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."

What a great day we had. We got up late, had a nice lunch of salad and vegan burgers, and then settled in for some crossword solving and reading. 

Our snow-removal service came by as we were ready to let the fur-children out after their breakfast, but we managed to squeeze then in before the service moved around to the back forty. It looked from our warm vantage point here in the manse like he had to move between three and four inches of snow.  All good.

In addition, we managed to give a pawdicure to our fur-children. They are getting much more agreeable to the process. That, or they are more attuned to the dental treats that they always get afterwards. Either way, it was not an unpleasant experience.

We have a current temperature of 33° under cloudy-skies, that feels like 25° with a north wind blowing @ 10 mph. Tonight's low will drop to an actual 21° before we rebound to tomorrow's high temperature of 31° under mostly cloudy skies. 

The Small Craft Advisory remains in effect until 4:00 a.m. tomorrow, with wind speeds of 15 to 25 knots and wave heights of one to four feet.

The NWS forecast also includes a barometric pressure of 30.11" and rising, while my DTWS is showing 29.51 inches and falling. The sun will rise tomorrow morning @ 8:00 a.m. and set later @ 5:56 p.m.

We decided to return some books to the library this afternoon and then continue our sojourn around GH for some picture taking. Mary drove and I snapped. A nice division of labor. I have chosen some pix that I like along with a pic of the coal tipple here in GH that I colored yesterday and which I also snapped for comparison. 

My colored pencil drawing. 

The real Coal Tipple.

Of course, the trip took us to many places here in GH. We also traveled to Grand Haven State Park and Harbor Island, and the Lake Forest Cemetery too. As I said, I snapped a lot of pix, so here are a few for your enjoyment.

I captured this gull in flight as we drove through Grand Haven State Park.

This tree is growing, or not, in the Lake Forest Cemetery.

Some of he heavy equipment deconstructing the BLP power Plant on Harbor Island. 

Mary suggested this shot when I was out taking pix of the power plant. It is view under the small bridge leading to the power plant. 

The sun behind the clouds at the State Park.

Another angle on the gull in flight.

Snow covered Dewey Hill.

People bundled up near the catwalk that leads to the lighthouses. 

We settled in for the final episode of Mr. Robot and then a great dinner of acorn squash and vegan sausages. 

We have nothing specific on our agenda for tomorrow. We scoped out the cemetery as a possible walkabout destination. Parking may be an issue, but we think that there are a few places that should work.

Otherwise, more reading, more music, more arts and crafts, etc. 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."

I am taking a short break from watching one of my favorite musicals, The Music Man, starring Robert Preston as Professor Harold Hill and Shirley Jones as Marion the Librarian. As you may know, there is trouble right there in River City and the Music Man is there to solve the problem.

At any rate, we have a current temperaqture of 29° that feels like 17° under cloudy-skies, with a west wind blowing @ 17mph! That wind is part of a Winter Weather Advisory that is in effect until 12:00 p.m. tomorrow and a Small Craft Advisory  that is in effect until tomorrow evening @ 7:00 p.m.

The Winter Weather Advisory was issued by the NWS for south central and southwest Michigan with a possibility of from one to three inches of snow accumulation. The Small Craft Advisory was also issued by the NWS, from St. Joseph to Manistee, with 10 - 20 knot winds and gusts up to 30 knots and waves from one to four feet.

The current official barometric pressure is 30.11" and falling, while my own DTWS is showing 29.48" and rising.

The sun will rise tomorrow morning @ 8:01 a.m. and set later tomorrow evening @ 5:55 p.m.

What did I accomplish today? Well. I finished a crossword puzzle, made more vegan Italian meatballs, and we collectively we watched two episodes of Mr. Robot and two episodes of Wing's. I also did the regular Saturday indoor chores and went out with the fur-children too. 

Last night, I tuned in to a presentation by Mike Amico of Olympus Cameras regarding landscape picture taking. I have a lot to learn. Oh well, I have plenty of time.

Mary made a nice lunch of cottage tofu, macaroni salad, and a green salad of Romaine lettuce. She also made the French dressing too. She incorporated my vegan Italian meatballs into her secret recipe pasta sauce which she served atop mine, Ginger's and STWD's favorite, whole-wheat spaghetti.

