Some days are easier than others. This one started with refreshing breezes and plenty of sunshine. But from there, it went downhill.

Screen shot courtesy of Coyote Moon, Inc.
When I booted my Mac, I got the gray screen with the Apple logo, and nothing else. I waited patiently (and hopefully), but it quickly became apparent that my Mac was stuck.
I was lucky, though, at least in one sense. The gray screen was caused by an external drive case I was experimenting with yesterday. Unplugging the external drive from my Mac allowed me to restart without any issues, other than needing to figure out what's wrong with the drive case. But I think I'll save that for a weekend project.
If you run into the gray screen freeze, here are my tips for how to get your Mac back up and running:

