Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just passing 6:30 p.m. in "The City", where the current temperature is a San Diego like 59°! It was so warm today that the letter carrier from the USPS was wearing a summer uniform of shorts and a short-sleeved shirt as he made his rounds. 

Our high-temperature today reached 62° as the winds picked up and once again added to the detritus on the vast estate. It feels like 55° with a strong wind out of the south @ 24 mph!

The NWS is ending the Small Craft Advisory @ 7:00 p.m. tonight to be replaced by a High Wind Warning beginning @ 7:00 p.m. and ending tomorrow afternoon @ 4:00 p.m., for Central, Southwest, and West Central, MI. Winds will blow steadily @ 30 to 40 mph with gusts possible up to 65 mph! There are likely to be downed power lines and fallen trees. 

If that wasn't enough, there will also be a Storm Warning in effect from St. Joseph to Manistee, also from 7:00 p.m. tonight and continuing until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. Southwest Gale Force Winds will blow @ 45 knots with gusts up to 55 knots! That means that waves may reach heights up to 15 feet!

But wait, there's more! There will also be a concomitant Lakeshore Flood Advisory in effect for Allegan, Mason, Muskegon, Oceana, Ottawas, and Van Buren counties. Some erosion of the shoreline is likely.

I guess that's a good thing that I took STWD for an afternoon walkabout before joining Mary and Ginger for a safari to Duck Pond and Swan Lake. I probably overdid it, but so far today, I've covered about four miles of walking! Not bad for an old man.

I took my camera along and took many pix as we walked.

I took this pic of a sculpture located near Linear Park on Harbor Island

Mary took this pic with her Smart Phone of the plaque that explains what the sculpture represents.

Since I had my 75 - 300 mm lens attached to my camera, I couldn't get a good shot of the plaque, but our Senior Staff Photographer bailed me out. 

I was pleasantly surprised to see so many ducks swimming on Duck Pond, and many more ducks and swans swimming on Swan Lake. Here are some pix of what I saw.

These swans must overwinter somewhere here in GH.

There was a huge bevy or flock of swans on the lake.

I shot this one because I was there and I could capture all of the waterfowl as they swam side by side.

The ducks on Duck Pond.

One of the trails we were following had a large branch across most of the path due to the recent high winds.

I was trying to capture a shot through the cattails along the shore of Duck Pond. I like how this one turned out.

As we walked back to the manse, I took this shot from a different angle.

But I wasn't done. As we walked, we espied The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, flat as the proverbial pancake. He doesn't look so mean, does he?

To paraphrase the Munchkins, "He's really most sincerely dead!"

But, it was time to get home with Ginger and set a spell as I worked a crossword puzzle before feeding the fur-children and taking out the trash. I also finished the indoor chores too. Mary had done much of that task earlier, so all I had to do was finish up the heavy items and put them away.

Tomorrow, I have that final P/T appointment and that's all that is pressing on my schedule. I won't be doing more walking tomorrow. With a bit of luck, I may get in more painting and music. Mary will continue her cross-stitching and listening to her latest book, entitled, Vanderbilt, narrated by the author, Anderson Cooper. He is the son of designer Gloria Vanderbilt and a fine journalist and writer in his own right.

Is that enough for one day? You bet! Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 11:15 p.m. in "The City", where the NWS has issued three, count them, three, Watches and Alerts. These include a High-Wind Watch for portions of central southwest and west-central Michigan. The High-Wind Watch is scheduled to go into effect at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow and last until 1:00 p.m. 

There exists a possibility of strong winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts possible up to 60 mph!

In addition, the NWS has issued a Storm Watch from St. Joseph to Manistee, with southwest winds of 30 to 40 knots and gusts possible to 50 knots, and waves as high as 13 feet are possible!

But, the NWS wasn't done yet. They have also added a Small Craft Advisory also for St. Joseph to Manistee from 7:00 p.m. tomorrow until sometime Thursday afternoon. For that, wind speeds of 15 - 20 knots and gusts up to 30 knots may propel waves from four to seven feet. I am at loss to explain why there are both a Storm-Watch and a Small Craft Advisory with such different factors, but there you have it. 

Our current temperature is 46° with rain, but a quick glance out the Weather Window indicates to this reporter that the rain has yet to begin here. It feels like 41° with a wind out of the west @ 12 mph. Tomorrow's high temperature will be 11° warmer than today with the high reaching 56° with an overnight low-temperature of 47°. The sun will rise tomorrow @ 8:07 a.m. and set tomorrow evening @ 5:12 p.m.