Tomorrow, we have to do more grooming on Ginger and grinding on the nails of both of our fur-children. No bath for Ginger.

Right now, I am going back to watching The Music Man and that's about the extent of my ambition. Mary will be downstairs cross stitching and knitting. 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."

Surprisingly, there are no watches, advisories, nor warnings in effect at this time. That's all good as far as I am concerned. I don't know how the fur-children feel about that, because they want to get out on walkabout, but that's the way it goes.

We have a current temperature of 19° that feels like 12° under mostly-cloudy skies with winds out of the northwest @ six mph. The NWS is reporting a current barometric pressure of 30.57' and falling, while my DTWS is showing 29.90" and steady. The sun will rise tomorrow @ 8:03 a.m. and set later tomorrow evening @   5:52 p.m. The day will be mostly-cloudy.

I don't really have a trainspotting report for this blog, as I only witnessed the late-night southbound run last night.

Today, I finished two crossword puzzles and did some coloring. I'd forgotten how relaxing coloring can be.

Brunch today was vegan beans and franks. Dinner was Mary's homemade herbed French fries and my own vegan Italian sausages. Both meals were very tasty, especially when you add the hot sauce to the beans and franks as I did.

For our dinner, the sausage was topped by sautéed onions and green peppers. 

I started a new novel, but I have only just begun my reading, so I don't have an opinion, yet. 

I was out with the fur-children earlier and I decided that the snow provided a chance to try my hand at micro-photography using Mary's Olympus camera set on the microscope mode. Olympus is known as a pioneer in lens development, so their cameras take exceptional microscopic pix. I took a few shots of the snow flakes that had fallen on our deck. 

A very large version of one snowflake.

Another snowflake, but not nearly as magnified. 

Magnified, but not all that much.

I find that pictures can be found in my locations and formats.

Tomorrow,  I hope to continue my coloring, play more music, read more, and do what feels good at the moment. Mary will continue her cross stitch efforts and her knitting. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 10:20 p.m. in "The City."

Truth be told, I'd rather be in bed right now, but I generally try to stay up until the fur-children have had their final out with Mary. So, here I am blogging to use my time more efficiently.

We have a current temperature of 24° that feels more like 14° with winds out of the north @ nine mph. Tonight's low will drop to 18° before we rebound to tomorrow's high of 25° under cloudy skies. 

Speaking of those cloudy skies, I was going to paint this afternoon while the sun was out. But, by the time I was done in the kitchen making more vegan Italian meatballs and sausages, the sun had taken a vacation and I was left to other pursuits here in my studio. So, I replaced my aging keyboard and worked on my harmonica lessons.

But back to the weather. We have a Small Craft Advisory still in effect until 7:00 a.m. tomorrow morning from St. Joseph to Manistee. Winds of 10 to 20 knots and waves from three to five feet in height are part of that advisory, as is a reported barometric pressure of 30.48" and rising per the NWS and 29.86" and falling per my own DTWS.

The sun will rise tomorrow morning @ 8:09 a.m. and set tomorrow evening @  5:51 p.m.

I was awake last night when the southbound run of MMRR  locomotives 2019 and 2170 passed by the manse towing six CHCs, and 10 CGCs. Way earlier this morning, I heard the northbound passage of those same locomotives @ 2:05 a.m. as they soloed or deadheaded on their way back to the northern terminus of the Mid-Michigan RR. 

I had to carve a spot near the curb for our trash bin this afternoon, since the city plows had piled the snow in the spot where the trash bin normally is sited each week. No biggie, since the snow was light and we had not had any rain to turn the snow into ice.

Tomorrow, I  hope to play more music, do more painting, perhaps do some work with my colored pencils, read more, do some crossword puzzle solving, and then collapse. When I actually put it in my blog, it sounds like I have more than enough to do. Oh, I also have to visit the man-cave and change the furnace filter too. Whew, I am tired just contemplating my agenda for tomorrow. 

A side note on life. This Covid-19 pandemic caused the cancellation of my much-enjoyed monthly Coffee and Coloring sessions at the library with Kerry, the Assistant Head Librarian and local artist in residence. I miss those as much as I miss my monthly Irish Jam Sessions with Larry and the other musicians. Sigh. 

