our local branch of the library is named for the Loutit family.

A fitting monument to their importance?

Later, we stopped by at the parking area near Dewey Hill to take some shots of the changes of the season. 

A terrific fall scene.

A different angle.

Wider shot.

Haven Henge in the Vast Gardens, with our Tree Man in the background.

Today, the 1 - 3 Detroit Lions take on the 1 - 4 Jacksonville Jaguars @ 1:00 p.m. EDT. At that same time, the 4 - 1 Bears go against the 3 - 2 Carolina Panthers. 

Otherwise, if the weather forecast proves accurate, we'll be staying indoors and reading. I am undecided on whether to watch the Lions, as they are not looking very good in what may prove to be the last season of the tenure of Head Coach Matt Patricia.

I moved upstairs after dinner to allow Mary to watch her own Bronte story and allow me to watch one of my favorite movies,  Singing in the Rain. Here is one of my favorite scenes from the movie, courtesy of YouTube™. Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1ZYhVpdXbQ

Ciao.