Good morning GH. Well I made it until 4:00 AM and the current temperature is 63 cloudy degrees. Those T-storms that were on the map for yesterday never materialized. Turns out I was right on that one. Oh well, it has been cool enough that I won't have to water today. The clouds are irrelevant.

Sugar the Weather Dog is finally sleeping soundly, so there are no storms in her personal forecast nor in that of the National Weather Service. Mary said again yesterday that here in GH we are in a "sweet spot" when it comes to the weather. Big snow storms mostly miss us, large amounts of rain and other rough weather too. What's not to like?

On Friday, Sugar and I took a morning walk and then Mary and I went to the library. In the afternoon, Mary worked some and I played some. Sugar slept some and then we went for an afternoon walk. A regular day.

I should mention that before the morning walk, I managed to break another toe. I have broken them before in other locations, but it seems to be happening more here. I think it is my own clumsiness, a thought with which Mary would probably agree.

If you get a chance, stop in and view Mary's blog at http://marygoeswalking.blogspot.com/. The pictures are great, and in them you can see some of the things that I mentioned and many of the things that I didn't. In fact, she got a picture of the Bowden Spacelander bicycle that was made here in GH. I was perplexed as to why of the 522 Spacelanders that were ultimately produced, two were in a museum in Muskegon. Now I know that they were produced in both cities for a few short months in the early 1960s. If you want to know more, follow this link to the Grand Haven Tribune. I strongly urge you to do so.

http://www.grandhaventribune.com/article/mailbag/612236

Otherwise, not much was happening yesterday. I played and listened to some music, did some highlighting for Mary and enjoyed...Tea time on the GH channel. That was Mary's suggestion, and it turned out to be a good one. Sugar was probably wondering why she came outside with us as she didn't get to go for her first walk until after noon.Mary and I did walk to the Post later in the day and met several of the regular people who frequent there. Sally was Sally as were the others, no change and that's good. That's one of the reasons that Mary often says, "I love this ....town"

Today, we start out with a trip to Grand Rapids and then maybe a stop at the Farmer's Market there. That market is expanding every week. Then it's home for the afternoon Irish Jam Session at the library. I'm not ready to try out my whistle in public yet, but maybe in a few months. Otherwise I anticipate that now that fall is here, the attendance at the jams will pick up. With the summer camping season and other factors in play, fewer musicians are able to come to the sessions.

In sports, the boys in blue fell to the Braves 5 - 9. I hope I wasn't wrong predicting that they wouldn't lose 100 games this year. The Tigers beat that other team from Chicago,12 - 5.They still haven't clinched a spot in the playoffs, but Max Scherzer got his 20th win. It will take a win by the Tigers and a win by the Astros over the Tribe to make it all come together. My beloved Red Sox did manage to clinch, beating the Blue Jays 6 - 3.

So that's about it for now. I hope that you get a chance to look at Mary's blog and to check out that web site for the Grand Haven Tribune. When I was young, we had a local newspaper in Arlington Heights, IL, The Arlington Heights Herald, whichI think became the Daily Herald. In fact, that newspaper was so successful, that a competitive paper came into circulation for a few years, The Arlington Day. That paper was independent for a while, but was ultimately absorbed by the Chicago Tribune I believe. The Chicago area had a great newspaper tradition, giving us such great writers as Mike Royko. Ciao.

Good early morning GH. I fell asleep watching a movie last night, so when I awoke, I knew it was time for bed. But as you can tell, that didn't last all that long. It is now just past 2:30 AM. Our current temperature is 71 degrees as we approach a high of 75. When I got up, Sugar the Weather Dog was in her hide-e-hole, AKA the upstairs bathroom, so I knew that the predicted storms would soon be here.

Speaking of Sugar the Weather Dog, due to the T-storms we had early yesterday, I had a hard time getting her out for her morning constitutional. She did show up in the kitchen before noon yesterday, but when I said "let's go for a walk," she hightailed it back upstairs. I think it was about 1:00 PM before she had to give in and we took a quick walk to the bookstore for a copy of the newspaper.

Yesterday was interesting. I did a good job blanching our 1/2 bushel of tomatoes. When I was done, I had this bowl of tomato skins and I thought that it would be wasteful to just toss them. So Mary went to the trusty internet and found a way to turn them into tomato sauce. With a little assistance from our blender, the sauce turned out great. Now Mary thinks that she can do it with whole tomatoes. We'll find out I guess.