Mary has started her newest knitting project, dubbed I believe, a Perky Little Hat. She is continuing to work on my artist's apron too. But, since I have a plain apron already available, I am in no hurry. Shhh, don't tell Mary. 

Otherwise, it should be a quiet day. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 9:45 p.m. in "The City."

We had about four inches of snow between early this morning and early this afternoon. That's just enough to make the deck more difficult for me to traverse. So, I didn't. Instead, I sent the fur-children out on their tether solo and waited for them to return. 

We have a current temperature of 24° that feels like 15° with winds out of the north @ nine mph. That wind is part of the Small Craft Advisory that is in effect until 7:00 a.m. Thursday. Wind speeds of 15 to 25 knots, with gusts up to 30 knots, will cause waves from three to five feet in height from St. Joseph to Manistee. The NWS is reporting a current barometric pressure of 30.16" and rising, while my own DTWS is displaying 29.56" and falling.

The sun will rise tomorrow morning @ 8:05 a.m. and set later @ 5:49 p.m.

Late last night @ 11:05 p.m., I watched MMRR EMD GP-38-2 locomotives 2170 and 2019 pass by on the RSTL heading south, towing 10 CGCs. six DBTCs, and eight CHCs, all loaded. I heard the train pass by heading north @ 5:00 a.m., but I can only tell you that it too was fully loaded and was on the long side of things. 

Today, we had to wait until about 8:30  p.m. before our snow-removal service came by. Apparently, they were very busy today. No surprise there.

We did find time to give our fur-children a pawdicure this afternoon. Both Ginger and STWD are becoming more tolerant of our efforts.

Lunch was hot-dog wraps with canned green beans, one of my personal favorites. The tofu finally thawed out so that Mary could make her special spaghetti Bolognese for dinner. It was very tasty. 

We watched yet another episode of Mr. Robot before dinner and it was very intense. We are enjoying the program more with each episode. During dinner, we watched  Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. We followed that up with more NCIS. Torres and Bishop are smoldering, to say the least.

Tomorrow, we have nothing on our agenda. More reading, more music, more cross-stitching, more crafting, and that's about it. 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 open with the weather conditions for tonight and tomorrow. 

We have a current temperature of 30° under snowy skies, that feels like 21° with winds out of the northwest blowing @ 11 mph. Tonight's low temperature forecast from the NWS calls for 27°.

Tomorrow's high will only climb slightly to 31°, under cloudy skies with a 90% chance for snow accumulations of either three to six inches, or one to three inches. Both of those numbers are from the same source, so take them with a grain of salt. The same source, the NWS, is showing a barometric presure of 29.99" and falling, while my own DTWS is showing 29.39" and rising. So, you should also take those numbers with a grain of salt.

The NWS has issued two advisories for our area. The first is for a Winter Weather Advisory, that calls for that aforementioned three to six inches of snow for parts of South Central and Southwest MI. That is in effect until 4:00 p.m. tomorrow.

In addition, the NWS has also issued a Small Craft Advisory until 10:00 p.m. tomorrow night from St. Joseph to Manistee, Wind speeds are forecast to be between 15 and 20 knots, with gusts possible to 30 knots. Those winds may produce waves of one to four feet in height. 

We groomed and bathed Ginger yesterday afternoon. She is getting used to it, or she has resigned herself to the inevitability of the process. Either way, she looks much better.

I had gone to bed last night when my Journeyman Train Spotter recorded the southbound passage of the train on the RSTL MMRR locomotive 2170 was soloing at the head of many DTCs, mostly black. 

I heard the northbound run around 3:00 a.m. today, but I was quite content to stay snug and warm in our bed.

Today, Mary made a run to that big-box nearly everything store with her wing gal riding shotgun. Afterward, they drove through the Lake Forest Cemetery on the way home, but too much ice on the roads prevented their doing any walking.

I stayed home and worked on my paintings in my studio. I like how they are going. Not nearly done, but I am making progress. 

Lunch today was hot dog wraps with a side salad, while dinner was fresh broccoli with vegan cheese sauce as a side to my vegan Italian burgers. Both meals were excellent. 

Mary had hoped to make a spaghetti Bolognese for dinner tonight, but the tofu had not thawed, so that looks like one of tomorrow's meals.

