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 41° as we drop to an overnight low of 39°. That's all I have to say about that. When Sugar the Weather Dog offers up more information, I'll share that.

Speaking of Sugar the Weather Dog, she and I had a great walk yesterday morning. The skies were blue, the sun was shining, and the temperature though cool, was very pleasant. As Mary often says, fall is the perfect season, here in GH and around the Midwest in general. Unfortunately, Mary keeps regaling me with stories of the impending worst winter in our memory. That's according to the anonymous, and all too nebulous group that is often referred to as "they", according to Mary. In other words, all we have to go on is our fear of the unknown. It was Franklin Delano Roosevelt who said, "The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself." However, Mr. Roosevelt didn't have to shovel snow in the Midwest.

Elsewhere, I heard both train runs earlier. Each seemed laden with heavy loads, but the southbound run caused the rails to squeal like a Chicago elevated train during rush hour. I think that means that the southbound train was more heavily loaded. I never saw either run, but I could hear them as they passed by.

Yesterday, I received a missive from the fine folks at the Flowerland Show™, regarding the question that I sent to them about my pepper plants with what appears to be tomatoes growing on them. Apparently I intrigued them, so they have asked to talk to me on Saturday morning during their show. I'll be there. I sent them some pictures to give them a point of reference. Hopefully they will have an answer, because I don't.

I also spent some time editing the index for Mary. Lots of detail work, but nothing compared to what Mary has to do to create the actual index. I got an early payment for my work when we traveled to the favorite watering hole last evening. Today we have to visit the accountant to finish the quarterly taxes that go with being a small business owner. Then we'll travel north to see the changing of the leaves.

As I was editing yesterday, the two and four legged girls went for a walk. I was afraid that Sugar was going to like going for two walks again, and I was right. Mary says we have to nip it, nip it in the bud. But when you have a high energy dog like Sugar, she likes to walk. Sugars and I ran into the nice lady who delivers the Grand Haven Tribune in GH Township. As is often the case, she had a treat for the intrepid weather dog, and that sent Sugar into paroxysms of activity as she anticipated that treat. Pavlov would have been proud as Sugar remembered someone and their vehicle that Sugar hadn't seen in many days.  

When Mary and I were walking to the favorite watering hole, I took a few pictures in Central Park to find out how they look when the flash doesn't get in the way.

We still have some flowers in the park.

The fountain in the park, is shut down for the winter. 

I was using the idea of  lines and triangles to give depth and a focal point to a picture, while showing some of the flowers still in bloom.

All of the pictures were taken in natural light as the sun was setting. I like the effect.

That seems like enough for today and yesterday. The sun will rise at 7:50 a.m. and set at 7:10 p.m. So much to do, so little time. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 2:30 a.m. in "The City." Our current temperature was also the predicted overnight low temperature, 43°. Later today, after the sun rises at 7:48 a.m., we hope to see a high of 53 sunny degrees. Friday, about the same, with a few more clouds. Saturday more of the same. Sunday, the National Weather Service is predicting the same temperature, with a 50% chance of p.m. showers. Then on Monday, an 80% chance of T-storms is in the forecast. I'll wait and see and consult the weather dog, because that N.W.S. forecast is too far out.

Wednesday, passed uneventfully. Mary and I did some editing in the afternoon after our nap. Then it was time for Sugar the Weather Dog and me to go for our second walk of the day. Mary and I had scheduled a delivery of my new La-Z-Boy™ for the afternoon and that was the best time to take Sugar for a walk. Later, it was time to play with the girls and do that editing. I read the newspaper that Sugar and I picked up while we were out. Mary worked.

Today, we have to finish the final editing. If all goes well, we'll get that done in the afternoon, not at 2:00 a.m. Life stops being funny at 2:00 a.m.

Did I mention my new La-Z-Boy™"? In case I forgot, it is very comfortable. Sugar remembered her role in checking out the comfort level too. She knew how to hop up, curl up, and get her dose of pets. It's been several years, but she knew just what to do, as did I.