I ended up with six quarts of tomatoes from that 1/2 bushel. Mary and I decided that we don't get enough sun here on the palatial estate for many crops, like tomatoes, so next growing season we plan to stick with crops that require less sunlight. Most of the cold weather crops like kale and Swiss Chard grow just fine with limited sunlight, so that looks like the way to go. The other crop that grows well is horseradish. I think that stuff is like a weed, but I like it. We did okay with cauliflower and celery too, so maybe those are possibles. Lettuce and cabbage grow well too. I think there is a theme here. Low sun, cool temperatures, etc.

Today, I have to read some, and play some, and just generally have a good time some. Thanks to Robert Fulghum for the thematic way I was able to string those thoughts together.

In sports, the boys in blue were able to finally beat the Brewers. Final score, 5 - 1. If my math is right, they won't lose 100 games this year. When you are a Cubs fan you have to go with what they give you to work with. The Tigers just got past the Mariners, 5 - 4. I think it was that tortilla chip that Prince got from that fan in the right field stands, because his sprint and his slide into home was a beautiful thing to behold. My beloved Red Sox beat the Orioles to clinch a playoff berth. Unfortunately, they are in the American League, so I have to divide my loyalties between the Tigers and the Sox. Oh well, that's better than having no horse in the race.

So that's about it for now. Time to go back to bed and time to do as little as possible today. I guess that just leaves..Tea time. Ciao.

Good stormy morning GH. We have just passed 5:30 AM here in "The City" and Sugar the Weather Dog has repaired to her hide-e-hole. That's because it is T-storming here. I can't say as I blame her. This is our share of the 30% for today. Tomorrow it is supposed to be an 80% share and it probably won't storm. that's how it works here. Our current temperature is 69 degrees as we aim for a high of 83. That would be the highest day this week.

On Thursday, Mary and I went on safari to the farm stand that we really like. We got a bushel of various squashes and a half bushel of Roma tomatoes. Those are my work for later today instead of riding my bike.

I think I know what went wrong last time. Mary says that if I get in trouble, she will be here to help. Apparently blanching can be more difficult than you think. I am going to try to solo once again as she has her own work to do. I found out that knowing what to do and actually doing it are worlds apart.

Hopefully before the tomatoes, Sugar and I can go for a walk. We took a long walk yesterday morning in anticipation of today's storms, because a walk may not come to fruition. That's life in the big city. Otherwise I just started a new book that is set in Captiva and Sanibel, twin islands in Florida. When we were there several years ago, the captain of a sailboat told us that the two were one island that was split by a hurricane. The book looked interesting when I was at the library the other day. I am trying to branch out to other authors if not necessarily genres. Also, more music.

In sports, the boys in blue are still rebuilding. They lost to the Brewers 0 - 7. The Tigers got hammered by the Mariners, 0 - 8. Just when I thought Verlander was back to his old self, he took a real pounding. My beloved Red Sox fell to the Orioles 3 - 5 in spite of a homer by Big Papi. Jake Peavy says his "stuff" is getting there now that he is using a lower arm angle. Much as I admire his talent, I know that he was struggled through several teams with injuries. Oh well, we'll have to take what we can get.

Otherwise, not much on tap for the day. Since I have now finished my household chores for the week and watering is not necessary, I should be able to get some other things done that I want and need to do. So as I await...Tea time and the dawn of a new day, I'll be saying Ciao for now.

Good morning GH. It has just passed 5:30 AM in "The City" and the current temperature is a slightly warmer 56 dark degrees as we head for our high of 78 sunny degrees. Thursday we expect a high of 83 with a 30% chance of T-storms and Friday the chance increases to 80% with a high of 78. I can pretty much guess where Sugar the Weather Dog may be on those days.

On Tuesday we journeyed to Holland to pick up a poster we had framed. It looks great on the wall in the media room. While in Holland we stopped for gas and used our discount coupons to get an additional twenty cents off per gallon. When you have a gas guzzler like we do, you have to watch your pennies. We saved nearly $2.00 to fill our nearly empty tank. Afterwards, we came back and had dinner at one of the local places. Then home for relaxing with a crossword for me and knitting for Mary. We also spent some time on the GH channel in our new rockers watching the world go by with Sugar.