I spent most of my time reading my latest novel while the girls were out. I also finished a crossword puzzle when Mary and Ginger returned with some assistance from Mary.

Tomorrow is indoor chore day. I altos hope to read more, play more music, and continue my retirement. Mary got her newest knitting needles today. As is often the case, she did not have the right size needles for her next project. I don't know how that is possible, because she has every size needle imaginable. But it is what it is. 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."

I was a baker today after solving a crossword puzzle and doing some reading. Oh, I sandwiched in some dusting of the manse earlier today too. I have more dusting to go, but I got the entire upstairs done today. Tomorrow, along with our indoor chores, I will finish the dusting downstairs, makes some vegan Italian burgers, and then retire.

At any rate, I made more of my famous Funfetti cookies today. Once again, I wouldn't change a thing. They turned our perfect, two dozen of the best cookies ever baked!

Mmmmm Good!

Of course, Mary had to out do me for dinner, with some leftovers and some fresh mushrooms. She took some rice I had made for my stir-fry the other day, combined it with her special recipe vegan mushroom gravy and added in my soon to famous vegan Italian meatballs and dinner was delicious.

A picture can't do her efforts justice, but rest assured, it was great!

But. as long as I am on a roll, let me reference a second roll, that of the train on the RSTL.

Last night @ 11:29 p.m., I watched MMRR locomotives 2170 and 2019 roll rapidly past, towing nine CHCs, three DBTCs, one DWTC, and 11 CGCs.

I thought I heard the return of those locomotives around 5:00 a.m. this morning, but they actually didn't appear outside my window until 6:19 a.m. Both locomotives were "Deadheading" as they returned to their northern terminus.

I did find time in between to do my regular rounds downstairs and also get started on that aforementioned dusting. This is the biggest house we have ever owned, and it takes a long time to do the cleaning well.

We have a current temperature of 21° that feels like 10° with a 10 mph wind out of the north. That wind is propelling a Small Craft Advisory until 3:00 a.m. tomorrow from St. Joseph to Manistee. Wind speeds of 20 to 20 knots and wave heights of six to 10 feet will make it very hazardous to be out on Lake Michigan in a small boat. But, I am relatively certain that the wave-boarders will be out anyway.

Tonight's overnight low will drop to an actual 23° before we rebound to tomorrow's high of 29° under partly-cloudy skies. The NWS is reporting a barometric pressure of 30.22" and rising, while my own DTWS is showing 29.63" and falling. The low-temperature tomorrow night will be 25°. The sun will rise tomorrow @ 8:09 a.m. and set later tomorrow evening @ 5:44 p.m.

So, I have my work cut out for me tomorrow. I have those indoor chores, the dusting, crafting more vegan Italian burgers, and working on my music. I now know for certain why my late mother-in-law, Eleanore, used to say she was so busy. You have more time, but work actually expands to fill up that time when you couple it with a desire to pursue hobbies.

Mary is hard at work on my artist's apron and other things, so she is facing some of the same types of time demands. Oh well.

I should mention that we are signed up to receive Covid-19 vaccinations, but here in our county and state, the vaccine is in short supply. We'll jut have to be patient. Ciao. 

Good mornig or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 9:15 p.m. in "The City."

We had a nice brunch this afternoon that consisted of some vegan chik'n that I'd made last week and which Mary converted into nice mix of celery and herbs, atop some Bibb lettuce and sliced mushrooms. 

Excellent!

After brunch, I worked two crossword puzzles before I came upstairs to do some painting and play some music.

So there I was, sitting in my studio after painting playing with Blue, my Ovation™ six-string guitar, when Mary popped in and said the she was being "pressured" by the fur-children for a walkabout. I can emphasize with them, as they don't get out much during the snow/winter months.

I was open to suggestion, as I'd just finished adding some things to the painting that I'm working on here in my studio. So I came downstairs. Mary got to a stopping point on my artist's apron, and we "Dressed" the fur-children and set out. We had two options, the Grand Haven State Park or the North Beach Park, if we found that the Grand Haven State Park was not suitable. Fortunately, the State Park was fine, so we parked there, unloaded our fur-children, and Mary grabbed her camera and we went walkabout.

Here are some pix she took during our visit, as personally selected by our Senior Staff Photographer herself. 