I had a great P/T appointment today and if all goes according to plan, I should be done with P/T after my appointment on Thursday. I don't ever expect to feel 100% pain-free, but my stamina is markedly improved, my balance is definitely better, and my lower yak doesn't fatigue as easily. So, all in all, I like it!

Lunch after my return was a garden salad with fried tofu and tartar sauce as the main dish as we watched another episode of Chuck.

After lunch, I went walkabout with STWD before Mary and Ginger went to the post office and then down to the beach at Grand Haven State Park. I returned home before they did and tried without luck to fix the lights on our Christmas tree. 

I had already decided to make more vegan Italian meatballs and burgers, but since it was getting late, I had to enlist the aid of my Sous Dog, Sugar. Her task is to eat the mushroom parts that don't find their way into the meatballs and burgers. 

Finally, Mary and Ginger returned and I sat down to read the newspaper and work the two crossword puzzles that come with Tuesday's Grand Haven Tribune, and then we had a nice dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. Mary had had her secret recipe pasta sauce simmering in the Crockpot™ all afternoon and it was great with my meatballs!

It always seems that when I have a 12:00 p.m. P/T appointment, I return to the manse a little after 1:00 p.m. and then the day just seems to slip away. 

Tomorrow, Mary and Ginger plan to walk over to Duck Pond and Swan Lake to vary their destinations. I'd like to paint and play music. That's enough for one day. ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 7:35 p.m. in "The City." 

There are no watches, alerts, nor warnings in the forecast from the NWS which is broadcasting a current temperature of 41° that feels like 38° with winds out of the south @ four mph, all of that under fair skies. Tonight's low-temperature is forecast to drop to 32° before we rebound to tomorrow's high-temperature of 47° with an overnight low-temperature tomorrow night of 43°. The sun will rise tomorrow @ 8:06 a.m. and set later @ 5:12 p.m.

Mary finished listening to her latest book last night while I was finishing reading one we'd picked up earlier yesterday at the library. A quick read that was just plain fun.

One thing about being retired is that you have more time and that no day is more important than another, with the only exception being days with medical and related appointments or seminars for photography. I find that having more time doesn't necessarily equate to getting more done.

I didn't accomplish much today. I did a little painting, read more of our shared book, and took STWD for a nice walkabout to the library and around the neighborhood. When we returned, I did a little cleanup around the vast-gardens of the manse, that included some raking, some picking up of fallen branches, and a lot of trash that had blown in during the high-winds over the last couple of days. 

While Sugar and I were out, Mary and Ginger walked over to, through, and back from Duncan Woods. While there, they took some great pix. Here they are in no particular order, but enjoy.

Duncan Woods is left to nature as much as possible.

Great shadows.

Ginger loves walking and sniffing in the woods.

I'm always amazed by the quality of the pix from a Smart Phone.

Every year, someone decorates several of  the trees in Duncan Woods.

Tomorrow, I have to go to a P/T appointment, hopefully, fix the lights on our Christmas tree, paint more, work some crossword puzzles, and play more music., I played some today, but my throat was scratchy, so I didn't go as long as I'd planned. Maybe tomorrow. 

That's all folks!. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 10:00 p.m. in "The City." The NWS has continued a Gale Warning from St. Joseph to Whitehall until approximately 11:00 p.m. tonight with 35 knot winds propelling waves up to 13 feet! Those waves should subside to four to seven feet by early tomorrow morning. 

My DTWS is displaying a current temperature of 39°, which corresponds with that of the NWS.  The winds out of the west blowing @ 20 mph make it feel more like 29°. The NWS is forecasting an overnight low-temperature of 37° with a projected high-temperature tomorrow of 45° and an overnight low-temperature of 41°. It looks like the threat of further precipitation has ended for a few days. 

The sun will rise tomorrow @ 8:04 a.m. and set later @ 5 :11 p.m.

With the winds blowing strongly here in GH today, I opted to only go outside in short bursts with STWD, while Mary and Ginger walked a longer distance. While they were out, our Senior Staff Photographer used our Smart Phone camera to take some pix of a recently used horse-drawn carriage being loaded for a trip back to the barn.

It must have been a cold and short ride for the bride and groom. 

I like how this shot of the sky came out with the buildings in the foreground. 

