Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 1:45 a.m. in "The City."

What can I say, I had planned to stay in bed, but Mary had been watching Book TV downstairs, came to bed, woke Ginger by bouncing around, and so Ginger just had to go out. In the dark, with the rapidly waning spider population in the back forty, that "duty" fell to me. So, here I am.

We have a current temperature of 62° under clear skies, although the NWS is reporting them as partly cloudy. Today's forecast high is also from the NWS, so take it with the proverbial grain of salt. That 81° temperature forecast is, as Adam says about speed limits, "Just a suggestion", here on the shores of the "Big Lake." At any rate, the humidity should be around 65% and the sun will rise @ 6:34 a.m. and set @ 9:06 p.m.

I didn't make it to the Cruise-In Car Show yesterday as I wasn't inclined to push my baking yak. It is also unlikely that I'll make it to the waterfront to see the Coast Guard ships arrive this afternoon either. Both things are a first for me since we have lived here in GH. Alas, so is nearing 66 years old.

However, I do have an appointment @ the chiropractor this morning, so I'm hoping for some relief from that. I sure hope that my yak is getting better because I am frustrated.

The 1st place in the NL Central Cubs won yesterday over the 2nd place Brewers in Milwaukee to move to two and one-half games ahead of the stumbling Brewers. The Cubs are 13 - 5 since the All-Star break and they have what the late Chicago columnist, Mike Royko, used to call the "Big Mo!" The Cubs used home runs by Kris Bryant and rookie catcher Victor Caratin, subbing for regular starting first baseman Anthony Rizzo who is day to day with his own baking yak. Rizzo has the advantage of daily sessions with a professional training staff, a professional training facility and being only 27 years old.  All of the Cubs efforts were in support of a two walk, seven strikeouts six inning start by John Lackey to win the game, 4 - 2. The Cubs welcome the AZ D'backs to the "Friendly Confines" tonight @ 8:05.

The Tigers cruised to a 13 - 1 crushing of the Astros yesterday afternoon in an AL Central game. Justin "J-Up" Upton got a two out, two run double and a grand-slam home run to pace the Tigers' offensive onslaught. The 1st place Astros still lead the AL West by 16 games over the Mariners, while the Tigers are still mired in 4th place in the AL Central, well ahead of that other team from Chicago, mired in  5th place. The Tigers are off to NYC tonight to face the 1st place in the AL East Yankees @ 7:05 p.m. Justin "JV" Verlander looked strong in what may be his last Tigers' start before he is traded just before the July trading deadline.

Verlander is a five and five player, which means that in keeping with the current collective bargaining agreement between the players and the owners, Verlander's five years of service time with the same team and five years in the league, gives him veto power over any trade.

A great segue to the loss by my struggling, but still beloved, Red Sox who may be in the market for a starting pitcher. They lost to the Royals 3 - 5 to keep them in 2nd place in the AL East. The 1st place Yankees lost to the Rays yesterday, 3 - 5. The Sox welcome the Indians to Fenway Park tonight @ 7:10 p.m. Last year's AL World Series participants, the Indians, are leading the AL Central by two games over the Royals, yesterday's Sox opponent. The Sox are struggling and the Indians are strong so a few wins would go a long way to restoring the Sox to their early season form and confidence.

The Caps dumped the Lake, County, OH Captains yesterday afternoon, 9 - 6 in an MWL East game. The Caps are still in 1st place with a three game lead over the Ft. Wayne, IN TinCaps. The Caps and the Captains play again tonight @ 7:00 p.m.

I made those faux Italian vegan meatballs yesterday while Mary was at the Flea Market on 7th. Mary and I both agree that they are a keeper. Mary made pasta sauce to use some of my efforts for dinner. It is worthy of note that I made my own pesto for the recipe using our homegrown basil. Our lunch was vegan hot dogs and a cucumber salad made by Mary using a homegrown cucumber.

While she was at the Flea Market on 7th, which by the by has grown since last year's event and even caused a rare Sunday opening by JW's during the market's run, Mary purchased two pencil drawings from the 7th Street Gallery to place on the wall in the foyer. They will need to be framed, but I like them. I think that along with the frames, they'll need just the right mat or mats, to make them perfect. Looks like a trip to Holland on Tuesday is in order.

Today I plan to harvest the kale and make my world famous squash/kale soup. I am buoyed by the results of my foray into those faux vegan meatballs, so I am feeling good about my chances of another successful kitchen endeavor. Mary will be working on something, but once again, I can't remember what. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 4:00 a.m. in "The City."

I was outside with Ginger around 2:20 a.m. and the skies were clear. I attempted to take pictures of the constellations for Steph, but sadly, like fireworks, they are better in person than on a small camera like the one I have. Oh well, I tried.

The current temperature is 62° under those clear skies and the NWS is forecasting an overnight low of 56° before the sun rises @ 6:33 a.m. and the temperature begins its inexorable climb to today's anticipated high temperature of 80° under sunny skies with only 58% relative humidity. Much more pleasant. The sun will set tonight @ 9:08 p.m.

Today is the annual Cruise-In Car Show in and on the downtown streets of GH. It will be a game time decision whether I attend this year as we walked to the annual Coast Guard Festival Cardboard Boat Race on the waterfront and the trip back was almost more than my aching yak could handle. So, I may have to rely on my memories of Cruise-In Car Shows past. Sigh.

Since the weather promises clear and sunny skies, the show should be well attended by car owners and viewers. A few years ago, a young lady won a trophy for her daily driver Chevrolet Camaro because she was the only one represented in her class as the skies were threatening and the owners of many cars were afraid that their cars might get wet. Did they think that their cars were like the "Wicked Witch of the East and that they would melt when they got wet?

Since I mentioned the Cardboard Boat Race, here are some pictures that we took on our sojourn with Ginger. Sadly, the crowds were so big that we couldn't get any pictures of the cardboard boats themselves. However, this is a picture of a past year's race courtesy of the Coast Guard Festival archives.

The parking lots and the channel were crowded by attendees on a beautiful day on the waterfront.

Not part of the Cruise-In Car Show today, but nice to look at.

Why not?

Yes, Virginia, we are Coast Guard City USA!

Even the dogs came out to join the festivities. This is one of the dogs available for adoption. 

In addition, when we got back, Mary went solo to the annual Lighthouse Guild Quilt Show at St. Patrick's Catholic Church, just across Beacon Blvd from where we live. She took some pictures of quilts that she saw.

Very original idea.

Nice theme.

So many quilts, so little time. 

Also, today is the 2nd annual Flea Market on 7th sponsored by the proprietor of Vintage Green. an antique and vintage collectibles purveyor on 7th. Many vendors are expected to be there and the studio where I take my drawing lessons is also having a show as they are in that same locale.

I am currently listening to CoasttoCoastAM, surprise, and the guest host, Richard Syrett, is talking to authors Mickey Bradley and Dan Gordon who are describing ghosts that are seen in and around baseball parks in America. Reportedly the late musician, Steve Goodman, writer of the song A Dying Cubs' Fan's Last Request, had his ashes surreptitiously scattered in the outfield. There also rumors of a former team owner having his ashes buried somewhere in a center field. Who knows?

Together, Bradley and Gordon have written a book, copyright 2007, in which they describe ghosts that have been reportedly seen in and around famous ballparks like Wrigley Field in Chicago, the Old Tigers' Stadium in Detroit, and the newer Comerica Park, also in Detroit, and of course, Fenway Park in Boston. It has been reported that the famous Tiger, Ty Cobb, has been seen and heard at Comerica Park and that groundskeepers have heard the sound of a baseball game being played in an empty park. Many other parks are reported to be haunted too. My curiosity was piqued, so I ordered a copy from the library. What more could a Diehard Cubs' Fan and baseball fan in general want?

Since I am on the topic of baseball, let it be known that every one of my teams won yesterday.

The Cubs eked out a win over the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park by a slim score of 2 - 1, to take a firm 1.5 game 1st place lead over the 2nd place Brewers in the NL Central. The Cubs have a division record of 55 - 48. The Cubs bats have been asleep of late and they have only scored three runs in two games in Milwaukee. The Cubs and the Brewers play this afternoon @ 2:10 p.m.

The Tigers rallied to win over the Astros 5 - 3 to move to 46 - 56 in the AL Central and hold tightly onto 4th place. The Tigers and the Astros play again today @ 1:10 p.m.

My beloved Red Sox hung on to 2nd place in the AL East, with a 9 - 8 win over the Royals, 1/2 game behind the Yankees, who also won,  The Sox and the Royals also play this afternoon @ 1:35 p.m.

