Good morning or good evening,wherever you may be. It is just past 4:00 a.m. in "The City.

We have a current temperature of 67° under clear skies that will lead to today's high of 78° under partly-cloudy skies. The sun will rise later this morning @ 6:28 a.m. and set later tonight @ 9:13 p.m. Thursday's forecast from the NWS still calls for T-storms in the a.m., but the percentage has been decreased to 60%.

We had a great day yesterday. We had decided to go to Coopersville and visit Across the Tracks, a small store that sells surplus food products. In addition, somewhere in my sleep, I had come up with the idea to have a picnic lunch somewhere near Coopersville. As Mary says, mention a picnic and she's there. A bit of quick internet research by Mary and we found Polkton Township's Sheridan Park. This park, named for longtime resident Dr. Harold (Red) Sheridan, is located along the banks of several creeks, Fox, Beaver, and Deer Creeks, and not surprisingly, the creeks are named for the abundant wildlife that roam the area.

The late Dr. Sheridan, was a local veterinarian who donated the 57 acres to Polkton Township with the understanding that it would be developed into a park where people could participate in physical activity and also enjoy the beautiful scenery.

A committee was established in 2008 to plan and develop the land and the park has been slowly evolving to match Dr. Sheridan's dreams. In April of this year, the pavilion was completed with a barn-raising for the picnic pavilion using materials from old farm barns. Picnic benches, grills, and benches made this an ideal place to have our picnic.

Since we were there with our camera, we took many photos to commemorate our visit.

Ready to picnic!

An aerial map of the park.

Waiting to eat the picnic lunch that Mary put together, that included vegan sausages, Coleslaw, and pickles.

Really, no need for description.

While large wildlife is everywhere, we also saw many small creatures too.

On the way back, we stopped in Conklin, MI at the Conklin Bar, formerly Fenian's Irish Pub. Conklin is home to the self-proclaimed "Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade", and also an Irish Jam session that is held in what is now called the Conklin Bar, every Wednesday night. Sadly, it is just too far for me to travel on dark rural roads. At any rate, here are some photos we took in Conklin, MI.

Conklin is a small Irish farming community founded in 1867, by Oscar F. Conklin

Mr. Conklin convinced the federal government to establish a post office in Conklin and name the town Conklin.

Although the general store that Conklin established around the same time to serve the needs of the area's farmers is now a small grocery store, the grain elevator is still in operation.

On our way out to Coopersville and Conklin, we stopped at the library to get the final signatures on my Beachcomber's Book Bingo card and claim my reward for reading eight books and listening to one CD, for a total of nine items. I took a picture of this year's reward.

Brightly colored, and "Free."

Since it was Tuesday and on Tuesday nights in the summer months there is live music in Central Park courtesy of WGHN 92.1 on the FM dial, and many other sponsors, I decided it was such a great day that the chance to see Uneven Ground, a locals favorite Irish band. The band features Larry Halverson, the organizer of the monthly Irish Jam Sessions that I go to every month, on whistle, flute, and bodhran, along with Tim Staudacher on mandolin and guitar, Courtney Hutson on fiddle and vocals, and Dave Closz on guitar and vocals.Uneven Ground provided some great music. With the aid of my trusty telephoto lens, I took many pictures of the band and the crowd, that included some of the local canine fans that are part and parcel to the the Tuesday's in the Park concert series that is free to everyone.

Says it all!

WGHN has a banana mascot. Why? I don't know.

Too many dogs to show, so this photo is representative of them all.

Uneven Ground.

The crowd was large on this fine summe's evening.

Baseball news yesterday was all losses and one off day, so I'll just skip baseball for yesterday.

Today, the landscapers will be along to finish the parkway. I'll include pictures of the parkway in my next blog, courtesy of our staff photographer, Mary. Otherwise, I have an appointment at the orthopedist to get a recheck on my aching left-shoulder later this morning. I'll be riding my bike and eating lunch at the hospital cafeteria. Ciao.