The waves were crashing over the South Pier and the outer lighthouse.

Mary thinks that she was a Druid or a wood-nymph in a previous life. She loves these shots. 

The Gale Force Winds last night made interesting changes to the beach sands. 

A beautiful shot of the sky later in the afternoon. 

Mary framed this shot using the ranger's hut.

Last night, around 11:20 p.m., Mary espied the train passing by heading south on the RSTL. She thought there were two locomotives, but I believe that there was only one. She did espy some CHCs, and some CGCs, but was unable to make an accurate count.

At 4:49 a.m., I was awake and heard the train approaching from the south and heading north. I jumped out of bed, gazed out the WW in my studio, and saw MMRR locomotive # 2019 passing by towing 20 CHCs, and seven DBTCs. It was that observation that led me to believe that when she saw the southbound run that only one locomotive was passing by.

By the by, it is usually this time of year when I start to get excited about the upcoming MLB™ season. But this year, only a few teams have listed any dates for pitchers and catchers to report and none of my teams are among those. With the Covid-19 Pandemic still in full force, I am having a difficult time getting excited. Sigh.

We have a current temperature of 37° under cloudy skies that feels more like 27° with winds out of the west @ 18 mph. Tonight's low will drop to 23°. That wind has caused the NWS to to issue yet another Small Craft Advisory from St. Joseph to Manistee. 15 - 25 knot winds will blow, with gusts up to 30 knots until 3:00 a.m. Saturday. Those winds were producing waves on on Lake Michigan when we visited and the NWS is forecasting wave heights up to 10 feet!

Tomorrow, the high temperature will only reach 25° under cloudy-skies. The low temperature will drop to 21°. The sun will rise @ 8:09 a.m. and set later in the day @ 5:43 p.m.

Our plans for tomorrow call for me to make another batch of my vegan Funfettti cookies. I had considered chocolate cupcakes, but Mary thinks I should make those cookies. Who am I to argue?

Otherwise, I want to read more, play more music, and relax. We may get to grooming Ginger, but I am not all that thrilled by that prospect right now. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation  and across the world. It is just past 8:45 p.m. in "The City."

I was out with the fur-children after their dinner and while STWD was her usual self, sniffing and wandering, Ginger was more curious and had to explore more with her nose, hence the following picture. 

If you look closely, you can see that her muzzle is ice-encrusted.

We had about three to four inches of snow overnight, Fortunately, our snow-removal service arrived early this morning and cleared the front porch, the deck, and the driveway. All I had to do was clear the area where the fur-children go to each day and an area where our trash bin has to be placed near the curb.

We have a current temperature of 30° that feels like 16° with a 27 mph wind out of the south. That wind is part of the Gale Warning issued by the NWS for the shores of the "Big Lake", from St. Joseph to Manistee that is in effect until 1:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. That warning comes due to winds of 45 knots and waves with heights reaching from 10 to 14 feet! In addition, that  Gale Warning has caused the NWS to issue another Lakeshore Flood Advisory until 2:00 a.m. tomorrow, for Mason, Muskegon, Oceana, and Ottawa counties, also on the shores of Lake Michigan.  

Tomorrow's high is forecast to reach 37° with an overnight low of 24° and winds of 21 mph! 

We started our day early today, arising in time to view the inauguration of our 46th President Joseph R. Biden Jr., and our 49th Vice-President. Kamala D. Harris. We watched the ceremony and the parade afterward.

I found time to make more of my soon to be famous vegan Italian meatballs which became part of our dinner atop Chickapea noodles and incorporated into Mary's secret recipe pasta sauce. 

Mostly, we watched the inauguration, but I also found time to begin my latest painting here in my studio. So far so good. More to go, but I like the basic format that I've begin. 

I read a little too. Mary began to cross-stitch on my new artist's apron, since her supply of floss arrived today. Oh, I had to play a human yarn swift for a knitting project she wanted to begin. However, as is too often the case, she doesn't have to right size needles. So, I guess that she'll be ordering those from somewhere. 

Tomorrow, we have no need to get up too early, that assumes that the fur-children go out late enough tonight. I want to play some music, do more painting, and do more reading too. Mary has a myriad number of pursuits in her quiver too. Ciao. 