Earlier this afternoon while Mary and Ginger went walkabout, I went outside with STWD and at Mary's urging, I grabbed my camera and took some pix of the sky overhead.

During that on-line photo seminar I watched the other day, I learned more about the importance of a frame for shots. Here is the result of my efforts earlier today. 

Same shot and distance, but with less telephoto effect.

By late today, the sky had mostly cleared.

But the winds quickly moved in more clouds.

Also earlier today, I forwarded to Mary a recipe for a spaghetti squash casserole. Since we had a spaghetti squash on hand, I sliced it in half and then Mary took over and made a tasty sauce and homemade vegan Ricotta cheese using tofu. The end result was delicious and it is a new keeper.

This casserole was very tasty and words cannot describe how good it was for dinner.

Otherwise, I mostly spent my day reading from the biography of Lady Bird Johnson I've previously referenced, doing a crossword puzzle, and reading from the Adam Schiff book, Midnight in Washington, which we are sharing. Mary continued to cross-stitch and listen to her book along with that great dinner preparation. She is back at the cross-stitching and book listening downstairs right now.

Tomorrow I hope to read more and get out for a walkabout with STWD. I have to do the indoor chores too. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 10:55 p.m. in "The City", where the current temperature per my DTWS is 45°, while the NWS is offering 42° under cloudy-skies. The 10 mph wind out of the west makes it feel more like 36°. We'll be dropping to a low-temperature overnight of 33° before rebounding to tomorrow's high-temperature of  42°, which will be four degrees warmer than today.

My DTWS is showing a barometric pressure of 29.15" of Hg and falling, while the NWS is reporting 29.76" of Hg and rising. 

That bit of good news about tomorrow's warmer high-temperature is tempered by the forecast from the NWS of a High-Wind Watch from early Saturday morning until Saturday evening for Central, South-Central, Southwest and West-Central, MI. Steady winds of 20 - 30 mph with gusts up 60 mph are likely to cause downed trees, power outages, and make driving hazardous.

But, the NWS isn't done yet. In addition to that High-Wind Watch they have issued a concurrent Gale Watch from St. Joseph to Manistee from 5:00 a.m. Saturday until 7:00 p.m. Saturday night. As morning nears on Saturday, winds will increase to 45 knots and produce waves up to 14 feet in height! I expect that the surfers will be out.

I had a good visit to P/T today. I am making steady progress and thus my stamina and balance are markedly improved. I have two more appointments scheduled for next week and at that time, my therapist, Ben, will evaluate me and decide if more P/T is warranted.

Also earlier today, I spent about one-hour tuned into a photography seminar that covered Composition From the Ground Up, delivered by Graham Elliott, a wildlife photographer from England. I learned some new things, but I also learned that there are things that I've been doing that are good techniques. I may have to try my hand at shooting some black and white pix too, but something always seems to hold me back. 

Mary almost took her wing-gal, Ginger, for a walk in Duncan Woods. However, when she was going down the road into the parking area, she quickly discovered that although our Jeep Renegade has all-wheel drive and anti-lock brakes, it does not have the ability to steer on ice-covered roads that didn't get the ice melted beneath the tree canopy. So, she and Ginger turned around and went on to a pick-up at that big-box nearly everything store. Ginger was disappointed that they hadn't stopped at Duncan Woods, but discretion being the better part of valor, as the ubiquitous they say, not stopping was a more sound choice.  

By the by, the lights on the top of our Christmas tree stopped working. So, I have ordered a tool that is supposed to find the burned out bulb and help me solve the problem. We shall see.

Tomorrow, with the chance of showers in the morning, I may read more and play some music. Mary will continue to cross-stitch and listen to her book. That's all folks. ciao.

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

A short time ago, I was outside with the fur-children and the forecast from the NWS that calls for rain is very accurate. The current temperature is 35°, but it feels like 25° with a wind out of the east @ 13 mph. Tonight, the low-temperature will drop to only 33° before reaching tomorrow's hi-temperature of 35°. Then, the bottom falls out for Tuesday, as the temperature plunges overnight Monday night into Tuesday morning to 19°. That seems to be an anomaly. However, there is also a 49% chance for snow-showers tomorrow.

As of now, there is a Gale Warning in effect from St. Joseph to Manistee until 7:00 p.m. tomorrow night, as winds build to 25 to 35 knots with gusts possible up to 45 knots and wave-heights may go up to 14 feet! The sun will rise tomorrow morning @ 8:02 a.m. and set tomorrow evening @ 5:11 p.m.