Today I may get to that vacuuming that I was going to do yesterday. More music of course, and then some reading. Sugar will need to get in some walks too, since Thursday is iffy and Friday is probably out of the question. Otherwise, not much on tap.

In sports, the boys in blue once again fell to their nemesis to the north, the Brewers. Jeff Samardzja pitched a great game, only to give way to an ineffective reliever, 3 - 4. The Tigers neatly handled the Mariners 6 - 2, on the strength of a still hitting Miguel Cabrera. My beloved Red Sox fell to the Orioles 2 - 3, but their magic number is three. The Blackhawks had an exhibition game against the Red Wings and won 2 - 0 in Chicago.

As an aside, I was listening to the radio station that Mary likes, and they were discussing the Kennedy assassination. When they did a commercial for the Peace Corp, they used the phrase, "What if?" What if President Kennedy didn't go to Dallas? What if he had taken a trip to another city? It set me to thinking about taking the road less traveled. Life is a series of choices and those you make, and some you don't, can have a transformative  effect on your life. Changes often come with uncertain outcomes, but once they are in motion, sometimes you either have to put on the brakes or ride the tiger. I'm certain that I did a bit of both. Moving to our adopted state was a choice we made and it has worked out great.

So that's enough reflecting for now. Too much can make you crazy. So time to get back to bed and sleep in until it is...Tea time. Ciao.

Good morning GH. This is a special blog that contains some of my reminiscences about life in the olden days. No need to read, just a desire on my part to record some of the things that made my life and that of a few others special in the bygone days.

I know that I have mentioned that I worked at a place called Triangle Mobil in Arlington Height, IL. The business is long gone, having succumbed to the relentless march of progress. It was originally razed to make room for the expansion of a Chevrolet dealership. That dealership has since given way to a strip mall and a grocery store. Both entities were across the street from one of the original malls called Arlington Market. That mall had a Hi-Lo grocery store, a Jewel Tea grocery, a Walgreens, an S.S. Kresge, a bakery and a Chicago entity known as Polk Brothers, a furniture and appliance store. That store along with several others of that chain, burned down several times during my youth.

It is interesting that Arlington Market conjured up so many memories for me. I saw many local performers there in their T.V. roles, the SilverCup Bread Co. rocket ship, (they used to give out mini loaves of white bread), that we kids thought were the height of cool. The Oscar Meyer Co. brought their Wiener Mobiles a few times and that was always a treat. Today, the Arlington Market has been razed too, with grandiose plans for a new condo complex, and then for a few years left in ruins as the money ran out. I think today that they have it back on track.

Across Dryden Ave. from Arlington Market was an apartment complex and Miner Junior High School, one of my earliest schools, and only the second junior high school in the District 25 system. More would be built later as Arlington Heights grew and then Miner would ultimately be turned first into a "special school" for special needs children and finally I think it was torn down. Miner sat next to one of only two elementary schools in the District 25 system. Again, Windsor School was built to accommodate a growing town. Many more schools would be built to educate the children of the baby boom generation. That was true of the second wave in Wheeling as District 21 expanded too and then shrunk as the children grew and the community aged.

During those boom years, High School District 214 had to expand to educate those same children as they grew into adults. Once there was only Arlington High School and their teams with a mascot of the Cardinals. My high school, Prospect, was on the border of Mt. Prospect and Arlington Heights. Our school started with a small campus and grew as the years went by and the Knights grew in number. A school that was originally designed to hold about 1,700 students had over 3,000 at one point. Their 45th reunion is coming up soon. Prospect was soon joined by Forest View, Elk Grove, Wheeling and Hersey. There were plans for another, but the baby boom was drawing to a close.

I have more to say, but I am growing weary. Maybe when the muse moves me, I'll add in some additional details about Bob and Triangle Mobil and the myriad things that made growing up in the post-World War II suburbs unique, at least to me. If I think about it, I'll describe the growth of one of the cities that housed the returning veterans and their spouses and children, Rolling Meadows. I'm pretty certain that Mary Kay, a former colleague could help me. She grew up on the other side of Arlington Heights, not too far from one of the parks that was added to ease the load on the original park and pool, Recreation Park. It was called Pioneer Park.

