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", where the current temperature is a balmy 66° as we drop down from today's high temperature of 71° under partly cloudy skies. The "Real Feel" temperature is also 66° with a wind out of the southwest @ 16 mph. Our overnight low-temperature tonight will drop to 47°.

We have a Small Craft Advisory from St. Joseph to Manistee in effect until 7:00 p.m. tomorrow, with winds blowing from 15 to 20 knots with gusts possibly up to 30 knots producing waves up to five feet in height. 

Sadly, today's high temperature is the last we'll see in the 60° range for quite some time. Tomorrow, we'll see a high temperature of 50° and by Saturday, the NWS is forecasting a possibility of rain/snow showers with a prediction for Sunday of snow showers without rain. I am so not ready for that. 

The sunset today occurred @ 5:25 p.m. and tomorrow's sunrise will be @ 7:32 a.m. with sunset @ 5:24 p.m.

Be that as it may, we had originally planned to do nothing today, but the beautiful weather forced our hands, so to speak, and we set out for Hofma Park, the channel, and our own manse for a photo op.

A beautiful place.

And Ginger loves the trails. But, she also encountered several off-leash dogs while we were there. 

I like the playground.

And the surrounding trees.

The sun was shining brightly through the trees. 

And people were out on the trails.

This gull was content to sit on the dock at the bay, oops I mean at the channel.

And this pair of ducks were enjoying the beautiful day too.

Since we parked at Chinook Pier, I had to take this shot of the Pere Marquette, #1223.

At home, we were getting ready to head inside, but I heard that train a coming, it was rolling round the bend.

The lone engineer in the cab of old # 2019, blowing his horn.

Since I was out there, I snapped this picture of our parkway garden

While near our deck, the perennials are still in bloom too. 

I almost forgot that earlier in the day, our Senior Staff Photographer and her intrepid companion, use our Smart Phone to capture a picture of the channel. But I said nearly, so here is their photo.

I chose this pic with wispy cirrus clouds and the shadow of our Senior Staff Photographer.

It is worthy of note, that this is the 47th anniversary of the sinking of the ill-fated Great Lakes freighter, the Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior. Many will remember that the sinking was immortalized by Gordon Lightfoot in his song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, so naturally, I had to add a link to that song from YouTube™. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vST6hVRj2A

I believe it is time to close this blog. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. across the nation and across the world. It is just past 5:30 p.m. in "The City", where the Gale Warning has been lifted, but there is still a Small Craft Advisory in effect from St. Joseph to Manistee until 4:00 p.m., tomorrow. Wind speeds of 15 to 25 knots with gusts up to 30 knots will propel waves up to seven feet in height, causing dangerous conditions for small craft and beachgoers. I'll include some pix I took of those waves shortly.

The current temperature is 57° with a wind out of the southwest @ 16 mph. The sunset @ 5:30 p.m. and the temperature will drop to a still comfortable 43° overnight. Sunrise tomorrow is @ 7:27 a.m. with sunset @ 5:29 p,m. In between, the high temperature under sunny skies and with 17 mph winds will be nine degrees cooler than today, topping out @ 48° before an overnight low temperature of 35°.

At any rate, Mary, Ginger, and I went to the channel and the lakefront for some photos yesterday and today. 

Lake Michigan is a magnet for photography buffs.

And tourists too.

While the waves pounded the outer lighthouse.

People were still willing to walk on the rocks and the pier.

As well as the beach. However, the strong winds stopped Ginger in her tracks.

We made it home before the skies took on an ominous look.

Ginger was not happy about leaving the beach. She loves it there, just not in the water.

So today, we went back to the channel and the beach for more photos.

Old Glory was majestic in the strong winds.

But the gulls were grounded by those winds.

Jet skiers willingly brave the wind and waves.

As do the kite surfers.

Locals and tourists are awestruck by the waves away from the shoreline.

While some willingly brave the windborne waves at the water's edge.

Which were much more prominent today.

In sports news yesterday, the Wolverines of Michigan, had a sluggish first half but they roared back to defeat the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers. 52 - 17. The Spartans of MSU upset the Fighting Illini of Illinois, 23 - 15.  

Earlier this afternoon, the Bears faced the Dolphins at Soldier Field in a hard-fought game, but the Bears succumbed, 32 - 35. The Lions took it to the Packers today, winning their game, 15 - 9. 