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

I was lying in bed trying to go back to sleep, when what to my wondering ears did appear, but the northbound run of the train on the RSTL. I'd already gone to bed late last night when I heard the train rumble past @ 11:15 p.m. Fortunately, my Trainspotting Intern was letting our fur-children out and espied both MMRR EMD GP38-2 locomotives, #s 2170 and 2019, passing by solo, heading south.

What I observed through the WW/Trainspotting window near 4:00 a.m., was those same locomotives passing by towing 56 Covered Gondola Cars.

Here's a bit of extra information that you probably have no need to know, but which I found interesting. Each of those CGCs has an empty weight of 68,300 lbs. and a loaded weight of 286,000 lbs. So, if those cars were empty, the cars alone would weigh 3,824,000 lbs. If they were loaded, as I believe they were, they would weigh 16,016,000 lbs. Each EMD GP38-2 locomotive can pull 28,000,000 lbs., which equals 14,000 tons, so those two locomotives combined could easily pull that amount of weight. 

I found this image on the internet which is similar to the I saw cars passing by the manse. 

But as usual, I digress.

We have a current temperature of 29°, our overnight low temperature, that feels like 17° with winds out of the west @ 17 mph. Today's high will reach 28° under skies that will be cloudy all day. In addition, the NWS in GR has issued three separate and distinct Advisories, Watches,  and/or Warnings for the Tri-Cities area. However, as is often the case, those come with their own set of caveats. 

The first is a Small Craft Advisory from St, Joseph to Manistee, with winds of 15 to 25 knots and waves of three to six feet in height until 1:00 p.m. Wednesday. That Small Craft Advisory  will be superseded by a Gale Watch for that same stretch of the lakeshore from 1:00 p.m. Wednesday until 1:00 a.m. Thursday, with winds of 20 to 30 knots and possible gusts to 40 knots that may produce waves from eight to 12 feet in height! The surf will be up here on the shores of the Third Coast. 

In addition, the NWS has issued a Winter Weather Advisory from 3:00 p.m. today until 4:00 a.m. Wednesday, with hazardous driving conditions and snow accumulations from two to four inches with some localities receiving more. However, that forecast for snow also comes with a 50% probability, so who really knows?

At any rate, the only outdoor activity we have on tap for today is a book pick up at the library. Otherwise, we plan to say indoors and do some indoor chores, some crossword solving, some playing of music, some reading, and some craft-type activities. 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."

We had a rather pedestrian day today. We arose late, ate a brunch of vegan hot dog wraps with a side salad, and worked a crossword puzzle, all while as we watched the laundry spin and dry. 

We have a current temperature of 36° that feels like 28° with a wind blowing out of the northeast at 13 mph.

There is a mixture of rain and snow falling outside the WW right now and the fur-children are in no particular hurry to go outside. 

We have a Small Craft Warning in effect until 1:00 p.m. tomorrow that is producing windspeeds of 15 - 25 knots and waves from three to six feet in height from St. Joseph to Manistee.

Our overnight low will drop to 32° before we rebound to tomorrow's high of 36° under cloudy-skies. We also have a reported barometric pressure of 29.63" and rising per the NWS and 29.06: and falling per my own DTWS

The sun will rise tomorrow @ 8:13 a.m. and set tomorrow evening @ 5:36 p.m. 

I convinced Mary to make one of her delicious vegan spaghettirole casseroles for dinner as we watched the end of the Green Packers victory over the LA Rams, 32 - 18.

Mostly, we did nothing, which is fine by me. We both wish that we could travel more, but that will have to wait until the Covid-19 pandemic is over. 

Tomorrow, I hope to get to more music and more reading. Mary will try to read more too. 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."

Our current outdoor temperature is 40°, but it feels like 33° with an 11 mph wind blowing out of the east. Tonight, the low-temperature forecast from the NWS calls for 35°.

In addition, it is raining now and the rain will continue throughout much of tonight and into the early morning hours, before changing to a mix of rain and snow, and then all snow before 6:00 a.m. 

That's before we get just cloudy skies all day tomorrow when the high temperature forecast from the NWS calls for 38° under those cloudy skies and an overnight low of 34°. My DTWS is showing a barometric pressure of 29.00" and rising, while the NWS in GR is reporting 29.56" and falling.

