Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. across the nation and across the world. It is just past 4:00 a.m. in "The City." Our current temperature is a very brisk 25° under skies that are cloudy with light snow, although it feels more like 11°, with a strong wind out of the west @ 20 mph!

Sunrise today will occur @ 7:52 a.m., while sunset will happen slightly more than 12 hours later @ 7:54 p.m. The NWS has issued two advisories.

First, is a Winter Weather Advisory calling for Lake Effect Snow, for Central, Southwest, South Central, and West Central MI until tomorrow @ 2:00 a.m., with 40 mph wind gusts and two to four inches of snow accumulation. Slippery driving conditions are expected as a result.

Plus, the NWS has also issued another Small Craft Advisory from St. Joseph to Manistee, from now until 8:00 p.m. tomorrow night. You know the rest.

Yesterday was a great day here at the manse. I got into the kitchen and baked another batch of my soon to be famous vegan chocolate chip cookies. I have it on good authority, that they are very tasty. I have yet to taste them myself, but an initial perusal of their appearance indicates that they should be great! Take a look for yourselves!

Famous Jack's?

We had to wait until later in the day to go out to the library for a drop off and pickup.  At our first stop, we topped off the fuel tank in our Jeep Renegade™ in preparation for my upcoming knee surgery and rehab sessions next Monday and beyond. Then it was off to the Grand Haven State Park and beach area for a photo-op. 

Did I get out of the car? Nope! I stayed inside the vehicle and snapped happily away to avoid the hazards of flying sand and debris propelled by those very strong winds from a Gale Warning that caused huge waves in Lake Michigan and smaller swells in the channel leading to the lake itself. 

Mary had planned to get out with Ginger for a short sojourn on the beach, but once outside the car, she quickly determined that the winds made that an impossibility for both her and our little terrier. So, she hopped back in and maneuvered so that I could get my pix.

A quick snap yielded this great shot of the huge waves crashing over the outer lighthouse.

For perspective, this shot shows the waves and the roiling lake waters. 

This lone surfer was headed for the lake as we left.

The gulls were out in force over the windy lake.

I just liked this shot.

Since Mary and Ginger couldn't go walkabout at the beach, we decided to head over to the Lake Forest Cemetery for less windy walking conditions and more photo-ops for me.

I was going for the texture of this stump, leaves and twigs.

As well as these fallen trees.

It was late enough in the day for the deer to be feeding among the markers.

And patience allowed for this long-range shot of one of those deer.

Lastly we made that aforementioned library stop and then I headed upstairs, where I finally changed the strings on Abagael and then returned downstairs for newspaper reading, crossword puzzles, and dinner, all before a Friday night Hallmark Channel™ Christmas in March movie with Ginger while Mary ear-read and cross-stitched.

Today, we hope to stay indoors and do as little as possible. I hope. That's enough for one session. Ciao.