Next Sunday, the Lions and the Bears will play @ 1:00 p.m.

Having finished our last ear-read yesterday, we started a new ear-read today, and so far it is excellent. We also finished our indoor chores earlier, both pre and post-our trip to the channel/lakefront.

Tonight, I have another ukulele strum session @ 9:00 p.m.

Tomorrow, Mary and Ginger will walk over to Ginger's doctor for Ginger's regular check-up and some vaccinations. I plan to stay home and out of trouble. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 11:00 p.m. in "The City", where the current temperature is 53° under clear skies, although it feels more like 50° with a wind out of the southeast @ eight mph. Our overnight low is forecast by the NWS to drop only one degree to 52° before we see tomorrow's high temperature of 67°, which is five degrees warmer than it was today. However, the skies will be partly cloudy. We anticipate several more days with high temperatures in the lower 60s!

There is a Small Craft Advisory going into effect tomorrow @ 8:00 a.m. from St. Joesph to Manistee with wind speeds gusting up to 30 knots and waves possibly up to six feet in height that will be in effect until 8:00 a.m. Saturday.

The sunrise tomorrow will be @ 8:22 a.m. and the sunset will occur @ 6:34 p.m.

Today was another of those pedestrian days, where we did ear-reading, print-reading, meal prep, took down our Halloween decorations for another year, revised that song I've been working on, and did some crafting. 

Early this morning, Ginger and Mary walked to the waterfront for some pix of the changing fall colors. Later, we also got to the local Goodwill Store™ for a donation, followed by a trip to the Lakeforest Cemetery for a photo shoot of some markers and the local deer population. This is a great place to showcase our efforts.

Knowing that I love construction pix, Mary took this one of the construction at the former
Grand Haven Tribune site. 

Although they took several shots, this one is my personal favorite of Dewey Hill and the calm waters of the channel. 

On the way back from the channel, more construction.

This afternoon, we made that aforementioned trip to the Lakeforest Cemetery, where I snapped some pix of markers, some of the local flora, and a few of the deer that call the cemetery home.

The tallest marker in this area of the cemetery. 

A welcome to the afterlife?

Another angle showcases the surrounding trees.

A cat, or an otter? I don't know.

Just because this marker looked nice with colorful leaves.

Saw this yearling as we were leaving.

And this younger one too.

Which was part of a larger group.

I noted recently, that the last rose of the summer had been cut. Turns out I was wrong.

When Mary first brought this one in, it was mostly closed. Now it is opening as time progresses.

Otherwise, we hope to stay in tomorrow and not do anything that we don't have to do. We have no appointments, no errands, and no plans other than more ear and print reading. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 5:30 a.m. in "The City", where the current temperature under clear skies is a very seasonal 43° as we approach sunrise @ 8:20 a.m., yet well before sunset tonight @ 6:35 p.m.

It feels like 43° too, with only a breeze out of the northeast @ two mph. Today's high will rise to 63° before an overnight low of 52°. Not bad for early November in Michigan.

Our local barometric pressure is 29.65" of Hg and falling, while the NWS in GR is reporting 30.25" of Hg and rising. The "Big Lake" apparently affects barometric pressure too. 

Not much happened around here yesterday.  We voted, well actually, Ginger and Mary walked over to city hall and deposited our absentee ballots after we completed them, and then we mostly did as little as possible.

I read the newspapers and more of my print novel. Oh, I have been working on a song too, but that is in the to-be-edited phase, so I don't have any more to say about that. 

During meals, we listened to our latest ear-read. Somewhere in there, Mary found time to cook and do some cross-stitching. She has been knitting too, so whereas I did very little, she did a lot more. 

Otherwise, it was a typical day.

Today, more of the same. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 6:30 p.m. in "The City", where the current temperature is a very seasonal 54° under fair skies with an overnight low expected to drop to 38°. The sun will set tonight @ 6:42 p.m.

Not much happened at the manse today. We did more ear-reading, newspaper perusal, and crossword solving before taking a trip to that big-box home center and making a stop at the library. Finally, we drove over to Hofma Park, not to be confused with Hofma Preserve. We finally gained access to Hofma Park which has been under construction for a considerable time. While Mary and Ginger took a short sojourn, I mostly stayed near the car for some picture-taking.