I have proof that there is a G-d that watches NFL football and laughs. The 1 - 10 - 1 Lions finally won a game, literally in the last seconds, over the 5 - 7 Vikings, 29 - 27. Of course, that same G-d was also watching the inept 4 - 8 Chicago Bears lose to the 10 - 2 AZ Cardinals, 22 - 33. 

Good news in college football. 

The #2 ranked 12 - 1 Wolverines of Michigan and the BIG10, will return to the gridiron on December 31, @ 7:30 p.m. to play the12 - 1 Bulldogs of Georgia, ranked #3 in the nation, in the Orange Bowl in Miami. The formerly #1 ranked Bulldogs were manhandled by the new #1 Crimson Tide of Alabama yesterday, 24 - 41. 

The 10 - 2 Spartans of MSU and the BIG10, will face the 11 - 2 Panthers of Pittsburgh and the ACC Coastal Conference in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta on December 30, @ 7:00 p.m.

Also on a positive note, the MAC10 West Champion Huskies of NIU, will be playing the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in the Cure Bowl in Orlando, FL on December 17, @ 6:00 p.m. 

Not much else was happening at the manse today. I am still reading the biography of Lady Bird Johnson and learning new things with every turn of the page. Mary is still stitching on her latest cross-stitch project as pictured in this photo courtesy of our Senior Staff Photographer. 

Note the intricate cross-stitch pattern and the use of myriad colors of floss.

We completed the indoor chores and I watched those aforementioned NFL games. I should know better, but like a moth drawn to a flame, I can't seem to help myself.

Tomorrow we have that appointment to get the car serviced and checked. However, that icy weather that is happening now may preclude that short trip to the nearby dealer. A game-time decision.

Tuesday is loaded for me, with a P/T appointment followed by an appointment for my twice a year knee injections at the orthopedist. Although it will be cold, the roads should be clear. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 4:45 a.m. in "The City", where my DTWS is displaying a current temperature reading of 37.8°, while the NWS is showing 35°. The six mph winds out of the east make it feel like 29° according to the NWS. 

This being winter and close enough to November, there is yet another Gale Warning being forecast by the NWS beginning @ 9:00 a.m. today and continuing until 7:00 p.m. tomorrow night from Holland to GH. 

Today, the southeast winds along the shores of Lake Michigan are expected to reach 35 knots, with waves of four to seven feet or more possible. However, the winds will increase as the day progresses, reaching 40 to 45 knots overnight, with waves possible from 12 to 15 feet in height on Monday!!! Surf will be up and a photo-op is imminent late today or tomorrow.  

The sun will rise today @ 8:01 a.m. and set later @ 5:09 p.m.

Speaking of sunsets, the sun set on the 10 - 3 Hawkeyes of Iowa last night in Indianapolis, as Head Coach Jim Harbaugh's 12 - 1 BIG 10 Champion Wolverines crushed the Hawkeyes, 42 - 3. The announcers valiantly tried to keep fans across many towns not in Michigan or Iowa, perhaps there too, from tuning out as the Wolverines rolled to victory. The Wolverine's next opponent has yet to be announced. 

The 9 - 4 Huskies of NIU dispatched the 7 - 6 Kent State Golden Flashes to win the MAC 10 conference title as the Huskies soundly defeated the Golden Flashes, 41 - 23. 

Yesterday, we took the fur-children for individual abbreviated walkabouts. I have it on good authority, that Ginger was being combative with the people that she and Mary met as they walked. Of course, Ginger is not big enough to get into much trouble, but she can be a literal handful, so Mary and Ginger returned to the manse after a brief sojourn. 

STWD and I walked several blocks. She had a lot of pep in her step yesterday, as she enjoyed the chance to smell newly uncovered things in the neighborhood.

Last night, I had a light dinner of soup and then repaired to the media room to watch the Michigan game and eat a huge bowl of popcorn while Mary worked on her cross-stitch project in her  office. She is making great progress. Her latest focus is a multi-colored shelf of books which requires a change of floss many times. 

Earlier yesterday, we transplanted the mums from their fall homes in pots near the front steps of the manse to new homes in the parkway garden and near the deck in the rear of the manse. As Mary said, "They'll either live, or die trying." Here's hoping.

Today, we have more reading and stitching to do along with more indoor chores. There also more Hallmark Channel™ movies to be viewed this evening too. Ciao.