Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 12:30 a.m. in "The City."

Finally, the NWS was right! Their prediction for severe T-storms last night at about 8:00 p.m. became reality, as the rains fell, the thunder crashed, and best of all, the gardens and lawns of the vast PE got all the H2O they needed. The current temperature of 57° that feels like 54° will lead to today's high of 56°, if they are right two days in a row. Plus, they have indicated that no additional precipitation is in the offing.

That's good, because today we are off to Kirk County Park to get in on day two of the Step It Up Spring Waking  Program, sponsored by the Ottawa County Parks Department. Yesterday, Mary and I each walked nearly 11,000 steps by literally walking all over "The City." For me, that's the second time this year that I have exceeded 10,000 steps. I'm not sure about Mary. However, both of us agree that most Americans, with the exception of letter carriers, teachers, nurses, various tradespeople or workers in big-box stores, probably never approach that number of steps in an average day. 10,000 steps is approximately five miles, and take it from yours truly, that's a whole lot of steps.

Somewhere in there, Mary made her beest, and this one was truly her best effort to date. It did not have any black pepper, but did have an increased amount of paprika. In addition, the cooking time in the Crockpot™ was longer on the high heat setting. What was it that made this particular beest the best? The taste certainly, but whether it was the additional paprika, the lack of black pepper, or the extended cooking time I don't know. Whatever, I hope that Mary can remember her formula/recipe. Maybe it was my extra special attention with a whisk on the veggie broth, or my own personal efforts as Sous Chef that made the real difference. Once again, I don't know, but I'll take any credit I can.

At any rate, STWD was in her downstairs Hide-e-Hole during the T-storm activity. I was reading and then listening to the Blackhawks drop the deciding game in their NHL playoff game against the St. Louis Blues, 2 - 3. The Hawks will now be going home for the summer.

The Cubs had the day off and will play tonight against the Brewers. The Tigers romped over the A's, 7 - 3, on the strength of two home runs by Miggy. My beloved Red Sox took one from the Braves, 1 - 0, with former Tigers hurler Rick Porcello getting his fourth win. The Caps too had the day off, but they play again tonight against the Cedar Rapids Kernels.

Trainspotting yesterday was more pedestrian than usual. However, my apprentice trainspotter is beginning to recognize what a fully loaded train sounds and looks like versus an unladen train. At 10:32 a.m., locomotive #2019 rolled through "The City" plying the rails of the "Reality Scale Train Layout" all alone. In tow were nine CHCs, one BC, and six DBTCs, that were bringing up the rear, all M/T. At 2:21 p.m., that same locomotive returned heading north. As it passed through "The City, it was towing one BC, followed by nine CHCs, six DWTCs, and six DBTCs with one at the end. These cars were all loaded. What happened to locomotive #2057? I don't know.

We made it to our chiropractor's appointments at the end of our walking yesterday. Those visits went well.

Today, Mary may get to her regularly scheduled chat session, or not. I may get to some of my tinkering in the man-cave, or not. I may get to some time with the girls, or not. We will start our day with the morning safari with STWD to kick off our daily walking session. We will make it to Kirk Park for the organized walking session, and the balance of our next 10,000 steps as we go for the 288 virtual miles. I will get in some reading time.

Speaking of reading, part of our walking yesterday was to the library to pick up some books we had on hold and some others that looked interesting to us.

The sun will rise today at 6:46 a.m. and set at 8:41 p.m. Ciao.