The Caps continued their winning ways with a 3 - 0 win over the visiting Lake, County, OH Captains @ the Fifth/Third Ballpark. The Caps have a 24 - 9 record in the MWL East and are three full games ahead of the 2nd place TinCaps. The Caps and the Captains play this afternoon @ 1:00 p.m.

I hope to get into the kitchen today and make that soup I have been planning to make for several days along with some vegan Italian faux meatballs. Mary will be doing something, but right now I can't remember what. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 3:30 a.m. in "The City."

When the local/national cable company decides to allow the internet to work, I am listening to CoasttoCoastAM with Jimmy Church sitting in for regular host, George Noory, this morning. Church's guest was Lorcan O'Toole, the son of the legendary and late British/Irish actor, Peter O'Toole. Peter O'Toole may be best known for his iconic role as T.E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, in 1962, for which he was nominated for an Oscar. He was nominated seven times but never won. He was given an Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievement in 2002.

Lorcan has played Padraic Telford on Sons of Anarchy along with numerous other roles. He and Jimmy Church were talking about the Life of an O'Toole. ie, growing up the son of a famous father. But, they were also talking about Bigfoot and other paranormal occurrences which are part and parcel to the regular fare on CoasttoCoastAM when George Noory is the host. The calls that were coming into the show from listeners were, as usual, an assortment of the odd and eerie, to say the least.

Here in GH, the current temperature is 61° under clear skies. Later today, the NWS has forecast a high temperature of 82° under sunny skies. If anyone has a wedding scheduled for Central Park, they should have a beautiful day after the sun rises @ 6:32 a.m. and before it sets tonight @ 9:09 p.m. There is no significant rain in the forecast until Thursday, so you know what that means for yours truly. Sigh.

The baseball news yesterday was mostly bad.

The Cubs fell to the Brewers by a score of 1 - 2 despite what was a good pitching performance by Jose Quintano. The Brewers starting pitcher, Brent Suter, was better. The right fielder, Jason Heyward, made another highlight reel catch and Javier Baez nailed a prodigious home run on a night when former American League pitcher, Quintana, got his first Major League hit.

The Cubs are still in 1st place in the NL Central, 1/2 game ahead of the Brewers, but as usual, they struggled against a team that had been having a tough time winning. The Cubs and the Brewers play in Milwaukee tonight @ 7:10 p.m.

The Tigers once again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as they lost on a three run home run given up by the relief pitcher, Bruce Rondon, 5 - 6 to the visiting Astros. Rondon was inserted into the game in place of Tigers' starter Jordan Zimmerman with the Tigers leading 5 - 3 and then well... At any rate, the 4th place in the AL Central Tigers have a record of 45 - 56 and face the Astros again tonight at an odd starting time of 6:10 p.m.

My beloved Red Sox fell to the Royals 2 - 4 and also fell out of 1st place in the AL East to 2nd place, 1/2 game behind the Yankees, who won. The Sox and the Royals play tonight in Fenway Park @ 7:05 p.m.

Elsewhere in the local news, we completed our errands after Mary dropped off Ginger @ daycare and after we walked downtown to visit the newest store that has begun to open in GH. This store purveys cooking utensils and is a welcome addition to our local merchants. We purchased some things that we didn't even know we had gone to buy.

Before we set out to Holland, there was a huge response from five of the area's local fire departments to the dunes south of GH. According to the story in the Gand Haven Tribune, five fire departments fought a fire that consumed five acres of hilly dunes. I know you are wondering, how can sand dunes burn? Well, these dunes have dune grass and other vegetation growing on them that can and did catch fire. Here is a link to that story and the pictures taken by the Tribunes Becky Vargo @ the scene.

http://www.grandhaventribune.com/gallery/Lakeshore-Drive-dune-fire?ci=stream&lp=7&p=1

We had a good trip to Holland and got everything we meant to get and some things that we didn't plan to buy. I like it when a plan comes together as George Peppard used to intone in The A-Team,

We plan to stay in today and do some cooking and some reading and some watering. I have to harvest the kale and utilize my latest kitchen gadget to prepare the kale for my world famous kale and squash soup that I was going to get to yesterday but didn't.

I started my latest book, The Case of the Fabulous Fiancee, by West Michigan author, Diane Burton. I love detective novels and Burton hooked me with a previous novel that featured her female protagonist/heroine, private investigator Alexandra "Alex" O'Hara. I'll have to ask Mary how to add the diacritic over the "e" in Fiancee.

Mary was in the La-Z-Boy downstairs when Ginger and I got up around 1:00 a.m. and Ginger flew down the stairs and jumped into Mary's lap and woke her up. I took Ginger and STWD out at that time. The fur-children are now back in their respective sleeping positions and I am here blogging. Ciao.

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

Let's keep it simple.

The current temperature is a warm feeling 71° under partly cloudy skies. I was out with Ginger @ 12:10 a.m. and it was too warm to be comfortable. The NWS is forecasting a high for today of 81° under mostly sunny skies. The humidity is supposed to begin to drop later today. Meanwhile, the sun will rise @ 6:31 a.m. and set @ 9:10 p.m.

Our crops are coming in heavy. Green peppers, zucchini, and kale are growing in abundance.  I plan to give away some of the peppers as we cannot use as many as we are harvesting.

Speaking of those green peppers, Mary made a terrific sweet and sour tofu with them. Home made sweet and sour sauce and the green peppers were served over couscous and voila, a terrific lunch. Mary thinks she can improve the next version, but this one was fine by me.

We made it to the chiropractor and that also went fine. My yak is still not what I would like, but the doctor reminded me to be patient and that I am doing fine. Patience is not one of my personal virtues.

I watered the lawns of the vast PE and also all the vegetable and flower plantings. In addition, to paraphrase Julius Caesar with regard to the aforementioned spiders, "I came, I saw, I conquered", at least I hope so as does Mary.

Sports news yesterday was positive for the teams that played.

The Cubs with Jon Lester on the mound defeated that other team from Chicago, 6 - 2, powered by a home run from Anthony Rizzo and two home runs and a run scoring triple off the bat of Kyle Schwarber. He nailed that triple, a two run home run and a solo homer to end the game with four RBIs. I believe he is ready to play as a DH any day.

The Cubs are now alone in 1st place in the NL Central, 1.5 games ahead of the 2nd place Brewers, whom they welcome to the "Friendly Confines" tonight @ 8:10 p.m.

The AL Central Tigers didn't play yesterday, but they increased their 4th place lead over that 5th place other team from Chicago by another 1/2 game with a 45 - 55 record. The Tigers welcome the Astros to Comerica Park tonight @ 7:10 p.m.

My beloved Red Sox are tenuously holding on to 1st place in the AL East by 1/2 game over the Yankees who did play and win yesterday while the Sox were off. The Sox have a record of 56 - 47, while the Yankees have a record of 54 - 46.

The Sox traded for another third baseman from the Giants two days ago, but last Sunday they also called up a rookie third sacker, Rafael Devers, from their AAA farm team, the Pawtucket Patriots. So, who gets the playing time will be based on who produces in the field and at the plate. The Sox are home tonight to face the Royals @ 7:10 p.m.

The 1st place Caps defeated the 2nd place TinCaps last night 4 - 2 in an MWL East matchup. The Caps are now a 22 - 9 team and they once again face the TinCaps tonight @ 7:00 p.m.

We have some plans for today, but they are fluid and so I can't really describe them. It is likely that high energy Ginger will be going to daycare as we are likely to be out much of the day. Sugar, a much lower energy family member, will do what she does best, lie around the house.

I'd like to get to that cooking and baking I had planned, but that is dependent on our travels today. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 2:00 a.m. in "The City."

I coaxed Ginger outside around 12:30 and it was muggy out there. The skies are cloudy and the current temperature is 71° very humid degrees. That high humidity will continue today as the temperature is forecast by the NWS to reach 84°. Sadly, the chance for additional precipitation is now down to 20%, so that means I'll be watering as I continue on the great spider hunt after the morning safari.

I wasn't having much success with the mild, general purpose insecticide, that I was using, so I've stepped it up to a spider specific insecticide. This time for sure. This year has produced bumper crops of vegetables but also an equally bumper crop of spiders. Spiders can be okay in small. non-threatening numbers, but the ones in the back-forty are huge in number and are the attack dogs of the arachnid family. Mary serves as proof that they are vicious and ready to attack at a moments notice.

Ginger went to daycare yesterday and came back in need of a nap. She and STWD ate their dinners and then they napped.

Trainspotting yesterday was a long drawn out affair. At 10:07 a.m., locomotives #2019, looking dull and drab in its MMRR livery and locomotive @ 2057 looking bright, shiny and new in its livery, rolled past on the RSTL heading south, towing a long line of cars that included: eight CHCs, 20 DBTCs, five DWTCs, and two GTCs.

