Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 9:00 a.m. and well past the sunrise of 8:03 a.m. in "The City. 

Speaking of the sun, it will set tonight @ 6:55 p.m. The current temperature is either 48°, as per my DTWS, or 57°, as per the NWS, which also shows the "Real Feel" temperature to be 56° with a six mph breeze out of the south. I've never seen such a disparity in those temperature readings before, thus I have no explanation. However, both the NWS forecast and my own WW observations do concur. The blue-sky is mostly sunny with scattered clouds hither and yon. 

I just have to get in a baseball comment NOW! 

My beloved Red Sox routed the Astros last night, 12 - 3, to go up two games to one in the ALCS, as LHP Eduardo Rodriguez pitched enough innings to get the win. The Red Sox went on a rampage, beginning with a six-run second-inning that included a record-setting and historical third Grand Slam off the bat of Kyle Schwarber. Never before in post-season history have there been three Grand Slams. I could say more, but I think I'll just sit back and savor the sensation of going up 2 - 1 over the Astros. Game four is tonight in Fenway Park @ 8:08 p.m. EDT when RHP Nick Pivetta tries to emulate the superb pitching of Rodriguez last night as the Sox try for a commanding 3 - 1 ALCS lead.

I had an early P/T appointment, well early for me @ 10:00 a.m. yesterday and it went well. In fact, it went so well, that we were able to get out to Hofma Preserve early yesterday afternoon with Ginger, fresh from her grooming appointment and looking very sharp, for a hike on a new trail Our trip was a great photo-op with my 75mm to 300 mm lens mounted using various settings. Here are some samples of my efforts.

Our trail into the forest primeval.

The sunlight came through just enough to let me capture what I was seeing. 

In this view, the sun was having a harder time penetrating the canopy.

Same shot with different settings.

In scene mode, this shot was suggested by our Senior Staff Photographer. 

One sunlight spot seemed to dominate this shot. 

I love shots of gnarled roots and limbs mixed with sunlight.

Along the way, this bloom called out to me.

As did this one.

The only mushroom I espied on our hike.

This shot was more difficult looking into the sun.

Shooting east from the trail with these tree branches as a frame.

A fallen tree with sunny highlights caught my attention.

Back at our vast gardens, the sweet-pepper plants are offering a final tribute to a great growing season. 

I've been meaning to capture this shot of one of the aphid-eaten leaves of our giant hibiscus, Pink.

Mary is making progress on her cross-stitch efforts. I fell asleep when she was upstairs working while sitting in her favorite sunlit window while "reading" her book. She got the call to pick up Ginger, but when she came down, I was fast asleep and so she had to change her plans to travel direct to Hofma Preserve with me and Ginger. She had to return with Ginger to retrieve me from my slumber and then after Mary took a quick walk with STWD, we were off.

Today is another day of indoor chores, a visit to the veterinarian for STWD and Ginger, and more of whatever comes our way. Oh, let's not forget that there is baseball tonight at Fenway Park. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just before 8:00 a.m. in "The City." Our current low-temperature of 49° feels like 49° with a wind out of the north @ two mph. The Small Craft Advisory that was in effect will end @ 8:00 a.m.  However, the waters of the "Big Lake", are cooling off. In fact, the current water-temperature being reported @ the Grand Haven State Park is 66°.

Once the sun rises today @ 8:02 a.m., the high-temperature is forecast by the NWS to reach a zenith of 66° under sunny-skies. That's well before the sun sets tonight @ 6:56 p.m.

I did the right thing yesterday and ate brunch while watching anything but the woeful Detroit Lions, who lost to the Cincinnati Bengals by a lopsided score of 11 - 34. At the risk of sounding like Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that." 

But wait, there's really more. A little-know fact, is that recently added teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Houston Texans are linked with old-line teams like the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions as the only NFL teams to have never played in a Super Bowl. 

The Browns were reconstituted in the late 1990s after team owner Art Modell was thwarted in his plan to  move the Browns to Baltimore. He was eventually awarded the Baltimore NFL franchise that became the Ravens after the Colts had moved to Indianapolis. The Browns franchise, records, history and intellectual property, i. e. their logo and name, stayed in Cleveland. 