The sun will rise tomorrow @ 8:14 a.m. and set later in the evening @ 5:34 p.m.

It was a good thing that Mary and I decided to go driveabout earlier today. We left our fur-children at home because sometimes, we need some time without them. 

Once again, we traveled to North Beach Park in Ferrysburg for a lot of walking and picture taking. Well we both walked and I took the pictures, some from atop the adjacent catwalk atop the dunes. . 

The picnic shelter is empty in the offseason. 

This stairs and catwalk was across a local street.

We went up this stairs for picture taking.

The lighthouses on the south pier in GH, as shot through the picnic shelter. 

At first, we didn't know what we were seeing, but we realized that these were footprints left by an earlier visitor who packed down the sand. Later, the winds eroded the loose sand around them. 

Taken from the parking lot at North Beach Park looking east.

We had walked to the north end of the parking area where I took this shot.

Same here.

With the loose sand and some ice, the steps were indeed slippery. 

I like how the trees form a nice frame for this section of catwalk. 

Also taken from the north end of the parking area. 

Mostly, we worked some crossword puzzles, had a lunch of hot dog wraps with the potato salad Mary made last night from those aforementioned pink-pulp potatoes. For dinner, I had more of my squash and kale soup, while Mary had a salad topped by her homemade French dressing, baby portabella mushrooms, and my vegan pepperoni.  

Before dinner and before President-Elect Joseph R. Biden II spoke to the nation, we watched one of three available episodes of a BBC series on Amazon Prime, entitled Lorna Doone. We like these period pieces from the BBC. 

Tomorrow, we once again have no specific plans. I am getting more familiar with my photo manipulation software, so I probably will keep it. That looks like 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 9:00 pm. in "The City."

Another day has nearly drawn to a close. Let's see what happened while we weren't looking. 

Our illustrious POTUS was impeached, for the second time, a feat never before accomplished. 

We made some vegan burgers that while not a complete failure, were certainly not the equivalent of my vegan Italian burgers. In fact, this was a recipe that should not be repeated and should be consigned to the ash heap of history.

We traveled to the Grand Haven State Park campground for a walkabout with our fur-children where I took numerous pictures.

We had a lunch that finished the last of my vegan bratwursts accompanied by my Coleslaw.

We watched another episode of Mr. Robot, another episode of Wings, and episodes of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, with guest host Ken Jennings, a former contestant. Yeah, it was a busy day.

I'll post some of our walkabout pictures here.  

One angle of an anchor buried at the campground.

I took this shot of the sun over the top of the playground at the campground. 

Mary and Ginger went walking?

I wondered how a picture of Lake Michigan, shot through the closed ranger station, would turn out. 

Same buried anchor, a different focal length and shooting position. 

Tracasauras Rex tracks?

A change in camera settings for this shot of the sun.

The sand moved by the winds at the beach.

A bit of scrub grass nearby.

Still another camera setting for this picture of the sun and the lake.

A random shot of a lone gull against the sun.

All in all, a great chance for some great pix.

By the by, I am still learning the photo modification software I downloaded on a free trial basis a few days ago. If I can master a part of the software that interests me the most, I'll be keeping it beyond the trial period.

We have a current temperature of 39° that feels like 33° with south winds of 10 mph. According to the NWS in GR, there is alight rain falling and my view out the WW confirms that part of their prognostications. My DTWS shows a barometric pressure of 29.15" and rising, while the NWS is reporting 29.74" and steady. Being on the shore of the "Big Lake" changes many things.

As a side note, when we were on walkabout, the waves pounding the shore sounded a great deal like ocean waves. Maybe that's why the five "Great Lakes", of which Lake Michigan is one, are often called the "Inland Ocean."

I nearly forgot. Mary stopped by to tell me about her adventures in the land of potatoes. She decided to cook some potatoes we got from Doorganics™. It turns out that they have some red marbling in their pulp. Concerned, Mary went to the Google Search™ and learned that this is a variety of potato that is rarely if ever seen in a grocery store. However, they have less starch and more of the good nutrients that potatoes provide. 

Tomorrow, we have no specific plans. I hope to spend more time learning that photo modification software, more time reading, more time learning the harmonica, and more time being retired. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 6:45 p.m. in "The City."