At 4:27 p.m., those same locomotives headed north towing a very long line of empty cars that included 43 DBTCs, one marked do not fill, six CHCs, and four GTCS. I used the hollow sound of the cars as my barometer of their emptiness.

Sports news yesterday was half and half.

The Cubs handled that other team from Chicago, 8 - 3 with a strong pitching performance by Jake Arrieta and a highlight reel catch by left-fielder Jon Jay. He was able to be inserted into the lineup by Cubs' manager Joe Maddon due to the game being in an American League stadium and caught a fly ball with a terrific catch that robbed one of that other team's players of a potential run scoring double. That same player returned the favor with his own catch in left field later in the game. The Cubs have now seized first-place in the NL Central, one-half game ahead of the losing Brewers. The Cubs and that other team play again tonight @ 8:10 p.m.

The Tigers have been a bad team this year, but they outdid themselves yesterday with a 2 - 16 loss to the Royals, to stay firmly mired in 4th place in the AL Central, five games ahead of that other team from Chicago. The Tigers have the day off today before welcoming the Astros to Comerica Park on Friday night @ 7:10 p.m.

My beloved Red Sox righted the ship in Seattle yesterday afternoon with a 4 - 0 win over the Mariners. The Yankees also won, so the Sox are just one slim game ahead of the Yankees in the AL East. The Sox have the day off today before the Royals come to Fenway Park on Friday night @ 7:10 p.m.

The still in 1st place Caps fell to the 2nd place Ft. Wayne TinCaps yesterday in a battle between the 1st place Caps and the 2nd place TinCaps, who are now just one game behind the Caps. The Caps now have an MWL East record of 21 - 9. The Caps and the TinCaps play again tonight @ 7:00 p.m.

We got a number of errands accomplished yesterday while Ginger was at daycare. Groceries, spider spray, and a few other stops. Sugar was happy to stay home and sleep.

Today, I'll be watering as Mary attempts to use some of the humongous crop of green peppers that are coming in at a ferocious rate. The zucchini is also being very productive. Soon, there will be so many Roma tomatoes that Mary will be awash in those too. We picked up an acorn squash while we were out yesterday so that I can use the overflowing amount of kale that needs to be harvested, to make my world famous squash-kale soup.

The sun will rise today @ 6:30 a.m. and set @ 9:11 p.m. Ciao

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 5:30 a.m. in "The City."

I wasn't going to get up and blog, but somehow, Ginger had other plans. She insisted that she go out around 4:00 a.m. and so that meant that I was getting up. She did her duty and so now I am sitting here with a keyboard and CoasttoCoastAM. Oh well, that's the way the dog biscuit crumbles.

When I was outside, I learned that the temperature is pleasant enough and according to the NWS, the temperature is 68° under partly cloudy skies. Later today, the temperature is slated to rise to 79° with a 20% chance of precipitation. Thursday, the chance of showers/T-storms increases to 40%. I should be able to skip watering today and maybe, just maybe, I won't have to water Thursday.

Speaking in a tangential way, my watering has produced a good crop of zucchini and cucumbers along with a bumper crop of green bell peppers. Our Roma tomatoes are also maturing nicely.

I probably let the zucchini get too large, but by grating one fruit, I was able to make two loaves of zucchini bread yesterday along with whipping up a cucumber salad with Mary's assistance. These tow loaves were the first zucchini bread that I have ever baked.

Here are two pictures of the zucchini bread, the first as they were cooling in the pan and the second as they continued the cooling process, sans baking pans.

By way of additional information, I didn't take a picture of the cucumber that had also gotten too large and required seeding prior to the salad preparation and eating dinner that consisted of that salad and my version of Mary's vegan Italian style sausages. This is the second of my zucchini harvest and two of the Roma tomatoes.

I made it to my drawing class last evening, and I think I am improving. More to the point, I am enjoying myself trying a new endeavor. Last evening, we used easels to draw two pictures of a live model. I also took the second loaf of zucchini bread to the gallery for all to enjoy. I had already sampled the one we kept and it tastes great. When you are retired, you can never have too many hobbies. I now can enjoy reading, playing with the girls, baking, gardening, and anything else that I choose. I used to do woodworking, but I don't miss it.

Sports news yesterday was an interesting study in the futility that has become the hallmark of the Detroit Tigers, who lost to the Royals 1 - 3 en route to remaining in 4th place in the AL Central, five games ahead of that other team from Chicago. The Tigers and the Royals play tonight @ 7:10 p.m.

Since I am on the subject of that other team, let me segue to the Cubs victory over that team, 7 - 2. That gives the Cubs a chance to either split the four game series or to actually take the series. The Cubs have an NL Central record of 52 - 47, one-half game behind the Brewers.

Willson Contreras continued his hot streak at the plate, going 3 for 4 including a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning to go along with a hot day for Ben Zobrist, who also went three for four in support of John Lackey. For only the second time in his entire baseball career, from T-ball to the major leagues, Kris Bryant got tossed from a game for arguing a strike call by the home plate umpire. The Cubs once again try to defeat that other team tonight @ 8:10 p.m.

Speaking of a team in serious need of a spark, my beloved Red Sox fell again to the Seattle Mariners by a final score of 5 - 6. The Sox are still in 1st place, albeit with a tenuous hold on that position with only a one game lead over the Yankees in the AL East. The Sox and the Mariners meet again today in Seattle @  3:40 p.m.

The Caps had the day off and are still in 1st place by two games over the Ft. Wayne TinCaps, tonight's MWL East opponent @ the Fifth/Third Ballpark in GR @ 7:00 p.m.

Today, indoor chores, some grocery shopping, a stop at the veterinarian's office for some Heartgard™ chewable's for Ginger and more reading. I would like to get in some time with the girls after the morning safari as Mary cotinuse indexing, crafting, and cooking. All of those activities after the morning safari. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 12:00 a.m. in "The City". I am really going to follow the KISS formula on this blog.

Trainspotting yesterday was begun by my apprentice trainspotter, Mary, and finished by me.

At 9:32 a.m., Mary sprang to the WW to espy the southbound run of the MMRR train as it passed by on the RSTL. That spot didn't take long, as all that she spotted were MMRR EMD GP 38-2 locomotives 2057 and 2019 sans cars.

At 2:40 p.m., I spotted those same locomotives heading north towing six CHCs, 22 DBTCs, and four DWTCs.

The Cubs, as I feared, fell to that other team from Chicago 1 - 3 yesterday afternoon. That gives the 2nd place in the NL Central Cubs a 51 - 47 record. They meet that same team tomorrow @ 2:20 p.m.

The Tigers lost in 11 innings to the Royals, 3 - 5. The 45 - 54 in the AL Central Tigers are still in 4th place and listening to offers for the services of Justin Verlander. With his age and a big contract that has a no-trade clause, it will be a tough sell. JV did pitch well before the Tigers relief corps caved in and the rest is history.

My beloved Red Sox started after 10:00 p.m. on the West Coast last night, so I have can only report the results so far. The Sox are down 0 - 3 in the 4th. The Sox and the Mariners play again today @ 10:10 p.m.  As of now, the Sox are still in 1st place in the AL East, but they are looking very vulnerable with a record of 55 - 45.

The 1st place in the MWL East West Michigan White Caps fell to the Beloit Snappers by a score of 2 - 4 yesterday. The Caps remain atop the division with an overall record of 21 - 8 and have the day off before they host the 2nd place TinCaps on Wednesday night @ 7:00 p.m.

I nearly forgot. I stopped by the library to get the final initials on my card for the library's Beachcomber's Book Bingo and receive my swag for my efforts. Here is a picture of my mat. When fully open, it is approximately three feet wide by six feet long.

We made all of our appointments yesterday. Today, Mary will continue indexing on the catalog and we'll take the morning safari before I water the vast lawns of the PE. I will continue to read and play with the girls too.

We have a current temperature of 65° under clear skies. Today's high is forecast to reach 78° with a 10% chance of precipitation. The next real chance for rain is Thursday morning. The sun will rise today @ 6:28 a.m. and set @ 9:13 p.m. If there is anything else to report, I don't care. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 12:00 a.m. in "The City."

Let me start with what is really important, Cubs Win! Cubs Win! Cubs Win!, 5 - 3 over the Cardinals in an NL Central matchup. That win was the Cubs 8th out of 9 tries since the All-Star break for a 51 - 46 record and when coupled with the loss yesterday by the Brewers, the Cubs have pulled into a 1st place tie with the Brewers. Solid pitching, timely hitting, and terrific defense combined to give the Cubs their win and a chance to send the fans home happy. The Cubs return to the field this afternoon @ 2:20 p.m. to face that other team from Chicago, a team that always seems to rise to the occasion and give the Cubs a fight.