Good early morning GH. It is just past 3:30 AM here in "The City," and the current temperature is 49 degrees as we are getting ready for a sunny high of 70. But that's not before we get to an expected low of 45 at 7:00 AM. To think, I returned to my summer uniform yesterday. When Sugar the Weather Dog and I take our morning walk, I may have to get out those long jeans and a jacket again. I guess it depends on when we get up to go.

Yesterday I did a bit more than I had planned. I did the laundry, dusted, walked with Sugar twice, and edited for and with Mary. All of that between music and reading. I finished one book late last night and then it was time for bed. I also updated my Social Security profile and then made a doctor's appointment. As I think about it, I was busy.

Today I plan to take it a bit more leisurely. Maybe vacuuming, more music of course, and then a new book begins. Sugar and I will take the requisite number of walks, but those are pleasure cruises. Otherwise, I plan for it to be a slow day. I'd like to stay in if Mary has no other plans that I can buy into.

In sports, the boys in blue once again fell to the Brewers, 1 - 6. The Tigers got by the Mariners 4 - 2. My beloved Red Sox had the day off.

To borrow from the ate Howard Cosell, speaking of sports, as I was listening to the radio last night, a pundit was ruminating on the reason that people don't seem to care about the fact that the baseball playoffs are coming up. In 15 days the wild card races begin on the first of October. Some fans speculated that the reason was the latest scandals over the use of performance enhancing drugs. Others that the perennial playoff bound teams were or were not there, depending on their own allegiances. Some felt it could be due to the high cost of seeing games that never seems to stop rising.

I have an opinion/theory. I think that the real cause is that the days of the old time baseball announcers weho began on radio like Vin Scully, Harry Caray, Jack Brickhouse, Mel Allen, Jack Buck along with numerous others who used to shill for their home teams are gone. Some of those announcers were true homers. Others were just hired guns. However, they were all personalities, almost larger than the teams for whom they announced. They did more than just announce a game, they described the action in a detail that came from the days of baseball on radio. Just one man's thoughts.

So that's about it for the latest goings on here in GH. Sunrise and...Tea time await. Ciao.

Good morning GH. It is just nearly 3:00 AM in "The City" and the current temperature is 54 cloudy degrees. We are anticipating a sunny high of 67 with no precipitation until Wednesday and Thursday as a front moves through. By Thursday, those showers will be accompanied by a high of 80.

Speaking of the weather, we had a fair amount of rain on Sunday, but nothing like those poor folks in Colorado. While they are getting flooded, the NFL game in Tampa Bay, FL had to be stopped due to lightning and the game in Seattle had to be stopped due to rain driving the players and fans off the field. Additionally, the NASCAR race in Chicago had to be delayed for six hours due to rain. The sports events are not terribly important when compared to the lives lost and threatened in Colorado and other places.

Here in our little corner of the world, a bit of rain and the chance that it will snow in the winter time seem tame and normal by comparison. No earthquakes, no fifteen feet of snow, no real temperature extremes, unless you count the early spring that we had in 2012 that devastated the crops around here. In short, there's really not, a more congenial spot, for happy-ever-aftering, than here in GH. My thanks/apologies to the folks who wrote the original version of the lyrics for the song. 

Yesterday, we motored back from Muskegon and stopped downtown for a loaf of bread. It rained and I didn't have to walk Sugar the Weather Dog because she was at camp until 4:00 PM. Then we brought her home and went out. I'd never seen her do a double take before, but as she passed her food bowl on the way to the dining room, her nose caught the smell of food in the bowl and she had to do a quick reversal.  Not much of a day for me, but when I added in a little cross wording, music, and reading, that filled my time.

Today, more walks with Sugar the Weather Dog, some dusting, some reading, some additional music and some editing, not necessarily in that order. No watering required, just like batteries. Mary will finish her current job, I'll edit and submit for her perusal and possible updates, and then that should be it for the day. Whew, that was hard work just writing all that.

In sports, the boys in blue once again fell to the Pirates, this time by a score of 2 - 3. The Tigers edged the Royals 3 - 2. My beloved Red Sox  handily dispatched the Yankees 9 - 2. They are on a tear. A quick football update. Bears 31 - 30 over Minnesota. The Lions, fell to the Cardinals, 21 - 25.

That's enough for now. Soon, it will be...Tea time and time for the morning walk. Ciao.