With an agreement between the City of Cleveland and the NFL to build a new NFL caliber stadium in Cleveland, Modell moved the Browns' team equipment and players to Baltimore where they became the Ravens. The Browns franchise in Cleveland, was sold to a new owner in 1998 for $530 million and the team was rebuilt by way of an expansion draft. At any rate, they are really a new team and thus the Lions are the only original NFL team to have never been to a Super Bowl. So don't get your hopes up Lions fans.

The equally inept Chicago Bears put on a better show versus the Green Bay Packers, but they still lost, 14 - 24. 

Mary is making progress on a new cross-stitch project that she found en route to looking up something else. Her fossil stitching project is on hold as she expands her efforts and horizons. I finished a crossword-puzzle yesterday and about 2/3 of a new large-print novel. We also took the fur-children for a walk in Central Park. 

Today, we have a grooming appointment for Ginger in the afternoon and I have a P/T appointment later this morning. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 10:00 a.m. in "The  City."

Let's just dispense with the regular things and say that we have a sunny day in store for GH today, the high-temperature will be about eight degrees warmer than yesterday @ 63°, and there is still a Small Craft Advisory in effect until 8:00 a.m. tomorrow. 

The 7 - 0 Spartans eked out a win over the 2 - 4 Hoosiers to spoil the Huskers Homecoming, but it was a grind and it was not pretty.

The  5 - 2 NIU Huskies ran roughshod over the 2 - 5 Falcons of Bowling Green yesterday, 34 - 26.

My beloved Red Sox hit two Grand Slam home runs yesterday afternoon in a game lasting until the middle of last night. Way too long, even for a fanatic like yours truly. Final score, Red Sox 9 - 5 over the Astros. Next game tomorrow night @ 8:08 p.m. EDT.

Mary was out with Ginger and I over the last couple of day. Mary and I went to a local event, Chow-Down Centertown yesterday. While we didn't have any food, and the musicians were either in-between sets or closing out sets, it was great to see that many people drawn to Centertown and the businesses there. Here I am as photographed by our Senior Staff Photographer catching the last number by a musician from Grand Rapids.

I guess some older, gray-haired guy got in the way.

In addition, Mary and Ginger took this photo on their walk the other day. 

The boat-basin @ CGSGH without any boats in view.

Otherwise, yesterday was a ho-hum kind of day and today should be even more so. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 7:45 a.m. in "The City", where the current temperature is 54° per the NWS and my own DTWS. Also per the NWS, it feels like 50° with a wind out of the northwest @ 14 mph. 

That wind is part of a Small Craft Advisory issued by the NWS that will be in effect until 8:00 a.m. Monday from St. Joseph to Grand Haven. Wind-speeds from 20 - 30 knots will propel waves up to nine feet in height, especially later tonight. The current barometric pressure is 29.24" of Hg and steady, indicating that the likelihood of precipitation is low, but that Small Craft Advisory will still be with us. The sun will rise this morning @ 8:00 a.m. and set tonight @ 7:00 p.m. 

I nearly forgot to mention that the water-temperature in the "Big Lake" has dropped to 65°. The boaters would surely be out to enjoy the last of their sailing days if it wasn't for that Small Craft Advisory which comes with the admonition to Small Craft  to stay tied up at the piers and off the churning waters of Lake Michigan. Yeah, like that will stop those who think that the advisory is for other people with less experience. However, the surf will be up, so those folks will be out there. 

Last night in the ALCS, the Red Sox took an early lead over the Astros, but the Red Sox bullpen couldn't hold that lead and ineffective and struggling starting LHP Chris Sale, was long gone by then. The Sox succumbed to the Astros, 4 - 5. One bright spot was the play of CF Kike Hernandez, who made a spectacular highlight-reel catch in CF to bail Sale out of an early bases-loaded jam with two outs. Hernandez also contributed four hits and two home-runs to the final tally. Today's game will begin @ 4:20 p.m. EDT in Houston, when RHP Nathan Eovaldi takes the mound for the Sox and tries to even up the series. 