No trains yet. I am guessing that I didn't hear one. I just watched the northbound run at 3:07 a.m.. Two mismatched locomotives does not a train make.

Elsewhere today, I 'll get to some of that laundry. I just didn't have the energy yesterday. As I've often noted, when you are retired, you can easily procrastinate. I may take a few more pictures before the sun sets at 7:13 p.m. Now that I found out how to turn off the flash, I feel confident that I can take the pictures that I didn't get at the eclipse yesterday morning.  Yes, I felt dumb. I tried the camera out the window of Mary's office yesterday after noon. I'll try some of those pictures out on my faithful readers. They are below. Ciao.

I found new photographic skills yesterday. The sun was behind the clouds and made for a nice effect.

Same here.

This was an experiment in framing. I'm not satisfied, but I am learning.

I like this one better.  It includes houses, trees, and other things to give perspective.  I also used what Mary and I learned abut including angular things in a picture. I also tried to incorporate the "Magic Light" that Mary and I learned about too. 

Good morning GH. It is now past 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon in "The City." The sun rose at 7:48 a.m., but I waited to write this blog because Mary and I decided last evening to go down to the beach and check out the lunar eclipse that occurred between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. this morning. As it turns out, this eclipse had a rare effect, what scientists call a selenelion, which happens when the moon is setting and the sun is rising at the same time. The cloud cover before dawn was about 18%, which made for exceptional viewing when Mary and I got there. When I got up earlier, it was 55° and the forecast was for a drop to 47° as dawn approached. The only picture that I got at the eclipse viewing was this one. The winds they blew and the sand it flew and the stars were a magnificent sight.

This was taken at the place where we got the car stuck in the sand. My baking yak didn't like pushing it out.

In other news, Mary worked yesterday and I can't say I accomplished much of anything. Sugar the Weather Dog and I went out for our morning constitutional, but on our way back, Sugar heard one rumble of thunder, and we were off to the races. We couldn't get home fast enough. I played with the girls some and worked on some music, but the day got away from me. Later Mary and I walked over to the Post to see the folks there. Nothing special, but that was my plan for the day.

In sports, the Cardinals will face off against the Giants in the NLCS. The Royals will face off against the Orioles in the ALCS. Not my desired outcome, but I'm betting that the TV executives would prefer a series between the Giants and the Orioles. This is my round about way of saying that the boys in blue haven't been to the series in a long time and haven't won in over 100 years, while the Cardinals and the Giants have been there several times each. Next year never gets here.

Elsewhere in the news, I heard the northbound train go by about 2:45 a.m., at least I think it was the northbound run, because I didn't get up to look. I plan to edit for Mary today. That should complete my day now that we took a post-eclipse nap. The sun will set at 7:13 p.m. and then quiet will once again settle in on GH. Ciao.

P.S.

In a non-related topic, I took these pictures of the last tomatoes on the vines. Unfortunately, it appears that these tomatoes are growing on the pepper plant. I don't get it.

I don't think these are peppers. They look like tomatoes to me.

On the left are the regular tomatoes. On the right, the "Pepper Plant" tomatoes. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 4:00 a.m. in "The City", where the local temperature is 54° as we drop to the overnight low of 47°. Later today, after the sun rises at 7:46 a.m., the temperature will rise to 58° with a 60% chance of rain. Wednesday promises to be sunny and windy with a high of 56°. In fact the balance of the work-week plus Saturday, looks about the same.

I heard the southbound train pass through about 12:00 a.m., but I didn't get up to look. It seemed as though the less manic engineer was at the throttles. However, when the northbound train passed by at 3:30 a.m., the horn-happy engineer had taken over. He was at the throttle of the two EMD GP 38 locomotives, #3885 in the old livery, and #2057 in the newer livery. 51 covered hopper cars, one old enough to be sporting N. Y. Central livery, along with two white tank cars, one lone box car, and three of those dreaded black tank cars followed those locomotives. A long train to say the least.

