Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just after 6:00 a.m. in "The City."

The current temperature is 37° under partly-cloudy skies. Today's high is forecast to reach 38°, nearly 15° cooler than yesterday, with mostly-cloudy skies in the morning and sunny-skies in the afternoon. We still expect to see temperatures in the 40s and lower 50s for several more days, with a 90% chance for rain on Sunday. The sun will rise today @ 8:15 a.m. and set later @ 5:16 p.m.

Well, I promised an update on yesterday and now it can all be revealed. I went to the hospital yesterday for some "minor" surgery. It has been 55 or 56 years since the object pictured below came into my life. It finally had became a regular pain, so I had Dr. Richard Baszler of Grand Haven Bone and Joint and Orthopedic Associates of Muskegon perform the necessary surgery for its removal. Dr. Baszler worked with the highly professional staff and nurses of North Ottawa Community Hospital to facilitate my treatment. I spent more time waiting than I did in the OR.

By the by, Dr. Baszler and his associates are my go to orthopedic specialists here in West Michigan. All of my "repairs" have been done by these fine people.

This picture was taken with the able assistance of our Senior Staff Photographer and her Smart Phone. This pellet had not seen the light of day since about 1963 or so.

This 22 caliber pellet had taken up residence in my left-forearm, courtesy of a long-ago friend of my older brother. That "friend" had erroneously believed that the gun that he placed near my arm was unloaded. You know what they say about unloaded guns? At any rate, he had pumped up the gun to show us how powerful it was.

A long time ago, a general practitioner in Illinois had tried to remove this pellet with no success. According to Dr. Baszler, the pellet was not just below the skin, but between the skin, bone, and muscle, making its removal a bit difficult for the rudimentary tools available in the backroom of a general practitioner. At any rate, we plan to make it a regular feature of our annual Christmas tree ornaments.

I was released from the hospital and being as I had fasted we segued to "The Bell" for lunch and then to the grocery store, after which we searched in vain for a car wash that wasn't crowded. Instead, we found ourselves in the back country of Grand Haven, where I took some additional pictures, after which we tool a walk and picture taking session with the fur-children.

We finally headed home for some rest and a fine dinner of lasagna later in the evening. Since Mary had no commercially-made sauce for the lasagna, she did her usual augmentation of tomato sauce, using what I believe were as many spices as she could from her cabinet. I know I was very hungry, but I liked this incarnation the best.

At any rate, here are some of the pix I took after my release.

As we started our walkabout I took this shot of  the GHBLP power plant which will be mothballed forever.

As of yesterday, the only snowman in town belonged to our neighbor.

I just like the way this shot drew my attention down, or is it up, the tracks.

At the Coastal Zone Marina, this boat was tied up at the pier.

Rough and ready?

Looking west, towards home.

Today, we need to do some indoor chores, read more, and maybe paint. I tried playing with the girls last night, but my arm isn't quite ready for that. According to Dr. Baszler, I don't have any restrictions on the use of my arm, just whatever I can tolerate. How prescient can a doctor get?

Later, we'll finish the errands that my waning energy curtailed yesterday. I think that Mary's energy had waned too, as we both got up earlier than expected to accommodate the pre-surgery arrival time that was supposed to be @ 1:00 p.m., but which got moved up to 10:00 a.m. Ciao.