Speaking of this afternoon, the 6 - 0 Wolverines of MI are off this week before returning to the "Big House" next Saturday, 10/23/21, to face the 2 - 3 Wildcats of Northwestern beginning @ 12:00 p.m. EDT.

The 6 - 0 Spartans of MSU are on the field today in Indiana to face the 2 - 3 Hoosiers for a game @ 12:00 p.m. EDT.

The 4 - 2 NIU Huskies are home today for a game versus the 2 - 4 Falcons of Bowling Green commencing @ 3:30 p.m. EDT.

Lest it be said that the rains deterred us from going out and about yesterday, I think I remember that we took a walk with the fur-children as the raindrops were falling on our heads, they kept falling as we walked. Oops. I was channeling B. J. Thomas as heard in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid there for a second. 

Oh what the hey, here is a link to that song from YouTube™. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NWZpsyaIbU

At any rate, Mary and Ginger got a bit further, but STWD and I were turned back towards the manse when a Mustang's loud mufflers convinced Sugar that she needed to get home, NOW!

But, I know for certain that we did get out for a photo-op at the beach adjacent to Grand Haven State Park yesterday afternoon. The waves had not yet reached a dangerous level, so people were walking on the beach and the piers. The sky at sunset over the beach and both the north and south piers was very cooperative and photogenic as I tried various settings. Hope you like some of them.

I had my camera set for sunset in this shot looking west.

Same setting, different direction.

I like this one with the same setting.

For this shot, I manually opened up the aperture and changed the shutter-speed.

Those in the know strongly suggest that you use people as perspective markers.

Sunset setting again.

The aperture was more open and the shutter speed was increased, again, manually.

Same settings for the aperture and shutter, I just adjusted my focal-length.

I really like this view of the north pier.

Once again, people for perspective.

Otherwise, today is a day for indoor chores, baseball, college-football, and other sundry items of a crafty or musical nature. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 10:45 p.m. in "The City." My DTWS is showing a current temperature of 67° that feels like 66° according to the NWS with a wind out of the southeast @ eight mph. 

The NWS has issued a Small Craft Advisory from Holland to Manistee, with 15 to 25 knot winds propelling waves from three to five feet in height, mostly north of GH, beginning shortly @ 11:00 p.m. tonight and continuing until 3:00 p.m. tomorrow.

The sun will rise tomorrow morning @ 7:58 a.m. and set later tomorrow night @ 7 :03 p.m.

I had another successful trip to my P/T appointment. When I got home, I finished two crossword puzzles and then Mary and I walked STWD for about two blocks. As you know, Sugar is getting up in years, so a short distance is all she wants to travel. A few sniffs and stops and she is good to go. 

Also after I got home, I changed the lens on my camera to a more wide-angle type and then we loaded Ginger into the car. We were headed to that big-box nearly everything store, but first, a stop was in order at Duncan Woods, AKA Duncan Park,. I grabbed my camera and we set out for one of Mary and Ginger's favorite spots for walking and one of my favorite spots for taking pix. While Mary and Ginger went walkabout, I found some interesting subjects to focus on in the woods using various aperture openings and shutter speeds. So while it was dark in the forest primeval, I got some great pix.

Very little has changed about Duncan Park since Mrs. Martha Huntington Duncan bequeathed the park to the City of Grand Haven in 1913. Like her husband Robert, she loved the woods and wanted to see the park preserved in perpetuity.

When it rains, the water carves its own path through the forest floor.

Hikers like to pile up fallen limbs into a teepee-like shape.

While I have no idea as to the type of mushroom growing directly out of the forest floor, I like how this photograph turned out. 

I suspect that this is a new sprout of the same type of mushroom. 

These mushrooms or "Fun Guys", like to grow on decaying tree limbs.

As do these.

Whereas these seem to prefer living trees as seen from a distance.

I shot that same growth almost straight on. 

Whereas this shot was taken from below, as suggested by a presenter in a recent Coffee With Olympus session I viewed.