My son asked yesterday in an e-mail why I have sworn off watching pro-football?  Well, I flippantly told him that it was due to a limited amount of time. However, it goes a bit deeper. Before I retired, I had a limited number of free hours to myself. I figured out one weekend, that the teams won or lost without me watching, and I got about three free hours in the bargain. So while I love to watch sports, in my pecking order, baseball will always come first, because as every right thinking person knows. "Baseball is life!"

College football is still mostly pure, although the money is starting to creep into that game too. I stopped watching basketball about the time that Michael Jordan left the Bulls. I like hockey, but somehow there is no pressing need to watch. In fact, one of the reasons that I got cable TV years ago, was to watch Blackhawks games. Did I mention that "Baseball is life?"

So the best way to describe my eschewing of pro-football, is that I save a few precious hours of an ever dwindling amount of hours in my life, you know those hours that you can never get back, that I can devote to other pursuits. So there you have it Adam.

Today, I plan to use some of my hours to play with the girls, read more, and whatever else strikes my fancy. Selfish? Probably. But that's one of the things that happens to someone like me, someone who has had his share of issues over the past several years. In short, life's too short.

The sun will still set at 7:15 p.m., Mary will still have work to do, and Sugar the Weather Dog will still want to go for her daily constitutional. She has accepted that she and I go on one walk most days, but I think that she might like two. Again, only so many hours in a day. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 2:30 a.m. in "The City." It is currently 53° as we drop to the overnight low of 48°. Today promises to be partly cloudy with only a 20% chance of rain and a high of 55°. Tuesday well get to 58°, but the chance of showers rises to 40%. Wednesday, we get sun, but the temperature is only forecast to get to 53°. At least today and Wednesday, I won't have to trick the intrepid weather dog into going for a walk. Sunday, it was cold and windy in the morning, so we didn't travel too far.

In sports, to paraphrase the immortal Yogi Berra, it's over for the Tigers, who lost the third game in a row to the Orioles, 1 - 2. In this case, while three was the charm for the Orioles, the Tigers were done. Once again, a starting pitcher made one mistake, and then the Tigers' bats went to sleep. Sigh. Another wait til next year.

The Bears lost to the Panthers, 24 - 31, and the Lions lost to the Bills, 14 - 17. I suppose it's okay to say, "Lions, and Tigers, and Bears, oh my!"

Yesterday, I accomplished a task for which we had purchased the materials nearly one year ago. I can take that off of my "To Do" list and put it on my "To Done" list. In addition, the Hallmark Channel™ was running a Jesse Stone marathon, so I had plenty of viewing material to watch without having to watch pro football. We did stop in at the favorite watering hole in the early evening to watch the Tigers loss though. Sigh.

I got in a small amount of time with the girls, so that made me happy, along with accomplishing that necessary task, watching the Jesse Stone marathon, and not watching pro football, it was a good day. With the exception of the Tigers' loss, all really was good. I also made time to go to the local grocery store first thing in the morning after Sugar and I returned from our walk. Mary was working, so I did something that I don't mind, but that I can do without. I returned the cans for deposit and did the grocery shopping.

No trains yet, at least no northbound run. I probably missed the southbound run.

Today, I have no specific tasks in mind. Sugar and I will get out for the morning constitutional, but that's a need and a desire, not necessarily a task in the truest sense.

The sun will rise at 7:44 a.m. and set at 7:17 p.m. When Mary and I went out last evening, I had to convince her that leaving a light on over the deck, was a good idea. It had started to get dark by the time we were heading home. Once again, sigh. Ciao.

Good morning GH. It is nearly sunrise, which will happen at 7:44 a.m. today, about one hour and 15 minutes from now. I has a can of Pepsi™ and a can of Barq's Rootbeer™ before retiring earlier this morning at 12:00 a.m. Mary is always amazed that I can do that without being stimulated. Caffeine seems to have the opposite effect on me. But I digress.

