Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 12:30 a.m. in "The City."

We have a current temperature of 47° that feels like 42° with a 10 mph wind blowing. The high temperature today will be 51° and the low will be 43°.

The sun will rise today @ 8:05 a.m. and it will set tonight @ 6:53 p.m.

In between, we will have a continuation of the Small Craft Advisory  that went into effect last night and which will continue until 8:00 p.m. this evening from St. Joseph to Manistee. Wind speeds of 15 - 25 knots with gusts up to 30 knots can be expected, that will produce waves from three to six feet in height.

We voted yesterday using our absentee ballots. We dropped them in the box in front of city hall late yesterday afternoon and then took a short drive through Ferrysburg and Grand Haven's Harbor Island area. Naturally, I took along my camera and got some shots of the leaves in their vibrant fall colors and some pictures of the swans and ducks by Harbor Island and the BLP power plant there.

Near Ferrysburg.

Another location there.

Ducks near the BLP Sims plant.

Swans nearby by in another lagoon.

Same over a longer distance.

We were there, it was there, so...

We returned home to feed the fur-children and watch the last episode of Season 1 of Lark Rise to Candleford before Mary created my dinner of vegan beaf tips and microwave baked potatoes covered in her famous mushroom gravy. She had the last of the vegan Italian meatballs along with her microwave baked potato. She didn't have as much gravy as I did. 

Late Sunday night @ 11:31 p.m., MMRR locomotives 2019 and 2025 went cruising past the manse heading south on the RSTL, towing seven CHCs, and 12 CGCs. Lo and behold, I was just awake enough to observe the passage of those same locomotives as they headed north, towing 15 DBTCs, and four CHCs.

By the by, the southbound run of those same locomotives passed by the manse again this morning @ 12:20 a.m. They were towing seven CHCs, and 18 CGCs. 

Yesterday, we collectively accomplished more indoor chores and I finished the weekend crossword puzzle without any assistance. 

Today, I have to go get my annual blood tests at the hospital. I'd have done that yesterday when I was there for my orthopedist appointment, but the tests require 12 hours of fasting, so I'll be doing that this morning.

Mary may or may not, go to the Fast Lane™ grocery pickup today. We may also take the fur-children for a walkabout. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is nearing 1:00 a.m. in "The City.

I'm going to dispense with my usual format and simply say that the current temperature of 39° under cloudy skies feels like 39°.The sun will rise this morning @ 8:03 a.m., and set this evening @ 6:54 p.m.

There are no active weather watches, advisories, alerts nor warnings in effect at this time.

We had a great walkabout at the Lake Forest Cemetery yesterday afternoon with our fur-children. I took along my camera and captured a lot of pix of the things we observed, some flora and some non-native fauna.

Fall is in full color in the cemetery.

Non-native fauna.

More like a park, than a cemetery.

We hadn't realized that we had left the cemetery property and gone into Duncan Woods until we saw this sign.

As I said, more like a park setting than a cemetery.

A football fan?

An interesting tree.

A similar theme.

STWD sniffing a mum by an unmarked grave.

The opposite side of that football fan's gravesite. 

This tree has had much of its root system exposed by erosion of the dune.

From the earth that it grew upon to the earth shall it return.

This rock is not granite, nor shale, nor marble.

The path through Duncan Woods.

Just because.

Mary pointed out this interesting tree root formation.

We watched two episodes of Lark Rise to Candleford last evening before our dinner of vegan steaks and Coleslaw. Both were excellent. I completed the Friday crossword puzzle with some assistance from Mary. Before we went walkabout, we traveled to the gas station to fill up. Then we returned to the manse, picked up the fur-children and took that excellent safari. I logged about 4,100 steps yesterday, the equivalent of two miles. 

Today, I have an appointment for the fourth of five knee injections. We need to complete our absentee ballots and drop those off too. Otherwise, we have no plans. I have music to play, a book to read and TV to watch. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation  and across the world. It is just past 6:30 a.m. in "The City."

As is often the case here in GH, most of the severe weather warnings have ended. We no longer have a Gale Warning nor a Lakeshore Flood Advisory in the forecast. However, that is subject to change at any time.

As of now, there is only a Small Craft Advisory in effect until 7:00 p.m. this evening with winds up to 30 knots and waves up to 9 feet. 

The sun will rise this morning @ 8:01 a.m. and set this evenin @ 6:58 p.m. 

We worked hard around the manse yesterday. Indoor chores consumed a few hours, but we still found time to read more from Sarah Kendzior's new book, Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America. So far, this story is turning out to be as bad, or as good, as you might expect, depending upon your political persuasion. 