Hey, I'm a photographer, not a botanist, so I once again have no idea about the type of fungi in this shot. 

I  took this shot because of the montage of subjects that surrounded the mushroom.

I don't know enough about mushrooms to allow me to determine if any of theses mushrooms/fungi were edible or poisonous.

Tomorrow, since there is rain in the forecast, I believe I'll be reading more, playing more music, working another crossword puzzle, and making some of my famous vegan Italian meatballs and burgers, along with vegging out after that. Right now, Mary is happily stitching away on a fossil picture and will likely continue tomorrow, along with listening to her latest book. Ciao. 

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", where the current temperature being displayed on my DTWS is 65° that according to the NWS feels like 63° with a wind out of the west @ nine mph. A quick glance out the WW shows that the the skies are cloudy and dark. We have no watches, advisories, alerts, nor warnings in effect as of now. The overnight low-temperature, per the NWS, will be 60°. the sun will rise today @ 7:55 a.m. and set later @ 7:06 p.m.

We had a busy day of reading and indoor chores yesterday, but as the day wore on, Mary and Ginger took a walk to the Third St. bridge where they took a pic with our Smart Phone camera of the channel.

A great pic with the clouds, the trees, and the water contrasting nicely.

While they were out, I took STWD for a short walk. Sugar nor I are as young as we used to be, but Ginger is keeping Mary young as Ginger can walk for many miles most days. 

Once we were all home, Mary and I went out for a photo-op to the Grand Haven State Park campground and Lake Forest Cemetery. It was drizzling a bit, so my camera and I stayed in the car for our shooting. However, I still got in some good shots as Mary positioned our Jeep for the best angles.

We felt like we had dropped into a Grateful Dead concert.

By way of comparison. this tiny trailer was parked nearby as the waves crashed on the shore behind.

Since the winds were blowing briskly, the wind-surfers were there. 

We left the Grand Haven State Park and traveled to Lake Forest  cemetery, where Mary picked up a brochure that showed the location of the many interesting monuments and markers in the cemetery. I just snapped pictures from inside the car with my smaller telephoto lens.

These deer were grazing when we arrived.

They had come from somewhere in the nearby woods.

Mostly, they ignored us. 

And foraged for food amongst the gravesites. 

This deer looked right at me, so I took its picture.

Well, the ALCS series is set for the first game between the Red Sox and the Astros for 8:07 p.m. Friday night. That other team from Chicago was dispatched by the Astros yesterday, 10 - 1. What can I say, getting to the World Series is all that matters in Major League baseball. The 100 win Rays, and the 93 win other team were sent home for the year by the Red Sox with 92 wins and the Astros sent that other team hme for the year in spite of their 95 wins. As Tom Hanks said in his portrayal of Peaches manager Jimmy Dugan in A League of Their Own, "There's no crying in baseball." I have to agree. If there was, the Cubs would have a lot to cry about, having won only one world series in over 100 years. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M8szlSa-8o

At any rate, today I have another P/T appointment, Mary, Ginger and perhaps yours truly will be traveling to that big-box nearly everything store, and that's about it for one day. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world @ 9:40 a.m. Does it really matter what the current temperature in GH is? 

No!

Why? Because there is joy in Beantown, the Red "W" flag is flying over Fenway Park and the adjacent Yawkey way in Boston, MA! It's on to the ALCS for my beloved Red Sox and a game Friday night against the Astros or that other team from Chicago in either Houston or Chicago.

Okay, it is rainy outside, the current temperature is 65° and while the chance for rain all day today is only in the 18% to 20% range, the view out the WW is dreary and the high temperature will struggle to get beyond that current number. Satisfied now? 

The sun rose this morning @ 7:55 a.m. and it will set later @ 7:06 p.m. The NWS has extended that Small Craft Advisory until 11:00 p.m. tonight from St. Joe to Manistee, with 15 to 25 knot winds and waves from three to five feet in height. 

It should be a good day to read, play music, do the indoor chores, and whatever else comes to min. Ciao.