Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 1:00 a.m. in "The City."

I guess since I have been giving the sports report prominence of late, I should continue that practice for at least one more day.

Cubs Win! Cubs Win! Cubs Win!. There, I don't have to say those dreaded words I was forced to use yesterday about the month of June and the Cubs. In spite of Jake Arrieta's less than stellar outing, the Cubs defeated the Reds 11 - 8.

But the real story is 2nd year all everything player, Kris Bryant. His three home runs, five RBIs, two doubles, and 16 total bases are personal bests for Bryant. In addition, he is the only player, ever, in the Major Leagues™ to hit three home runs and two doubles in the same game. That's pretty rare air. The Cubs are still solidly in 1st place, with a record of 49 - 26 in the N. L. Central, 10 games ahead of the Cardinals, who lost to the Royals. The Cubs face the Reds again tonight. I'll paraphrase the late Ernie Banks, who might have said, "Let's get two!"

The Tigers had the day off, so their place in the standings as the 3rd or 4th place team didn't change, with their A. L. Central record of 38 - 38. They play tonight against the Marlins who had the Cubs' number in that last series.

My beloved Red Sox dropped another game to the Blue Jays, by a score of 7 - 13. They are still in 2nd place in the A. L. East with a record of 41 - 35, but they need starting pitching, Now! They face the Blue Jays again tonight.

The Caps finally won a game in the 2nd half of their Midwest League season, defeating the Bowling Green Hot Rods, 9 - 5. However, they are still in the cellar along with two other teams, also sporting records of 1 - 4. Same teams again tonight.

Part of the way yesterday, I walked with Mary and STWD to and from my O/T appointment at the hospital. They returned sooner to allow Mary to get to work and also to let the intrepid one survive a walk. As she gets older, long walks have become more of a challenge.

All went well during my appointment, but I need to check with the orthopedist later today to find out if I need to keep this removable cast on my arm for two more weeks. My O/T feels that the cast may be limiting my recovery at this point. However, I tend to overdo, as we all know, so it may be that the doctor wants to protect me from myself. As I've noted before, I don't want to take any risks that set me back.

Once home, Mary made lunch and then she went back to work on her indexing project, which she says is going well. She often says that and then discovers later that she forgot to do something that set the progress back. I walked to the library for the latest initials on my Beachcomber's Book Bingo card. I also picked up a book for Mary and two additional books for myself. one a requirement in my quest for nine books read over the summer.

I spent the afternoon reading a spy-craft novel and performing my second watering, before we went to the medium-box grocery store. They have just finished their huge remodeling project, so we had difficulty finding things. They may have more of the things we like/need, but finding them at this juncture is a challenge.

We stopped at our favorite watering hole for dinner before returning home. By then I was tired and fell asleep upstairs to the dulcet tones of Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer, as they were describing the Cubs' latest victory. Mary and I believe that aside from baseball being life, it is also best enjoyed in a good radio play-by-play.

Today, Mary thinks she will finish the index before she gets to go to Holland and enjoy her sock knitting class tomorrow. I'll be reading both days, after the morning safari and of course after more watering of the lawns and gardens of the PE. Today, I have to put on my editor's hat to assist in the finalization of the index.

The current temperature is a very comfortable 65° under partly cloudy skies. The skies will remain partly cloudy later today, as the temperature rises to a comfortable high of 73°. That is the forecast from the NWS for several more days this week. No precipitation is in the forecast through at least the Fourth of July holiday. That means more watering for yours truly.

The sun will rise today at 6:08 a.m. and set at 9:28 p.m. Ciao.