We just finished watching another episode of Mr. Robot and in this case, truth really is stranger than fiction. I'll let you ponder on that tonight.

We had a relatively pedestrian sort of day. We got up late, the vacuum cleaner exploded, well not an actual explosion, but the inner bag came loose and the inside of the bag case was filled with all sorts of debris that had to be removed and cleaned.

I finally started my latest novel and after a few pages of uncertainty, I am good with it, at least so far.

I got up early this morning to play harmonica and my baritone ukulele. In both cases, I was sounding good, including my singing. I guess it all depends on the day of the week.

It was once again indoor chore day and I accomplished those with little problem. Mary says that I get enjoyment out of doing the laundry, which I do, in some odd fashion, I doubt that she'll complain.

We have a current temperature of 36° under cloudy skies with only a 5% chance for precipitation. The wind out of the south @ 10 mph makes it feel like 29°. The NWS is reporting a barometric pressure of 30.03" and steady, while my own DTWS is showing 29.41: and also steady. Our overnight temperature will be an actual 34°.

Tomorrow's high temperature forecast from the NWS calls for 39° under cloudy skies with an overnight low of 34°.

We had a nice lunch today of salad and pan-fried tofu with tartar sauce. I liked both the entrée and the side salad. 

Mary made the vinaigrette dressing for the salad, the tartar sauce for the tofu and the coating for the tofu itself. 

I stayed behind whilst Mary and her wing gal went to the grocery store and the campground that is currently closed for the season at the Grand Haven State Park. I am given to understand, that Ginger liked walking in the semi-frozen sand nearby.

I hope to be able to make progress on a trial version of some photo editing software that I am contemplating purchasing. However, if I cannot make more headway than I currently have, I won't be making that purchase. I'm too old to learn the ins and outs of tricky software. 

Otherwise, we have no plans for tomorrow. More music, more reading, perhaps a crossword puzzle or two and that's about it. The sun will rise tomorrow @ 8:14 a.m. and set tomorrow evening @ 5:32 p.m. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 8:45 p.m. in "The City."

Well, we did it again. We watched the Bears lose another game this year, this one to the Saints in an NFL playoff game, 9 -21. The first half  was semi-competitive, but the second half was dominated by the Saints. Oh well, once a Bears fan, always a Bears fan. Wait until next year. Oh wait, that's the saying that goes with the Cubs who were last in the World Series™ in 2016. 

We went on a driveabout today in order to drop-off some books at the library and also to drop off a package for a return. We also needed to purchase some gasoline for our car. It was after that gasoline stop that we took an extended trip through the township and GH itself.

I took some pix of items that interested me and so I'll include them here.

Here in GH, the price for gasoline is hovering between $2.01 and $2.04 per gallon

Sluka Field was supposed to be the home of the Grand River Loggers. Now it is just a dream.

Although the ice cover is not strong, this shot captured the winter in the township quite well. 

Near the dog park in GH is this empty playground.

I love industrial pix. 

I believe that this is the oldest swinging railroad bridge in Michigan. 

At more of a distance. 

Near that bridge, are these fuel storage tanks and gravel piles.

At home, we just have piles of snow.

Our lunch was a mix of chickpea salad, Coleslaw, and chik'n with veggies on rye for me and a bun for Mary. Dinner was bean and onion enchiladas ala Mary, as we watched some inane TV to escape the Bears fiasco.

We have a current temperature of 31° that is supposed to be accompanied by foggy conditions, but there is no fog visible out the WW. It feels like 26° with a wind out of the north @ five mph. Our low tonight is forecast to drop to 29°. Tomorrow's high temperature forecast from the NWS calls for 33° under mostly cloudy skies before the overnight low temperature of 32°. Also tomorrow, another Small Craft Advisory has been issued by the NWS from 1:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. Tuesday. Wind speeds of 15 to 25 knots may produce waves from three to six feet in height. 

The sun will rise tomorrow @ 8:15 a.m. and set tomorrow evening @ 5:29 p.m.

We finished a crossword puzzle before our driveabout and that was about the extent of our ambition today.

We hope that tomorrow brings more ambition along with some music, reading, painting, and other crafty things. Ciao.