The Tigers are trying to prove that they are not a bad baseball team, but the truth is there for everyone to see. The Tigers are already trading players and planning for the future of the franchise. The Tigers won their AL Central game against the Twins yesterday 9 - 6 to rise to 45 - 52 and hold onto 4th place, six full games ahead of that aforementioned other team from Chicago. The Tigers host the visiting Royals tonight @ 7:10 p.m.

My beloved Red Sox are still not playing well, losing to the red-hot Dodgers, 2 - 3 on the West Coast. That gives the 1st place in the AL East Sox an overall record of 55 - 45, 2. 5 games ahead of the Yankees. The Sox travel up the coast to Seattle to play the Mariners tonight @ 10:10 p.m.

The Caps fared better in Beloit last night as they defeated the Snappers 6 - 4 in an MWL cross-division match. The 1st place in the MWL East White Caps now own a record of 21 - 7, three full games ahead of the 2nd place TinCaps. The Caps are in Beloit again today @ 1:05 p.m.

Otherwise, not much happened yesterday I mowed the lawns of the vast PE and harvested our first zucchini and cucumber. Both look great. I have to find a way to use the zucchini in one recipe or another. There are more to follow. Same with the cucumbers.

We have a current temperature of 69° under partly cloudy skies. Today, the NWS is forecasting a high temperature of 78°, also under partly cloudy skies. The NWS is also forecasting a 90% chance of rain on Thursday. Today the sun will rise @ 6:27 a.m. and set tonight @ 9:14 p.m.

I have an appointment at the chiropractor this afternoon after getting my few hairs cut @ noon. Mary is working on the catalog index and she feels as though it will be straightforward.

I am plowing through another novel in large print format, my favorite. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 1:30 a.m. in "The City."

It's muggy out there. While the current temperature is only 68°, the humidity is high enough to make it uncomfortable. I was out with Ginger around 11:30 p.m. last night, and I didn't much like it. Plus, the partly cloudy skies made for a less than desirable outing. Later this morning, there is a 30% to 45% chance for T-storms and the day will remain cloudy with a brief patch of sunshine around 1:00 p.m. Without a threat of contradiction, the sun will rise this morning @ 6:26 a.m. and set later tonight @ 9:15 p.m.

Mary and I took separate safaris yesterday morning due in part to Ginger's ability to walk longer distances than STWD and also due to the fact that John came over to do some additional repairs/updates to the manse.

He sealed the ingress/egress to the basement that was one possible source of the yearly rodent infestation in the fall. In addition, he rerouted the AC/heating ductwork near the master bedroom from blowing into the adjacent closet to actually blowing into the bedroom where we can appreciate it more than our clothing.

Mary took time in her kitchen to make one of her vegan "hammish" roasts that we had for dinner. As usual, it tasted great and was very satisfying. In addition, she made a wonderful tasting vegan potato salad. There are people who may not agree, but I find that the longer we follow the vegan lifestyle, the more I like the foods that Mary is constantly tweaking and/or creating.

Sports news yesterday was half good.

The Cubs eked out a win over their NL Central rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals @ Wrigley Field. Cubs' starting pitcher, Jon Lester, outdueled Cardinals' ace, Adam Wainwright for most of the game before the Cardinals scored two runs in the top of the 8th inning, which the Cubs answered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame, thus sealing the win for Lester and the loss for Wainwright. The Cubs used solid hitting to score those three runs and remain in 2nd place with an NL Central record of 50 - 46. The Cubs and the Cardinals play again tonight @ 8:05 p.m.

The Tigers dropped another game, this one to the woeful to the Twins, 5 - 6. The Tigers still reside in 4th place in the AL Central with a record of 44 - 52. The Tigers are not a good baseball team and that is not the fault of manager Brad Ausmus, but their mediocre play may cost him his job.

My beloved Red Sox are not playing well these days as they fell to the Dodgers in LA, 3 - 7. The Dodgers are leading the NL West with a 67 - 31 record, 10.5 games ahead of the 56 - 41 AZ Diamondbacks and also the 57 - 42 Colorado Rockies.

When compared to the records of the Cubs and Tigers, and even the 55 - 44 Red Sox, you get an idea of how weak those respective teams and their respective divisions really are. The Sox and the Dodgers play again today @ 3:37 p.m.

The Caps were able to play yesterday in Beloit, WI and they defeated the Snappers 10 - 3 to stay in 1st place in the MWL East, 2.0 games ahead of the 2nd place Ft. Wayne TinCaps. The Caps and the Snappers play again this afternoon @ 2:05 p.m. By the by, Mary, your Dayton Dragons, a Cincinnati Reds farm team, are languishing in 7th place in the MWL East with a record of 10 - 19. Oops!

Yesterday and this morning, I spent time reading my last book for the Loutit Library's Beachcomber's Book Bingo. I am nearly done with the book for their Around the World category and it is a perfect choice for me as it is based on characters created by one of my favorites, pulp-fiction author Clive Cussler, who has also written several non-fiction tomes about deep sea treasure hunting.

Cussler's most famous creation is heroic marine engineer, government agent, and adventurer, Dirk Pitt, who works for the fictional government agency, NUMA, an acronym for the National Underwater and Marine Agency, which has  since morphed into a private organization which helps to fund expeditions that seek to locate and catalog underwater treasure/shipwreck sites.

Dirk Pitt, Cussler's main protagonist, is loosely based on Cussler himself following, a lifelong passion for all things sea related. Cussler, like his hero/protagonist, is an avid collector of classic cars. Cussler has written or lent his fame and name to many other books that have been co-authored by many different authors, like Thomas Perry, the author of the book I am reading, The Mayan Secrets. Like Tom Clancy, Cussler started writing in 1965, in his spare time, when he had nothing else to do after getting the children fed and in bed while his wife worked nights for the local police department in CA. The rest is history as they say.

I hope to stay indoors today and do as little as possible. I should not have to water if the forecast from the NWS is accurate regarding the chance of precipitation. Actually, we have likely had enough rain of late to forestall watering for a day or two. Here's hoping. I may try my hand in Mary's kitchen and make another version of vegan hot dogs. That depends on the availability of the Pinto beans that are called for in the recipe.

My yak is feeling better right now, but I will continue my exercise routine and also my twice weekly visits to the chiropractor. Those visits will continue for three weeks, the exercises, for life.

Mary will do some indexing and knitting. I'm hoping for another of her breakfast gems too. Ciao.

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

I may as well start with the weather report. The current temperature is 73° under rainy skies. In fact, I was outside with Ginger just after 11:00 p.m. and the rain as forecast by the NWS had begun to fall at that time. Fine with Ginger and I as we quickly came in and dried off. The showers are forecast to become T-storms around 2:00 a.m. and then taper off,  leaving a humid high temperature of 80° behind. I know where I'll be, inside and out of that heat and humidity. The sun will rise today @ 6:25 a.m. and set later tonight @ 9:16 p.m.

The weather report is also a great segue into the sports report.

The Cubs game against the Cardinals should have been called after the 7th inning with the Cubs up 3 - 2. Unfortunately, the game continued and the wheels came off the bus as the Cardinals scored nine runs in the top of the 8th en route to a 4 - 11 Cubs' loss. That loss ended the Cubs winning streak and kept them in 2nd place in the NL Central, one game in back of the losing Milwaukee Brewers. The Cubs and the Cardinals meet again today @ Wrigley Field @ 4:05 p.m.

The Tigers fared better as they defeated the Twins, 6 - 3. The win allowed the Tigers to remain in 4th place in the AL Central with a 44 - 51 record. At least they are ahead of that other team from Chicago. The Tigers and the Twins play again tonight @ 7:10 p.m.

My beloved Red Sox topped the Angels in Anaheim, 6 - 2. They improved their 1st place record to 55 - 43 and have a 3.5 game lead over the 2nd place Rays in the AL East. The Sox and the Angels play again tonight in Anaheim @ 9:07 p.m.

Which leads me full circle back to the weather report. The Caps game in Beloit, WI was canceled last night due to lightning. The Caps still have a 2.0 game lead over the 2nd place Ft. Wayne TinCaps in the MWL East. The Caps and the Snappers play tonight in Beloit @7:35 p.m.

Today, I have no plans beyond reading and staying dry. My indoor chores are done and I want to give my yak a rest. Ever since we returned from Washington, D.C., I have had a constant baking yak. I know that that may seem unimportant in the cosmic scale of things, but as anyone who has had or still does suffer from a baking yak can attest, it lowers your level of tolerance for many things. At least I won't have to water today.

Mary will be working in her kitchen after we return from the morning safari. That safari will wait until the rains end around 9:00 a.m. before restarting @  10:00 a.m., or it will wait until after 12:00 p.m. after that mid-morning resurgence of the storm activity. I know that STWD won't go out if she senses a disturbance in the force.

