Good morning, good evening, wherever you may be in "The City" and its environs. It is just past 1:30 a.m. and the current temperature is 66° as we drop to our overnight low of 59°. The next few days will be sunny with temperatures in the low 80s and only a slight chance of rain. I guess that means that I"ll be back out with the water hose on Saturday. For those who like outdoor activities, that's good, for me, it means watering. Sigh.

I have no P/T appointment after all today. My therapist is unable to come into the office, so I am rescheduled for next Tuesday. I have an early appointment next Monday with the back doctor. I wish that I had a consistent report to give to him. The aches in my back have good days and bad. I can live with the pain, but it would be nice if it was a consistent ache that I could manage. The pain seems to move around and the intensity seems to change too.

I did a lot of work in the fields of the palatial estate on Wednesday afternoon. I probably overdid it. When coupled with the walk we took to the favorite watering hole in the evening, it was probably too much. The muscle relaxant that the doctor prescribed at my last visit didn't/doesn't seem to do much, if anything. I recognize that he was trying a drug with the least side effects, but a drug that worked would be better. My new lumbar support arrives today. Hopefully that will help. Right now I am using a small pillow as a substitute. The exercises that the therapist prescribed have helped, but they too are not totally effective at relieving the pain. When we visited the racetrack a few weeks ago, I had no pain and now it's back. Go figure. If this is all there is, I'll work with it, but I am hoping that there is a non-surgical something. I would have to be desperate to go the surgical route any time soon. I'm not there, yet.

Tonight I have that rehearsal for our Irish Jam. We are supposed to be welcoming the pirates as they come to GH. I can do it if the pain I am feeling right now isn't any worse. I guess that I'll have to take a wait and see attitude.

In sports, the boys in blue fell into their old ways once again on Wednesday night, as they lost to the Rockies, 4 - 13. My beloved Red Sox eked out a win over the Cardinals 2 - 1. The Tigers lost to the Yankees 1 - 5. While still leading their division, they need to put together a longer win streak than one game so that the playoffs are not a one and done affair. The Caps are doing what most "A" level teams do, learning. As a result, they lost to the Lake County Captains, 0 - 3.

I am up to page 127 in my highlighting efforts. If I maintain my current pace, I'll finish ahead of schedule while learning something new along the way. Mary is making steady progress on her current project. She is still on schedule to deliver it to her editor by Saturday.

Today I will practice with the girls a bit more. More practice equals better playing. There's a surprise. I'll also walk with Sugar the Weather Dog this morning as she enjoys the sunshine. She had a good visit to her doctor yesterday and received a clean bill of health. She likes her current food, so as long as it is producing positive results on her tests, we'll stay with it. It seems expensive up front, but at one cup per day, it lasts a long time. After our walk, it's back for more newspaper reading, more highlighting, more crossword puzzle solving, and more practice with the girls. If all goes well, I'll go to that practice session with the Irish Jam group in the park later. Tomorrow, the "performance" itself.

The sun will rise today at 6:37 a.m. and set at 8:59 p.m. In between the morning walk and the evening rehearsal, I'm in. Ciao.