Good morning, good evening, wherever you may be in "The City" or its environs. It is just after 4:00 a.m. Our current temperature is 55° as we head down to our predicted overnight low of 58°. Oops. Today will be partly cloudy and no showers or T-storms are forecast until Saturday and beyond. There have been dire forecasts of cold temperatures in Michigan accompanied by T-storms of a violent nature. At this point, who knows? If you base things on that variance in temperatures, nothing is for certain. Sugar the Weather Dog will let us know if there is anything to worry about.

I just watched the northbound run of the train go by at 3:00 a.m., after hearing the southbound run around midnight. Two locomotives and three box cars accompanied by 33 covered hopper cars. The entire assemblage was under the control of the horn happy engineer. I like it, but not everyone would.

Thursday Mary and I went for a morning walk with the intrepid Weather Dog. All was going well when I felt a twinge in my baking yak and found it difficult to walk. I made it home, but my original plan to ride my bike to the hospital for my knee treatments and the later P/T appointment went out the proverbial window. Instead, Mary and I drove to the doctors and she waited for me to finish that appointment. We then ate lunch at the hospital cafeteria salad bar, after which Mary departed for home on foot, and I read my book in comfort. I reported my morning problems to the therapist who listened carefully and then told me that some of the pain was due to the exercises I am now doing to strengthen my core. Pain before gain I guess. Anyway, new exercises are now on tap to assist in my strengthening and rehab.

Later, Mary and I went in search of a medium size galvanized trash can to store Sugar's dog food in the man-cave. Plastic or paper was not an appropriate option for this need. Rodents have a way of finding seeds, and grains in those and eating their fill. So, metal it is. It took three tries, but we found a can at the hardware store in Spring Lake. Today I have to get it to the man-cave followed by the unopened bag of food and fill it up there. I don't think that it should be filled before going downstairs. The plan calls for the bag to remain mostly intact rather than opening the bag and pouring it into the can.

Speaking of today, I'll sit a lot to rest my knees and other body parts in between exercises sessions. Mostly I plan to read the paper and my non-fiction book abut the 1964 Civil Rights Act entitled, An Idea Whose Time Has Come, by Todd S. Purdum. So far, it has been an enjoyable journey through a part of history that I was alive to witness, but which I was too young to comprehend at the time. I had Mary order John F. Kennedy's Profiles in Courage, to supplement my knowledge.

For those who remember more than I, Profiles in Courage, is a book that contains profiles of eight U.S. Senators whom President Kennedy felt showed extraordinary acts of courage throughout history, acts that defied their party and often their constituents to do what they felt was the right thing. Controversy dogged this book regarding who actually wrote it, and how involved John F. Kennedy was in its writing. Nevertheless, it should be interesting.

In sports, the boys in blue triumphed over the Reds, 6 - 4 in extra innings. My beloved Red Sox beat that other team from Chicago, 4 - 3. That's two in a row folks. The Tigers crushed the Kansas City Royals, 16 - 4, in their best offensive output this season. Everybody in the lineup got a hit and scored a run. The Caps unfortunately fell to the Bowing Green Hot Rods, 4 - 5.

Otherwise, not much on tap for today. The gardens are watered, the lawns are mowed, and the house doesn't need dusting, yet. So I am free to do as little or as much as I choose, along with my exercise homework. Mary has a chat session with her professional group this afternoon. Other than that, I don't know of anything pressing. The sun will rise at 6:14 a.m. and set at 9:23 p.m. Ciao.