So to close, let me say, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saQJ8z4714w and ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 3:50 a.m. in "The City."

Wow, Mary and I got blown away last night when we went to Seven Steps Up and their concert venue, Pin Drop Concerts, in Spring Lake, to see an intimate concert in what used to be the Masonic Hall, a venue that has tremendous acoustics.

Peter Asher, a long ago member of the singing duo Peter and Gordon, has joined forces with fellow guitarist Albert Lee, a session musician, solo performer, and a member of the 70s group, Head, Hands, and Feet to deliver a terrific evening of entertainment.

Those of us of a certain age, remember Peter and Gordon from their hit recordings of the 1960s British Invasion. Here are Peter and Gordon in an early appearance performing  A World Without Love. Peter Asher is the one on the right wearing the Buddy Holly glasses.This #1 hit for the duo was penned by Sir Paul McCartney of the Beatles. Sadly, his singing partner, Gordon Waller, passed in 2009 @ age 64.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifG6aUUA3a0

Albert and Peter closed their current show with their own version of that song as seen here.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeqV2SmmvlM&list=PLD5YqGjjmbQxExaR_vXDFJGgEoWfqJlpx

Included in the show were reminiscences about many of the performers with whom they have worked over the years. Plus. they also performed songs that they find personally appealing such as Green Day's Time of Your Life, as seen in the following clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euvs9Q4i1uo&index=2&list=PLD5YqGjjmbQxExaR_vXDFJGgEoWfqJlpx

They also chose to play James Taylor's mega hit, I'm Your Handyman, among others, with help from the audience

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTchUI94uDU

Albert Lee is a guitarist with skills that I can only envy. Here he is with Head, Hands, and Feet, as they played a song entitled Country Boy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjSN6V6CpXM

All clips are courtesy of  YouTube™.

Together Asher and Lee walked, played, and sang their way through over 50 years of musical memories. As I said, we got blown away!

Moving on down the road, the northbound run of the train on the RSTL completed the southbound passage from Wednesday. Locomotive #2057 passed by Wednesday @ 10:07 a.m. towing eight CHCs, 11 DBTCs, and six DWTCs. During the day, a single work truck passed through GH @ 10:37 a.m. Yesterday, that same locomotive finally passed by on the RSTL @ 12:50 p.m. towing two CHCs and one DBTC.

Since it rained yesterday morning, I did not have to water. However, I will have to water today since the NWS forecast for today shows only a 10% chance of showers under cloudy skies. Plus, I'll stay on spider patrol to attempt to stem the spider invasion that seems to be quite large this year. Mary can't go outside without risk of being bitten by one of the many spiders that have taken up residence on the PE. I have been bitten too, but they seem to have a lesser effect on me.

Baseball news yesterday was mostly bad.

The Cubs had the day off and they remain in 2nd place in the NL Central with a record of 49 - 45, one game behind the Brewers, The Cubs face the sub .500 Cardinals today @ "The Friendly Confines"

The Tigers, a bad baseball team, fell hard to the KC Royals, 4 - 16 last night. That loss keeps the Tigers firmly in 4th place in the AL Central with a record of 43 - 51. The Tigers visit the Twins tonight @ 8:15 p.m., as they continue their trip to the couch in the post season.

Sadly, as bad as the Tigers played, my beloved Red Sox, a better baseball team, were equally bad. They lost to the woeful Toronto Bluejays, 6 - 8. That loss still finds the Sox in 1st place in the AL East by 2.5 games as they head into a weekend series against the Angels in Anaheim tonight @ 10:07 p.m. C'mon guys, right the ship!

The Caps split a pair with the Beloit Snappers, winning the postponed first game, 6 - 3, but dropping the nightcap 0 - 2. That means the Caps were treading water as they remained in 1st place in the MWL East with an overall record of 19 - 7. The Caps and the Snappers play tonight in Beloit @ 8:00 p.m.

We got up late yesterday, as we had planned, and then repaired to the downstairs of the manse to have a meal of vegan hot dogs and cucumber salad that Mary had prepared the night before. Dinner was baked beans for Mary and a baked potato with all the toppings for me before we headed over to Spring Lake. Plus, we made another batch of our vegan jerky yesterday. It tastes good, but it is a work in progress.

We'll be taking the morning safari today and I'll be doing some indoor chores. I may bake some bread too if the mood is right. I have a small task to perform in the man-cave too, but it can wait. Mary may commandeer her kitchen today so my activities will be based on that eventuality.

Mary took another indexing job yesterday, but that won't be in her home office until mid-September. She still has a catalog index that is already here to complete.

The sun will rise today @ 6:24 a.m. and set @ 9:17 a.m. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 6:15 a.m. in "The City.

I offered Ginger the chance to go out around 5:15 a.m. and she wouldn't go. I guess that like her sister Sugar, if Ginger doesn't want to go out, she won't. Mary did have her out around 1:15 a.m., so we found out her real needs.

Since I can only use the forecast from the NWS as a guide, that and the WW because I didn't get outside, I'll give my loyal readers the "Just the facts, ma'am, just the facts." Kudos and a genuine "No-Prize" to any readers who recognize the derivation of both of the famous quotes in the previous passage.

At any rate, there is no precipitation as of now, but the NWS is forecasting an 80% chance for T-storms this morning. Sadly, they have a tendency to be wrong here in GH so I may be watering instead of watching the rain fall.

I bring the previous facts to light as a nice segue into the sports report.

The Caps game last night was suspended @ the Fifth/Third Ballpark because of rain. Fifth/Third Ballpark is located in Comstock Park, MI, a suburb of GR. that is approximately 32 miles due east of GH. We were/are dry as the proverbial bone right now.

The Caps game had no score other than 0 - 0 when the game was suspended and as they were off on Tuesday, that means that they still lead the MWL East with a record of 18 - 6. two full games ahead of the Ft. Wayne TinCaps. The Caps will attempt to resume their game later today @ 5:30 p.m.before the regularly scheduled game against the Beloit Snappers @8:00 p.m.

The Cubs are on a roll following the All-Star break. They have won five in a row including yesterday's 8 - 2 trouncing of the Atlanta Braves to pull to within 1.5 games of the NL Central leading Brewers. The Cubs have an overall NL Central record of 49 - 45 and they are off today before the Cardinals come to the "Friendly Confines" @ 2:20 p.m. Friday.

The Tigers traded a popular player, J.D. Martinez, to the NL West Diamondbacks for three prospects. Martinez got hit by a pitch that struck his left-hand and had to leave the game. X-rays proved negative and so he is listed as day-to-day. Since I am on the subject, the Tigers fell to the Royals late in the game yesterday by a score of 3 - 4 to stay solidly in 4th place in the AL Central with an overall record of 43 - 50. Supposedly, Justin "JV" Verlander pitched a solid game. Maybe, but the Tigers still lost. The Tigers play again tonight @ 8:15 p.m. against those same Royals.

My beloved Red Sox are now 12 games over .500 in the AL East, @ 54 - 42, following their 5 - 1 win over the Bluejays. The Sox are enjoying a three game lead over the 2nd place Rays and 4.5 games over the losing Yankees who acquired former All Star infielder/ third baseman, Todd Frazier, from that other team from Chicago in a huge trade. Sadly, Frazier was also hit by a pitch and had to leave the game. He is expected to be fine. At any rate, the Sox and the Bluejays play again today @ 1:20 p.m.

Elsewhere in the news, I was the proverbial walking dead yesterday following my marathon indexing session in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. I finished up my work later that morning and then edited the final index alongside Mary and solo before we got the index out of here around 11:45 p.m. last night. I am up now because I never sleep through the night. I am actually watching the sun rise in the sky as sunrise approaches @ 6:23 a.m. and well before it sets @ 9:18 p.m.

We are going to the chiropractor in the early afternoon and then to Seven Steps Up in Spring Lake for a concert tonight @ 8:00 p.m. featuring former British Invasion star Peter Asher of Peter and Gordon fame, and Albert Lee, a guitarist and songwriter who has played with many of the great musicians on the road and in the studio. I just want to hear Asher and Lee play. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 3:00 a.m. in "The City."

Oddly enough, when Ginger gets up with me, it is time for her to go out, whether she asks or not. So, while we were out, we heard the young people who live/love nearby, just getting their night started. Those of us of a certain age now remember those times fondly as we head to bed. It really isn't a pity that youth is wasted on the young. Let them enjoy their fun times just as we did in our youth.

