Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 5:00 a.m. in "The City." That's of course if you reset your clocks for Daylight Savings Time. If you didn't, then it's just past 4:00 a.m.

Worthy of note is the semi-annual setting of my watch for the change in time. It only took me 10 minutes this time. I've set the clocks upstairs, but I won't set the ones downstairs until later this morning.

At any rate, we are still early on Sunday morning and our current temperature is 20°, but it feels like 13°. Once the sun rises @ 8:01 a.m., the high is forecast to reach a zenith of 30° with only a 20% chance of precipitation.

The NWS has issued a Winger Weather Advisory that will be in effect from midnight Monday until 8:00 a.m. Tuesday. The NWS is forecasting a total accumulation of 3" to 5" inches of snow and the corresponding hazardous driving conditions. MDOT the (Michigan Department of Transportation) is urging drivers to allow extra time and adjust speeds accordingly. Gee, there's a surprise.

Yesterday we traveled to Holland to allow Mary to purchase a new pair of indoor shoes for her indoor walking pleasure. Her new shoes are made my a company in Germany and they were highly recommended by our chiropractor for terrific support and long life, i.e. forever.

We had planned this trip following our visit to the chiropractor Thursday afternoon, but as it turns out, Mary wasn't paying attention to Ginger's whereabouts and activities when Mary was indexing Friday while I was out. So, Ginger was downstairs in the dining room using Mary's old slippers as a chew toy/rawhide chew. Mary found Ginger there and Ginger sheepishly fled to her hide-e-hole under the bed upstairs and wouldn't come out when called. We believe that Ginger was upset by my absence. That or she just felt like chewing.

Once we were done in Holland, we headed back north to the Hemlock Crossing Nature Center, a part of the Ottawa, County Park System, to listen and view a presentation about the sinking in the late 1800s of the SS Michigan by Valerie van Heest, the director of the Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates. The story of the sinking and the discovery of the wreck is chronicled in her book Icebound! The adventures of Young George Sheldon and the SS Michigan published in 2008. A fascinating multi-media presentation that is one of the many activities that are available at Hemlock Crossing and many of the parks in the system.

In addition, we took advantage of our being of a certain age and purchased a 2017 pass to any of the parks for the paltry sum of $7.00! Yes, Adam, we can be frugal, but we're not cheap. Why pay the fee of $15.00 for a younger resident of Ottawa, County when you can pay less than one-half as a senior?

We ended our outing with a stop at our favorite watering hole for dinner and then headed home for the daily ritual of freeing Ginger and then outages for both of the fur-children before dinner. Ginger is still in her crate when we are out due to her proclivity for exploratory activities that involve chewing and other potentially dangerous activities.

Today, I'd like to go to the library for another in their Sunday afternoon winter concert series, this one featuring GOTAK, a group of Grand Haven High School orchestra students. This group of students from the freshman to senior level was first organized in 1995 by the school's orchestra director. Here is a link to a video of one of their performances, this one from February of this year @ the Irish Fest in West Michigan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93yz-MgVDwY They are good!

Mary plans to stay behind and get her kitchen organized and perhaps begin "Baby-Proofing" the manse for Ginger. It may never happen that Ginger can be out of her crate while we are out, but we plan to try. As I've mentioned, Ginger is a terrier, and according to the veterinarians on the Pet Files program on WOOD Radio, Ginger may never be able to overcome what are her natural tendencies. One can only hope.

Mary was once again planning to go to Wyoming, MI on Monday for a session of weaving at the yarn shop there, but the Winter Weather Advisory and the snow in the forecast will likely force her to postpone once again, much like the flat tire from one-week ago. Sigh.

That's enough for one day. Ciao.