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", where the current temperature is 32° under skies being reported by the NWS as foggy. However, a glance out the WW shows it to be clear and dark. Of course, once the sun rises today @ 7:55 a.m. and long before it sets @  5:11 p.m., I may get to see that fog. 

The NWS is reporting that the wind is out of the northwest @ five mph, which means that the "Real Feel" temperature is 25°. We have reached our overnight low-temperature of 31° before we rebound to today's forecast high-temperature of 43° with an above freezing low-temperature of 33° later tonight.

The NWS has extended that Small Craft Advisory from St. Joseph to Manistee until 12:00 a.m. tomorrow, with wind-speeds of 30 knots and waves up to seven feet.

I stayed home yesterday afternoon while Mary went out to drop off Ginger for a grooming appointment, a stop at the small-box grocery store, and a visit to one of Mary's favorite hiking places, Hofma Preserve. I have it on good authority that she got lost in the woods at Hofma. Maybe John Muir was right when he famously said, "Into the woods I go, to lose my mind and find my soul." While there, Mary used the camera in our Smart Phone to snap a picture of a woodpecker in a tree. We're not 100% sure of the type of woodpecker, but we think it was a Dryocopus or Pileated Woodpecker, which though rare, is native to Michigan.

Against the leaden sky as the snow moved in, it was hard to tell the species. 

Here is a color picture of that type of woodpecker, courtesy of Green Nature™ and Google Images.

At any rate, Mary came back to me after a little guidance from another couple hiking in those woods and a bit of luck. We watched the end of the fall leaf clean-up as the crew removed the last of the leaves that had blown in from Central Park. Mary had to go back out to pick up Ginger and on the way home, they detoured to our auxiliary garden plot to check to see if there had been any visitors digging up our garlic. None had.

Mary came home with Ginger and Mary then assisted in the final set-up of our Christmas tree. I had left the final arrangement and very decorative placement of the items on the nearby credenza that we like to display for the Christmas holiday, many of which were handmade by us. That was back in the before-times, when we could get out and go to Hemlock Crossing for their annual create your own ornament session. Once again, the Covid-19 pandemic that is raging here in Michigan got in the way. I don't have any pix of the tree, yet, as they will wait for the placing of our outdoor displays later today. See the next blog for those.

Earlier yesterday, I finished one novel, played my guitar, set-up the Christmas tree, and took STWD for a short walk. That was about the end of my energy reserves. Mary did make more of her world famous secret ingredient pasta sauce in the Crockpot™ which she started when she came home and which we enjoyed for dinner with some of my vegan Italian meatballs.

Today, all that awaits me are those outdoor decorations and more music and reading. Mary is still listening to a book and cross-stitching. Ciao.