Speaking of outside. the current temperature is a comfortable 61/64° under mostly clear skies. If  I ever remember, I'll take the camera one morning and get some sky shots of the constellations for Steph. Later today, the NWS is forecasting a high temperature of 77°, also under mostly clear skies. As of now, the NWS is still forecasting a 40% chance of showers on Wednesday that has increased to 60% on Thursday and now, also on Friday. The forecast for high temperatures in the 80° range is still in that forecast. The sun will rise on a shorter day today @ 6:21 a.m. and set @ 9:19 p.m.

Trainspotting yesterday was somewhat odd. MMRR EMD GP 38-2 locomotive # 2057 was soloing instead of #2019 on both the southbound a.m. run and also on the p.m. northbound run. The morning southbound passage on the RSTL didn't take long as it consisted of that locomotive and two CHCs. The afternoon northbound run was a bit more extended, as that locomotive was towing 10 DBTCs along with one CHC, one DWT, and a single GTC that was bringing up the rear.

Baseball news was mostly good yesterday as my teams were a combined .750 on the night.

The Cubs were delayed by rain in their first visit to the new stadium in Atlanta to face the now sub - .500 Braves as the Cubs eked out a win over the Braves, 4 - 3. Jon Lester pitched a solid game and got his first-ever stolen base. Anthony Rizzo went yard and Kyle Schwarber made a great catch on a foul ball in left field and then tumbled into the seats. The Cubs have now won four in a row and are 2 games over .500 @ 47 - 45 in the NL Central, but they are still in 2nd place by 3.5 games. The Cubs and the Braves play again tonight @ 7:35 p.m.

The TIgers are still trying, in fact, they are very trying, as they defeated the now sub -.500 Royals in a rout, 10 - 2. The Tigers are a day late and a dollar short this season. They have an AL Central record of 42 - 49. 3.5 games ahead of the 5th place team, which is that other team from Chicago. The Tigers try once again tonight to stay afloat as they play in Kansas City @ 8:15 p.m.

My beloved Red Sox are struggling of late. They fell to the woeful Toronto Bluejays last night, 3 - 4, to fall to an overall record of 52 - 42 in the AL East. They still are solidly in 1st place with a 2.0 game lead over the Rays. The Sox and the Bluejays play again tonight @ Fenway, game time 7:10 p.m.

The Caps had a good night as they topped the Quad Cities River Bandits, 6 - 2. The Caps now have a 2.5 game lead in the MWL East over the Ft. Wayne TinCaps and the day off before they travel to Beloit, WI to face the Snappers @ 8:00 p.m.

As usual, I am listening to CoasttoCoastAM, with George Noory and his guest, astronomer Chris Impey as they discuss space travel and other things in outer space. George will be welcoming his second-half guest, Rosalyn Berne, who will be discussing the social and ethical implications of newly developed and emerging technologies; such as nanotechnology and synthetic biology.

I thought I had some time to myself today, but I am being pressed into service as an apprentice indexer. I will have to do some rote indexing and as slow as I am, that will take a goodly part of the day after the morning safari and before I go to my drawing class @ 6:00 p.m. The latest book has so many names and other details that it is bogging Mary down a bit. Since I got my outdoor and man-cave chores done yesterday, I have the time. Still, I am better at being retired than I am @ indexing.

I am still maintaining my resolve and doing my yak exercises to strengthen my core muscles, in spite of my almost excusing myself due to just about any reason.

I was downstairs when I took Ginger out and noticed that Mary has baked beans cooking in the slow cooker with a note beside it that warned me not to open the lid, so I didn't. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 4:00 a.m. in "The City."

I just finished my latest set of yak exercises before starting this blog. I believe that they will help overall and so I am being diligent and doing my part three-times per day.

The NWS is reporting a current temperature of 60° under partly cloudy skies. My DTWS with its FPMS is reporting 60° and my view out the WW does indeed show that the skies are partly cloudy. Later today, the NWS is forecasting a high temperature of 76, also under partly cloudy skies.

Wednesday and Thursday the NWS is forecasting a 50% to 60% chance for T-storms as high temperatures reach into the 80s! We then get a respite from precipitation on Friday according to that same NWS, before T-storms/showers return over the weekend.

Once we got the morning safari done yesterday, Mary had me fire up the grill and make some grilled ears of corn and grilled sausages while she worked on the index. Sadly, one of the ears of corn had a genetic defect that wasn't detected until it was husked. That defect made that particular ear unfit for human consumption. Still, it was a delicious lunch.

Later, she allowed me to chose the dinner menu, so I opted for vegan-a-roni. With some assistance from Mary, the meal once again turned out delicious. Today's meals? As yet, unknown.

I have to water today and also get around to those activities in the man-cave that I meant to get to yesterday. No hurry, I'm still retired.

I did finish reading The Case of the Bygone Brother, by Diane Burton in a personal readathon yesterday as Mary watched Contact on Amazon Prime TV. I was in a zone and finished what has to be the smallest print book that I have read in a long time. I liked the book overall, so maybe I"ll try another in Burton's Michigan-based series about female detective Alexandra "Alex" O'Hara who lives and works in the fictional lakeside town of Fair Haven, MI. She mixes in lots of Michigan references to Detroit, GR, and our own GH. What's not to like?

Sports news yesterday had its share of thrills.

The 2nd place Cubs took it to the hapless Baltimore Orioles by a final score of 8 - 0 to sweep the Orioles and give the Cubs' new left-handed starting pitcher, Jose Quintana, his first win in a Cubs' uniform. Quintana used two home runs apiece from Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo and solid hitting from Ben Zobrist. Willson Contreras and Ian Happ to notch that win while recording 12 Ks for the day. A great beginning for Quintana. The Cubs are now one game over .500 @ 46 - 45 in the NL Central and travel to Atlanta to meet the Braves tonight @7:35 p.m. Let's hope that their recent success continues for several more games.

The Tigers improved to 41 - 49 in the AL Central with a 6 - 5, 11 inning win over the Bluejays yesterday. While the Tigers are still not a good team, they are still showing some life, as they stay firmly in 4th place, ahead of that other team from Chicago. The Tigers travel to Kansas City tonight to meet the Royals @ 8:15 p.m.

My beloved Red Sox split a day/night doubleheader with the Yankees yesterday in the AL East, losing the opening game 0 - 3, and winning the second game by 3 - 0. So, they stayed atop the AL East with an overall record of 52 - 41, three games better than the 2nd place Rays. The Sox welcome the Bluejays tonight @ 7:00 p.m.

The Caps easily handled the Quad Cities River Bandits yesterday afternoon with an 8 - 0 win. The Caps now have an MWL East record of 17 - 6 and lead the 2nd place Ft. Wayne TinCaps by 1.5 games. The Caps are home again tonight @ 7:00 p.m. to once again face the River Bandits.

I'll get to that watering today along with assisting Mary with her indexing. She has a question about one portion of a catalog she is indexing that I may be well qualified to answer.

Otherwise, I have to go to the library to sort out why they show me as having a book that I turned in last week and for which I got a sign-off on my Beachcomber's Book Bingo card. I will be starting my last book for my swag later today, time permitting.

The sun will rise today @ 6:20 a.m. and set tonight @ 9:20 p.m. Yes, my friends, the days are once again growing shorter. Sigh. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 4:45 a.m. in "The City,"

I was outside with Ginger around 2:30 a.m. and what to my wondering eyes had appeared? It had rained and by all appearances, quite heavily. That wasn't in yesterday's forecast from the NWS. Go figure. The current temperature is 70° according to both of my sources. Later today, after the sun rises @ 620 a.m. and long before it sets @ 9:21 p.m., the high is forecast to reach 78°. I was going to water today, but now I don't have to do that outdoor chore. Phew!

Speaking of outdoor chores, I mowed the vast lawns of the PE yesterday, pulled some weeds and also used my bequeathed from Adam and Stephany's South Haven house line trimmer and the high-velocity leaf blower to rid the front porch of the various spiders and their webs that had taken up residence there. I watered the lawns after mowing. I guess I was a bit premature. Oh well, in this case, more is better.

Prior to making lunch for myself and Mary, we took the morning safari to the GH Farmer's Market. I returned to do what is almost always Mary's favorite activity, chopping vegetables. In this case, I made my best stove top activity, a stir fry. Since I didn't have any rice, I made couscous and that actually turned out to be a better choice. Julienned carrots, sliced celery, bean sprouts, portobello mushroom, onions, green pepper from the aforementioned GH Farmer's Market, garlic, ginger soy sauce, and molasses, and that couscous combined to make a delicious repast.

After lunch, I went outside for those outdoor chores and returned to the kitchen to make my version of Mary's vegan sausages. I don't know that they were better or worse, they tasted just great for dinner. Mary has now committed the slightly tweaked recipe to her personal cookbook.

Mary spent much of the afternoon indexing and then we traveled to JWs for adult libations and I got to bring home her free birthday dessert, vegan Key Lime pie!

