Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 3:30 a.m. in "The City." A current temperature of 74° will give way to an overnight low of 67° before it rises to today's high of 85° humid degrees. The rain event originally forecast by the NWS for overnight tonight has been pushed back until at least Monday. Was I prescient when I watered yesterday? Nah, just aware of how things often go in our part of MI.

In sports, the men in blue crushed the Brewers yesterday, 9 - 3, for an overall record in their division of 65 - 48. That's good enough for third place. The Tigers had the day off, and their third place ranking in the division is ensured by a record of 55 - 59. Hmmmm? My beloved Red Sox also had the day off, but they are languishing in fifth place with an overall record of 50 - 64. The Caps handled the Tiber Rattlers 7 - 3.

No trains to spot yesterday.

STWD and I did walk over to get a pawdicure in East-town yesterday morning. That used up her energy reserves. Mary went to The Bookman, our local indie book seller, so she picked up the newspaper while there.

I watered when I got back and then Mary made a stir-fry for lunch using many of the veggies grown in our own gardens. Sadly, we may have to change our selection of vegetable plants next year to accommodate the weather, inconsistent rainfall, and soil conditions. We're learning.

Green beans have been inconsistent producers. Cucumbers have produced very well. Tomatoes have done OK, but have not been very large producers. The green pepper plants have produced some fruit, but the fruit is slow to grow and not all that well developed. Kale has been very productive in it's potted home. The zucchini has done nicely in it's garden spot and the beets are growing well, but take up too much space. The leaf lettuce has to be harvested regularly, or it goes to seed when it gets too old. In addition, we're still waiting for the green onions to mature.

I finished my latest novel, Mr. Mercedes, by Stephen King. I had given up on Steve many years ago when his books had descended beyond horror, beyond gore, and had become gross outs, to borrow from the author himself. The climax was terrific, the denouement was great, and the ending was unexpected. Once I got started, I couldn't stop. King is once again at the top of his game.

Today, I have a few outdoor chores to do, or not, my choice. With the front porch rendered unusable due to stickiness courtesy of what I think is tree sap, I have to wash everything, or forego sitting there. We've never experienced this phenomenon before, so I don't know what's changed this year. I hope to play with the girls today and start a non-fiction book by Ralph Nader entitled Return to Sender: Unanswered letters to The President, 2001 - 2015. How much I'll read depends on how weird-ed out I want to get by what Mr. Nader sees as the truth.

We did get to the Post to see Sally and give her a slice of my world famous banana nut bread. In return, she gave us some green peppers that she had picked from her daughter's garden. Sally isn't all that fond of zucchini or green peppers, so she is more than willing to "share" those vegetables.

The sun will rise today at 6:49 a.m. and set at 8:49 p.m., another one of those ever shortening days that come with the regular cycle of things. Ciao.