Plus, we found time to watch some inane TV and another episode of our latest BBC show, Larkrise to Candleford. 

Late in the afternoon, we finally decided that the fur-children and ourselves needed to go walkabout, so off we went to the City Beach, where we didn't stop due to the large number of people there to view the strong winds and waves. Instead, we once again journeyed to the cemetery for some exercise and picture taking of the flora and fauna. 

Yes!

Much the same

Just because.

At a far distance, but keenly aware.

Clouds were forming.

The final resting place of some fallen trees. 

Our local branch of the library is named for the Loutit family.

A fitting monument to their importance?

Later, we stopped by at the parking area near Dewey Hill to take some shots of the changes of the season. 

A terrific fall scene.

A different angle.

Wider shot.

Haven Henge in the Vast Gardens, with our Tree Man in the background.

Today, the 1 - 3 Detroit Lions take on the 1 - 4 Jacksonville Jaguars @ 1:00 p.m. EDT. At that same time, the 4 - 1 Bears go against the 3 - 2 Carolina Panthers. 

Otherwise, if the weather forecast proves accurate, we'll be staying indoors and reading. I am undecided on whether to watch the Lions, as they are not looking very good in what may prove to be the last season of the tenure of Head Coach Matt Patricia.

I moved upstairs after dinner to allow Mary to watch her own Bronte story and allow me to watch one of my favorite movies,  Singing in the Rain. Here is one of my favorite scenes from the movie, courtesy of YouTube™. Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1ZYhVpdXbQ

Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 9:30 a.m. In "The City." That means that the sun rose over one-hour ago @ 8:01 a.m., and it will set later @ 6:58 p.m. this evening. 

In between, we can expect a high temperature of 59° and later, a low temperature of 51°.

The Small Craft Advisory currently in effect will expire this morning @ 11:00 a.m. only to be replaced by a Wind Advisory from 2:00 p.m. today until tomorrow @ 2:00 a.m. Wind speeds of 20 - 30 mph with gusts to 45 mph can be expected for Oceana, Ottawa, and Muskegon counties.

In addition, there will be a Gale Warning going into effect for Lake Michigan @ 11:00 a.m. today and continuing until 6:00 a.m. tomorrow from St. Joseph to Manistee. Wind speeds of 25 - 35 knots are expected with gusts to 45 knots and waves of 7 to 12 feet are expected north of Holland! Whoa!

We didn't go out yesterday, unless you count our sojourns to the vast gardens of the palatial estate and the potting table on the deck, We did get the fur-children outside for some fresh air and they also got a dental chew each, just for being our fur-children. 

Mary repotted two of our begonias and I raked more of the leaves that continue to fall in the back forty. I'm really liking that I recently got a yard-waste recycling bin to assist in my efforts, as it has wheels and I don't have to carry it. I am ceding my youthful abilities or were those follies, to my advancing age. Is it a pity that youth is wasted on the young? I don't think so, as conveniences are something we should take advantage of throughout our lives. Maybe if we did, we would have more comfortable later years. Just one man's opinion.

At any rate, since I didn't leave the palatial estate, my photo ops were limited. But, I did take some pix of the crows that were making noise in the trees next door.

One of several.

Two of several.

Otherwise, we continued to read and watch more of Larkrise to Candleford. I finished my latest novel around 2:00 a.m. this morning. I found that once I got started, I couldn't stop reading. That's the sign of a good storyline, familiar characters, and most of all, a feeling that holding a book versus reading on a screen is the only way to enjoy any written words.

Today promises to be just more of the same old, same old, with a bit of change tossed in for good measure. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 9:00 a.m. in "The City."

That means that the sun rose over one-hour ago @ 8:00 a.m. and it will set later @ 6:59 p.m.

We have a current temperature of 49° that feels like 44° due to the 13 mph winds. 

In between sunrise and sunset, the NWS is forecasting a high-temperature for today of 52°. Our overnight low-temperature is forecast to be 41°. 

Once again, there is a Small Craft Advisory in effect for the shores of the "Big Lake" from St. Joseph to Manistee from now until 11:00 a.m. tomorrow. Wind speeds of 15 - 25 knots with gusts to 25 knots are expected and wave heights of two to five feet are part of that advisory.