Sports news yesterday was almost perfect unless you count the final result of the game between my beloved Red Sox and the Yankees. The Sox are still atop the AL East by 2.5 games @ 51 - 40, but the Yankees were better in the 1 - 4 Red Sox loss. Chris Sale was just not able to hold off the Yankees' onslaught. The Sox and the Yankees play again today @ 1:05 p.m.

The Cubs moved back to even with the league @ 45 - 45, with a 10 - 3 drubbing of the Orioles in an interleague game between the NL Central 2nd place Cubs and the 42 - 48 4th place in the AL East Orioles. Cubs' pitcher Jake Arrieta outpitched his former team and flashed the Cy Young pitching of 2015. The latest pitching acquisition by Theo Epstein, left handed pitcher Jose Quintana, starts the game in Baltimore today @ 1:35 p.m. A sweep would be great.

The Tigers actually looked good with an 11 - 1 win over the Bluejays. So, the Tigers moved to 40 - 49 and stayed in 4th place, but they are still not a good team. Sadly, their victory came over the last place in the AL East 42 - 48 Bluejays. The Tigers and the Bluejays play again today @ 1:05 p.m.

The Caps fell to earth yesterday with a 1 - 8 loss in the MWL East to the visiting Quad Cities River Bandits. The Caps still sit atop their division @ 16 - 6 with a 1.5 game lead over the Ft. Wayne TinCaps. The Caps play the River Bandits again today @ 1:00 p.m.

So today, we will take the morning safari, this time a shorter distance to better accommodate STWDs' decreased stamina. She is nearly 10 years old and doesn't have the stamina she had when she was a few years younger, But then, neither do I.

Mary will continue indexing and I'll do some things in the man-cave before I settle in to do some reading in my latest novel, a book entitled The Case of the Bygone Brother, by Michigan based author Diane Burton. The story is set in the fictional lakeside town of Fair Haven, MI. I am liking it so far. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 3:00 a.m. in "The City."

It is officially Mary's birthday, 7/15. I'll omit the year, although she has no problem with being of a certain age. Her mother had her birth date confused. and for many years, Mary believed her birthday was 7/16, but it really is 7/15. Maybe I'll help her celebrate @ JWs later today.

We outsmarted our latest "Smart TV" yesterday. Yes, the one that was supposed to come on Wednesday or Thursday and then finally Saturday, arrived yesterday @ the "Big-Box" electronics store. Go figure. Mary, Ginger, and I picked it up and it set up quickly in our "Media Room." I had experience in the mechanical part of the installation and Mary was a "Pro" at the programming after setting up and resetting up the downstairs TV on Thursday. The TV looks great in the media room and it really is "Smart" and easy to use. someday, I may be able to do something other than turn it on and watch.

We have a current temperature of 60° in the back-forty of the PE, according to the NWS. I thought it felt cooler when I was out with Ginger @ 1:15 a.m. Later today, after the sun rises @ 6:19 a.m. and before it sets tonight @ 9:22 p.m., the NWS is forecasting a high-temperature of 73° under sunny skies with only a 10% chance of precipitation.

Speaking of precipitation, yesterday there was a similar forecast, but my plans for those outdoor chores. mowing the lawns of the vast PE and washing the front porch, were changed by the rain that fell most of the morning. Instead, I did the cooking that I had planned and another indoor chore. Not all bad. Weather permitting, I'll get to those outdoor chores today.

In sports news yesterday, the Cubs got the second half of the Major League season off to a good start with a 9 - 8 win over the Baltimore Orioles. The Cubs brought out their home run lumber and took an early eight run lead, only to see the Orioles chip away and tie the score @ eight all until the 9th inning, when Addison Russell popped the winning home run over the wall and closer Wade Davis held the Orioles scoreless in the bottom of the 9th to seal the win. The 44 - 45 in the NL Central Cubs attempt to get even with the league tonight against the Orioles @ 7:05 p.m. EDT. Here's hoping that they can run a string of wins together and be the Cubs we knew and cheered for last year.

The Tigers, well, they are the same, as they lost to the Bluejays 2 - 7 to drop to 39 - 49 and stay solidly in 4th place in the AL Central, just ahead of that other team from Chicago. The Tigers and the Bluejays play again today @ 6:10 p.m.

My beloved Red Sox also got the second half of the season off to a good start with a 5 - 4 win over their AL East rivals, the NY Yankees. The Sox are now a 51 - 39 team and 3.5 games ahead of the 2nd place Rays and 4.5 games ahead of the now 3rd place Yankees, whom they play later today @ 4:05 p.m.

The Caps continued their winning ways with a 3 - 0 win over the Cedar Rapids, IA Kernels. The Caps are now 16 - 5 in the MWL East and lead the Ft. Wayne, IN, TinCaps by 1.5 games. The Caps are home tonight to play the Quad City River Bandits @ 7:05 p.m.

The carpeting is complete, the manse looks great and things are back to what we call normal.

After the morning safari, I'll get to those outdoor chores, help Mary celebrate her birthday, and then sit down to read and relax. I'll also do more of my yak exercises too. I just did them about 30 minutes ago and they seem to be helping. Mary will get to her indexing and I'll get to relax. Ciao.

 Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is nearly 5:00 a.m. in "The City."

I was outside with Ginger @ 3:15 and the current temperature is a cool 64°, cool being a relative term. Later today after the sun rises @ 6:18 and before it sets @ 9:22 p.m., the NWS is forecasting a high for today of 71°, albeit with 79% relative humidity and only a 10% chance of precipitation.

Mary and I spent about one hour yesterday being outsmarted by our "Smart" TV. The sound had faded for some unknown reason and we had to get the Samsung technical service people to come into the TV via the internet and resolve the issue. They did and we still have no idea how.

We had tried to call the store, but they were unable to help as they put you into a queue and you never get to talk to the store or their G--K Squad directly. In addition, the second TV that was promised to arrive on Wednesday won't arrive at the store until late Friday evening and so we'll be picking that one up Saturday morning. It seems that it takes five days to be driven from Indiana to Michigan. Adam would probably say we should have just ordered the TV from an online e-tailer, but we live and learn.

To paraphrase Kenny Loggins, "This is it, make no mistake where you are, this is it, the waiting is over." The second half of the Major League Baseball season begins today/tonight with all teams being in action. The 43 - 45, 2nd place in the NL Central Cubs travel to Baltimore to face the Orioles tonight @ 7:05 p.m.

We are nearing the mid-point of July and the Cubs have bolstered their starting pitching rotation by acquiring left-handed pitcher Jose Quintana from that other team in Chicago for two frontline prospects and two other minor league players. According to Cubs' team president, Theo Epstein, the Cubs did not have to touch their Major League roster, the players that won the World Series last year. Quintana was the "Ace" of that other team's pitching staff and should be a perfect fit in the Cubs' Clubhouse. Only time will tell. It remains to be seen who gets demoted from the Major League roster to make room for Quintana. Oh, the Cubs are 5.5 games behind the division-leading Brewers.

The 39 - 48 Tigers resume play tonight @ Comerica Park against the 41 - 47, last in the AL East, Toronto Blues Jays, @ 7:10 p.m.

My beloved 50 - 39, 1st place, Boston Red Sox are home @ Fenway Park to face the 2nd place in the AL East NY Yankees tonight @ 7:00 p.m. The Sox have a 3.5 game lead over the Yankees.

The 15 - 5, 1st place in the MWL East Caps, continue their winning ways with a 3 - 2 win over the Cedar Rapids, IA Kernels. The Caps and the Kernels play again tonight @ Fifth/Third Ballpark @ 7:00 p.m. The Caps lead the 2nd place Ft. Wayne, IN, Tin Caps by 1.5 games.

Mary and I visited the chiropractor yesterday. I got a series of exercises to do to strengthen my core muscles and help to support my baking yak. I will have to place some stress on my yak today as I mow the vast lawns of the PE and also wash the front porch to rid it of spiders and debris. I'll take it easy and put some time in between those activities while wearing my yak brace.

I also have some things to do in the man-cave and so maybe I'll put those in between. Plus, I have some cooking to do in Mary's kitchen today, so perhaps after the morning safari, I can fit that in along with some other indoor chores. Wait, I can see that I am being too ambitious, so I'll scratch some things from my agenda. I am retired so I have extra time. I believe that the vast lawns and the porch are the most pressing.

Mary has to get to work on the index. I am done with my highlighting. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 3:00 a.m. in "The City."

Since the NWS has seen fit to issue a "Flood Watch" for most of the counties in Southwest MI, including our county, Ottawa, I thought it would be appropriate to open with the current weather conditions. We have a current temperature somewhere between 71° and 73° depending on the source consulted. In addition, the NWS forecast includes a 40% chance for T-storms early this morning and 50% as the day wears on.

