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

I think I'll start with a weather report, since the rains unexpectedly fell between 6:00 and 9:00 p.m.last evening, accompanied by a few claps of thunder that drove STWD to her upstairs hide-e-hole. I broke into my happy dance, since I won't have to water this morning. I watered yesterday to keep things alive in the gardens of the PE. The Coleus that Mary hopes to bring indoors for the winter was looking very parched. It and most of the other plants could not stand the heat and lack of moisture any longer. All the plants look great now.

The tomatoes are producing at a brisk rate, the cucumbers are humming a happy tune. The sweet pepper plants look happy too. Our beans, kale, lettuce, and potatoes also were thankful for the watering. We left the lid off of the cold frame for the summer, and the tomatoes that Mary started in the living room are thriving. She had almost given up, but if you recall, I talked to them and they responded like the troupers that I knew they were. In addition, Mary's gnome garden and her upper garden are doing well too. In short, everything is looking super.

We have a current temperature of 69° under partly cloudy skies. Later today, the high is expected to be 79° with those cloudy conditions continuing. We won't see the sun much until Sunday. The humidity will continue to be high for today, and then we get a reprieve.

I'm listening to the Cubs right now, but with a nearly two hour rain delay, the game may go beyond my ability to stay awake, since I have yet to go to bed. As of now, the Cubs are knotted up 3 - 3  with team that they should beat, the Braves. The Cubs took  the lead in the bottom of the 8th, with two hit batters and some serious small ball, but a home run by the Braves in the top of the 9th tied things up. They are still experiencing slumber in the lumber. The Braves won, the Cubs lost 3 - 4. A win would have moved the Cubs to 53 - 32 in the N. L. Central, 8.5 games ahead of the Cardinals. This loss finds them at 52 - 33, just 7.5 games ahead of the Cardinals.. Next up for the Cubs, a visit to Pittsburgh to play the 3rd place Pirates tonight.

The Tigers were looking good earlier in Toronto, but they succumbed to the Blue Jays and fell to 45 - 41 in the A. L. Central, good for 2nd place, 6.5 games behind the Indians who tried to allow the Tigers to pick up a game in the standings by losing to the Yankees. However, they are still .5 games ahead of that other team from Chicago. The Tigers play at Toronto again tonight.

My beloved Red Sox defeated the Rangers to maintain their 3rd place standing in the A. L. East, 3.0 games behind the Orioles who won their game over the Dodgers. The Sox have a record of 46 - 38. They host the Rays tonight.

The Caps game against the Great Lakes Loons was suspended due to that rain storm. The Caps host the Ft. Wayne TinCaps tonight, with no change in the Caps record in the Midwest League East. They have a record of 6 - 7, keeping them in 5th place.

I am now up to page 140 in my highlighting chores. I am sandwiching in some personal reading to keep me in contention for the Beachcomber's Book Bingo 2016 prize of that nifty bag. Right now, I am reading a large print book entitled Private Paris, by a protege of James Patterson. It is a good read and I will likely finish it by early next week, time permitting.

I made it to my O/T appointment at the hospital, where the O/T says that everything is looking well. After her ministrations, I got some take home tasks to assist in my recovery. We had some good meals yesterday, and also went to Coopersville for some groceries. A stop at  the favorite watering hole on the other side of the bridge and we were on our way home, narrowly avoiding the accident scene on the bridge over Route 31, and some police action in Spring Lake.

I adjourned to my office to do more reading and highlighting and then I sat down to listen to the Cubs. It is painful. I am tired of hearing the announcers looking for another home run to tie up the score. Enough already.

Today no watering and only the morning safari with the intrepid one. We have an appointment at the chiropractor this afternoon. I might spot some trains today, but since I spotted the southbound run of Mid-Michigan RR locomotives 2057 and 2019 yesterday, I can't be sure. Those locomotives were towing six CHCs, four DWTCs, two GTCs, and 18 DBTCs, all empty. We must have been out when the northbound run passed by on the RSTL.

The sun will rise today at 6:13 a.m. and set at 9:26 p.m. Ciao.