Similar to Duncan Woods in the City of Grand Haven, a gift to the citizens of GH by Mrs. Duncan in the early 1900s, Hofma Memorial Park was gifted to  GH Township by Dr. and Mrs. Hofma.

This is the access road to the balance of Hofma Memorial Park where there are soccer and baseball fields and a playground. 

Near where I was stationed, this bench awaits travelers.

Like most of Hofma Preserve and Hofma Park, the woods are left to nature.

However, there is a nature trail named for an early trustee of Hofma Memorial Park.

Across from Hofma Memorial Park, some type of construction is underway. I love shots of heavy equipment

As my loyal readers may recall, I am fascinated by playgrounds without users.

But, it was time to head home. As we traveled along, I shot a picture of this small plane at the Grand Haven Airport.

Waiting for clearance to taxi and takeoff. 

Once home,  I took some shots of the flora in our vast gardens.

These yellow annuals are blooming non-stop.

As are these perennials. 

I had the right lens, so I took this close-up of one of those yellow annuals.

I just thought the roses were done for the season.

Be that as it may, I am awaiting a ZOOM™ session at 7:00 p.m. regarding some pictures taken by Mike Amico, a representative of OM-Solutions, the camera division of Olympus Digital, and a Master Trainer. I always enjoy his presentations and I always get something useful out of each session.

Finally, tomorrow night, I plan to be in front of my TV in the media room to see the 114th game between the 7 - 0 Michigan Wolverines and the 3 - 4 MSU Spartans for the Paul Bunyan Trophy. This trophy was first introduced into the series in 1953, and it represents the history of Michigan as a lumber-producing state. These two teams have been playing each other since 1898. 

While the Wolverines have that 7 - 0 conference record, don't count out my sentimental favorites, the 3 - 4 MSU Spartans.

That's enough for one blog. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 8:25 a.m. in "The City", where the current temperature is 62° under mostly cloudy skies. although it feels more like 61° with winds out of the southeast at 12 mph.

Those winds are part of the ongoing Small Craft Advisory from St. Joseph to GH until 2:00 p.m. tomorrow as winds on Lake Michigan will blow from 10 - 20 knots with possible gusts up to 25 knots propelling waves up to three feet. 

Today's high temperature will reach 72° with a chance for additional rain showers around 8:00 a.m. continuing until 11:00 a.m. when the chance drops to almost zero. Our low overnight tonight will drop to a still comfortable 59°. Sunrise today was @ 8:09 a.m. and sunset will be @ 6:47 p.m.

What happened around here yesterday?

Well, we did a lot of ear-reading, I did some print-reading, Ginger and Mary walked more than I did, and I stupidly watched most of the pathetic 1 - 5 Detroit Lions loss to the 5 - 2 Dallas cowboys, 6 - 24. Will I never learn that just about wherever I live, the professional teams will be mediocre at best, and downright awful at worst. 

However, there are exceptions, The Chicago Bulls in the 90s, the Bears in 1985, the Blackhawks in 2013 and 2015, the Cubs in 2016, and that's about it. Meanwhile, the Astros will return to the MLB™ World Series for the umpteenth time in the 21st century and the Cubs and Tigers will again go home. Wait til next year????

At any rate, my apple pie turned out to be my best yet and so that's all good. We also found time to make a donation at the local Goodwill Store™ and then travel over to the Grand Haven State Park for what should have been a few shots of the calm conditions, However, one person had a mishap of some type while walking on the south pier and so that factored into my photo shoot.

People were mostly enjoying the great weather while walking on the south pier.

And the north pier.

The waves were small and the skies were mostly clear.

The gulls were enjoying the updrafts over the channel. 

But, our EMTs had to take a small ATV onto the pier to retrieve a person.

I'm working on getting the settings better for this type of shot. 

But overall, I think that this shot looked nice.

Small crafts were out and about late yesterday. 

Again, I need to work on my settings more.

I joined my ukulele strum session last night @ 9:00 p.m. and that was fun. After that, I mostly read and watched a couple of Hallmark Channel™ Christmas movies, staying up until 2:00 a.m.

Mary spent part of her afternoon on the deck with Ginger, ear-reading, knitting, and enjoying the beautiful fall afternoon. Later, she came inside and did more ear-reading and crafting.

Tonight, I have to decide if I can get Chicago out of my DNA and avoid watching the Bears on Monday Night Football™. Somehow, I suspect that I'll be like that proverbial moth to a flame. Ciao.