The temperature outside the Weather Window is 49° as we near the final low of 47°. Rain should hold off until tomorrow. Today we have a forecast high of 51° under partly cloudy skies. Rain once again appears in the forecast on Monday as the temperature rises to 53°. I confess, I broke down and turned on the furnace.

In sports, the at best mediocre Bears, play today at 1:00 p.m. EDT. The Tigers return from Balrimore to face the Orioles at 3:45 p.m. EDT, down 0 - 2 in their best of 5 playoff series. In short, ther is no tomorrow for the Tigers if they don't win today.

Yesterday, the Michigan Wolverines suffered another loss, this one to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 24 - 26. Rutgers has always been known as the "Birthplace of College" in America and for the excellent research they do, not for a football team that could beat the likes of Michigan. Oh how the mighty have fallen. The Spartans of MSU defeated the Ball State Cardinals, 27 - 22. The Northern Illinois Huskies eked out a win over the Kent State Golden Flashes, 17 - 14. I guess that the lopsided loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks two weeks ago took a lot out of the Spartans.

Elsewhere, I had to shanghai Sugar the Weather Dog due to yesterday's weather, but we did get out around noon for a quick constitutional. We picked up the newspaper at the independent bookstore around the corner and headed home. For the intrepid weather dog, that was enough for one day. Me too. Mary worked through all of that as I read, played the girls more than I planned, and did some laundry. Mary had batch cooked the night before, so there were options for meals that could be eaten as time permitted, for her, not me. She did make some macaroni and cheese for dinner using things she had on hand, but in spite of the meal being made from scratch, without a box of macaroni and cheese in sight, she made less of a mes in the kitchen. Experience it always the best teacher.

Then it was time to watch the late movie on the Hallmark Channel™, Last Chance Harvey. That's why I got to bed late, that and watching a late night episode of NCIS.

So now here I am. I have a few errands to run today after Sugar and I hit the streets and then I can settle in, skip pro-football, and read and play the girls. What's not to like?  Before the sun sets at 7:17 this evening, I'll have accomplished a bit less, but enjoyed myself a lot more. That is unless the Tigers fall to the Orioles. Mary will continue to work. Ciao.

Good morning GH. It is just past 4:30 a.m. in "The City", where we find that the current temperature outside the Weather Window is a brisk 48°, as we head for the morning low of 43°. Although we didn't get the T-storms that were predicted for the area yesterday, we did get about .87 inches of rain. How's that for an estimate. I feel like Mr. Spock, who, when he was asked to estimate the distance or time, gave an "exact" estimate. Today, the temperatures are forecast to be a high of 48° once the sun rises at 7:44 a.m., and the showers without thunder and lightning will continue. We get a brief respite from the rains on Sunday, and the temperature will rise to 53°. Then Monday brings more showers in the morning at 50%.  All days will have winds exceeding 15 mph. Sugar the Weather Dog allowed herself to go for a walk around 2:00 p. m. yesterday. Today, who knows.

In sports, the only game of import to me and the majority of people in Michigan, was the Tigers at Baltimore. Unfortunately, the Tiger's shaky bullpen let a three run lead slip away and they lost the game to the Orioles, 6 - 7. I think I hear that famous lady warming up her vocal chords.

No trains on the northbound run. I must have missed the southbound run, although I was up until nearly midnight.

I did get a lot of music revised for my travelling book. I find that there are little errors in some of the pieces. Maybe I'll do more today. I am a nitpicker and so the little things bother me. Otherwise, the book is shaping up nicely. I'll try to get the intrepid weather dog out for a walk, but that is problematical. I have to do some laundry, but that's something that I can do while working the crossword and reading. I think I'll take the music revision more slowly today. That's after I listen to Auto Talk and the stories of cars with 200,000 plus mile and the woes of their owners. I may also listen to Pet Talk too. In short, the average Saturday. I may take time to watch some college football too, but that's a "Game Time" decision.

So that looks like enough for one day. I won't be doing any outside work on the palatial estate due to the weather. The sun will set at 7:19 a.m. Ciao.