Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 4:45 a.m. in "The City", where the skies are cloudy/rainy, with the NWS forecasting that the rain should end soon. However, the rain may return later in the day. 

The current temperature is 46°, although it feels more like 40° with strong winds out of the southwest
@ 13 mph. The NWS has also continued that Small Craft Advisory until 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, with wind speeds from 10 - 20 knots and possible gusts up to 25 knots producing waves up to six feet in height from St. Joseph to Manistee.

It looks like we are about to enter the "Real" January, with colder temperatures, snow showers, and more winter-like weather conditions.

The sun will rise this morning @ 8:12 a.m. and set later @ 5:37 p.m.

I was excited to hear that once again, Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went down to defeat, this time at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys, 14 - 31. I am so tired of Tom Brady. Face it folks, while he is only 45 years of age, he is no longer the wunderkind of his youth, and he no longer has the support of his previous offensive line nor his coach in New England. Nuff said.

Given that it is now Tuesday, and the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is in the rearview mirror, I'd like to add a few words of my own regarding the legacy of that great man. 

He would have been the first to tell you that he was just a man, albeit a flawed man, one who had no superpowers. However, his message about what mankind needs to do to be more open and accepting, to be truly egalitarian, transcends the few words that the politicians, especially those on the wrong side of the aisle, like to quote.

Dr. King knew that the "Arc of the Moral Universe is long, but it bends towards justice." He said those words knowing that the journey had already been long and that it would be longer still. He knew that until all men and women could enjoy the freedoms promised in the Constitution, that no woman or man would ever be truly free. 

Dr. King's life cannot be distilled down to a few quoted words, nor can he be consigned to a place for men who said much but did little. He needs to be placed high atop his proverbial mountaintop and his words taken in their entirety. He was a man who embraced peaceful resistance, a man who fought for a world without war, a man who prophesized his own death, and a man who put us in a path that we need to follow. 

So, on this post MLK Jr. day, let us renew the promises and pledges made by our slaveholding forefathers in the Constitution, and let freedom ring from the mountaintops, the halls of our capitol, and in every city and town in this country, let us be sure to follow the words left by Dr. King and "Let freedom ring!"

An endnote.

I had an epiphany recently that my baby, Sugar the Weather Dog, had visited me and left me with a few thoughts. 

We both knew it was her time to go, and she said, "I thank you for letting me go even though it hurt you so much." "It hurt me too." "I left you in good paws, with my little sister, Ginger." "Take care of yourselves and be sure to take extra special care of Ginger." She was and is a very special little sister and a very special part of our family." Ciao.