Tomorrow, once they retire that Small Craft Advisory, a Gale Warning goes into effect from 11:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Sunday. Wind-speeds of 25 - 35 knots with gusts to 45 knots are expected! That means that wave heights may reach 11 feet! The surf will definitely be up! Maybe, just maybe, I can get to the waterfront for some pix. It depends on how I feel. At any rate, that Small Craft Advisory and that Gale Warning should be all that is necessary to warn mariners off Lake Michigan for the next 36 hours or so. 

We took a walkabout yesterday with the fur-children once I had finished in the kitchen and Mary had finished planting her basil seeds. Here's hoping that we can get some fresh basil for my vegan Italian meatballs this winter. My efforts yesterday led to a great dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. 

However, our walkabout at the Lake Forest Cemetery with the fur-children, allowed our Senior Staff Photographer to take some familiar pix, familiar but new, of the wild turkeys and the deer that call the cemetery their home. Plus, some shots of the sun and sky turned out great. 

The feeding must be great.

The turkeys were fine with our driving by with the fur-children.

In spite of Ginger's best efforts to bark them away, the deer were unmoved by our presence. 

Mostly, Ginger was a curiosity to the deer.

I like how this one turned out. Without a viewfinder, Mary's camera makes it hard to see what you are photographing looking into the sun.

A side note, those train runs continue to happen late at night and early the following morning. I suspect that Public Safety will be getting call from locals about the timing of those runs. 

Today, we have nothing on the agenda. I've already done the drilling I had to do for Mary in the cap for her watering bottle. I have no plans for the kitchen. I want to read more and play more music. Plus, I am several crossword puzzles behind. If the weather forecast is correct, tomorrow will be a better day for a walkabout with the fur-children. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 3:30 p.m. in "The City."

Yes my loyal readers, you read that time right. I got up early this morning to write my blog, only to find that my computer and its associated operating system had artificially determined that an update was needed. That update took several hours, so I went back to bed.

The Small Craft Advisory ended @ 2:00 p.m., only to be replaced by a Gale Warning from 2:00 p.m. today until 11:00 a.m. tomorrow. Southwesterly Gale Force Winds up to 40 knots will gradually shift to west gales tonight and north gales tomorrow until it is all over for the shores of the "Big Lake" from St. Joseph to Manistee. The surf is definitely going to be up!

Yesterday, Mary and I journeyed to one of the newer parks in the Ottawa County Parks system, Ottawa Sands park. As of now, the park consists of undeveloped lands that surround a small lake and border on the Grand River. We like the park as it is, but there are big plans to develop the property for the "enjoyment" of all of the citizens of Ottawa, County. Two different, yet similar, Master Concept Plans have been developed for the property. 

Many people like the property as it is, while others think that the property needs to be more accessible, That's according to Jessica VanGinhoven, Communications Specialist for the Ottawas County Parks. Those   plans include: camping areas with cabins, yurts, and a treehouse, paved trails, a boardwalk to overlook the lake and another to overlook the river, boat docks, etc. You get the idea. Take what is a beautiful piece of nature and make it look like a Theme Park version of America. Sigh.

This is a pic of the property as it is currently configured, courtesy of the Ottawa County Parks and the Grand Haven Tribune website.

I took along my trusty Olympus DSLR camera and took over one-hundred shots during our brief sojourn at the park. There are so many of interest, but I'll only include some that piqued my interest the most.

Located in Ferrysburg, the park is accessible by the road that also leads to Coast Guard Park.

A small sailboat at rest on the Grand River.

As we headed into the park.

The sun through the trees looking to the west.

Pristine. The only fishing allowed is catch and release. No boats nor swimming, as of yet. 

A milkweed pod at the edge of the trail.

Same here.

Looking northeast from the main trail

While I love industrial shots, sometimes natural is also attractive to me. 

Trails have been cut, but gravel paving exists only on the main trail

Fall colors are in full splendor.

Not industrial, but very photogenic.

Just because.

Also yesterday, I passed my annual Medicare Wellness Exam yesterday with flying colors, just like our POTUS. I can hear, I can see, I can walk etc. Plus, I got my over-65 flu shot yesterday too. Apparently, once you are of a certain age, you need a stronger vaccination. Not to mention, it is one more way to minimize any confusion with Covis-19 symptoms. All of that is a way to address that I am now one of the population that is labeled as elderly. 69 is not the new 49, no matter what anyone says. You make accommodations and get on with life.. So, I feel good, I am not as spry as I used to be, but life is good.

This afternoon, we accomplished the indoor chores and I have to go out and rake some leaves into our curbside yard waste recycling bin and then roll the bin to the curb. That's what I mean by getting on with life. It goes on and you do as much or as little as you want or can on any given day. Ciao.