The "Flood Watch" also states that there is a possibility of two inches of rainfall per hour with a possible total of seven inches over the next two days, thus triggering that "Flood Watch." Who really knows? Right now, the view out the WW is clear with no precipitation. The sun will rise today @ 6:16 a.m. and set @ 9:24 p.m.

The only baseball to report is the final score of the Major League All-Star game, which was won by the American League All-Stars, 2 - 1. The 2016 World Series Champion Cubs were represented by their manager, Joe Maddon, and their closer, Wade Davis, who surrendered the winning home run in the 10th inning. Ouch! The Cubs, the Tigers, and my beloved Red Sox resume play on Friday. The Caps had the day off and retuen to Fifth/Third Ballpark tonight, weather permitting, @ 7:00 p.m. against the Cedar Rapids, IA Kernels.

Yesterday, I was in the kitchen after we returned from the morning safari baking bread and making vegan hot dogs. The bread turned out great, the hot dogs, not so much. They are edible, but I forgot one ingredient which may have altered their taste, I'm not sure. I believe that I can improve the taste by another addition, ground fennel seed. Next time for sure, maybe. I'll check with Mary on that idea.

Mary spent time chatting with her indexing group and talking on the phone to resolve some issues regarding our furniture delivery later today. Then we went to the big-box most everything store to pick up a few groceries. As always, the store was not well stocked.

Later, I made it to my drawing class around the corner where we had the opportunity to draw a model in addition to the regular still life scene. I am improving, I think. However, the real fun is found in the joy of the journey.

I finished my latest and eighth book for the Loutit Library's Beachcomber's Book Bingo activity and after returning that book today and getting my progress card initialed by the library staff, I'll also be picking up the last book, from the category Around the World, that I need to earn my prize, a colorful yoga mat. Not that I do yoga, but I like to get free swag for an activity that I enjoy.

Today, we are supposed to pick up our new TV and receive that additional furniture. If the storms are raging, we won't be picking up that TV until Thursday. Mary has to get to work on the index while I have little to do. That's the way I like it! Ciao.

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

Baseball is an exciting, excruciating, maddening sport, whether played in Little League, High-School, College, the Minor Leagues, or in "The Show", as the Major Leagues are called. In no small way, baseball has been a big part of my life. I played one season in Little League before coming to the realization that I couldn't hit the curveball. I played softball when I was in my 20s, but like many men, I had other obligations that took me away from the game.

I also learned in my 30s and 40s that my bat speed had slowed, considerably. I went from being a dead pull hitter down the third base line to spraying the ball to center and right fields. I also went from being a casual fan to being a "Die Hard Cubs Fan" starting in my late 30s and continuing to this day, although my love affair with the Cubs probably began when I went to my first game @. eight years of age! In short, I love baseball and as one of my students said many years ago, "Baseball is life!" So today, I am still a "Die Hard Cubs Fan", I follow the Tigers and the West Michigan White Caps as a transplanted Michigander, and I still adore my beloved Red Sox.

All of that being said, I was naturally thrilled last year when the Cubs won it all and became World Series Champions for the first time in 108 years. You can imagine my delight when Cubs' President Theo Epstein, the former General Manager of my beloved Red Sox, was hired by the Cubs and team owner Tom Ricketts to bring a winner to Chicago, which he ultimately did.

You can also imagine my frustration these days when I watch the Cubs and Epstein deny the obvious and say that they have all the solutions in their own dugout. Yes, they also have many of their own problems there too. Last season's 16 - 5, low ERA starting pitcher, Kyle Hendricks, is rehabbing a hand injury in AA baseball. Last year's solid starting pitcher John Lackey is serving up home runs like the baseball is on fire and he can't wait to see it leave the yard. Jon Lester is inconsistent as is 2015 Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta. The relief corp is struggling too.

And, don't get me started on the wisdom of letting leadoff hitter and center fielder, Dexter Fowler, get away over money. Kyle Schwarber may someday be a leadoff hitter, but right now he is just another guy named Kyle. Is a trade in the works for one and perhaps two front-line starting pitchers? I sure hope so. The Cubs were/are supposed to be a dynasty and win several World Series rings. Now, they are a sub .500 team @ the All-Star break, chasing a Brewers team that should be behind them in a weak NL Central division while losing 2 out of three to the Pirates who are lower than the Cubs in the standings in that same weak division. Sigh, I've vented enough. Go Cubs!

The Caps were rained out yesterday in their game against the Captains. The Caps are @ home @ the Fifth/Third Ballpark to play the Cedar Rapids Kernels @ 7:00 p.m. tonight. The Caps are still in 1st place, 1.5 games ahead of the Bowling Green Hot Rods.

The trains plied the rails of the RSTL yesterday. At 11:30 a.m., MMRR EMD GP-38-2 locomotives 2019 and 2057 were observed heading south towing seven, CHCs, five DWTCs, 27 DBTCs, one new and many old and in need of retirement, and one lone GTC. At 4:40 p.m., those same locomotives headed north towing one CHC, 15 DBTCs, and 11 DWTCs.

Mary visited the chiropractor yesterday and he pronounced her bug bites as being significantly improved. I can concur with his observations. Mary is doing her best to avoid the bugs in the back-forty of the PE, Ginger willing.

I almost forgot. I spent nearly two hours at the local coin laundry, washing and drying the king-size comforter for our bed. Our home washing machine and dryer are simply too small for that Herculean task.That did allow me time to read a great deal of my current book for the Loutit Library's Beachcomber's Book Bingo. This book, Climate Matters, by John Broome, is in the category of Building a Better Future I have one more book after that to qualify for this summer's prize.

We have a current temperature of 66° under clear skies. Later today after the sun rises @ 6:15 a.m. and well before it sets @ 9:24 p.m., the NWS is forecasting a high temperature of 80° under partly cloudy skies with 75% relative humidity. Wednesday, the NWS is still forecasting an 80% chance for T-storms.

I have my next drawing class tonight @ 6:00 p.m. I find that although I may never be a great artist, I like the time spent just drawing and socializing. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 2:30 a.m. in "The City." That means that one of my anti-virus programs is churning away in the background and slowing down this computer.

We have a current temperature of 72° under what the NWS has called mostly clear skies. I was just outside with Ginger and STWD and I saw them as only partly clear. Perspective? In addition, the NWS is forecasting an 80% chance for T-storms this morning. Plus, Bill Steffen, Chief Meteorologist for WOOD TV/Radio, believes there is another chance of heavy storms on Wednesday. That may only be inland, nearer to GR. We'll see. At any rate, the sun will rise later this morning @ 6:15 a.m. and set tonight @ 9:25 p.m.

We took the morning safari yesterday after a breakfast of French toast a la Mary, and after I spread some gypsum on the recently resodded lawn in the rear of the PE. I watered for about 40 minutes to assist in mitigating the effects of Gingers unknowing attempts to kill the grass. Here's hoping.

Once we returned, I got to work re-tacking the various cords and cables that were displaced by the carpet installers. I also hooked up my new computer speakers with their subwoofer. They sound terrific.

I also took some time to set up and learn how to use our new Samsung UHD TV. Mary was more effective at that than me. I did the mechanical things and she handled the more cerebral. I felt more comfortable with my part of the installation. At any rate, as Adam told us. the installation was guided by the on-screen tutorial that we followed. It was actually very easy. I have one more of the same TVs to install on Thursday and now I know I can do it!

Sports news yesterday was 3/4 bad. The Cubs are still living on the laurels of last year's World Series Championship. They fell in their rubber game to the Pirates 3 - 14, to fall two full games under .500, while still remaining in 2nd place in the NL Central @ 43 - 45. Time is wasting as they lick their self-inflicted wounds and rest up during the All-Star break. Last year they had numerous representatives on the squad. This year, only their closer, Wade Davis, is on the NL Team. Cubs' manager Joe Maddon will manage the NL team since he and the Cubs won the World Series last year. Ironic?

The still bad Tigers managed to win one of three from the Indians, 5 - 3 to move up to 4th place in the AL Central one game ahead of that other team from Chicago, with a record of 39 - 48. Justin Upton is the lone Tiger on the AL squad. No amount of rest can help the Tigers this year. I listened to the broadcasters tell us that the Tigers should be doing well, but they are not. Duh!

My beloved Red Sox also limped into the All-Star break with a 3 - 5 loss to the Rays. The Sox have three players on the AL squad, pitchers Chris Sale and Craig Kimbrel and outfielder Mookie Betts. In addition, there is an outside chance the X man, Xander Bogaerts, can make the team via the Esurance MLB All-Star game final vote, whatever that is. Sounds like a gimmick to me.

The Caps dropped one to the Lake County Captains yesterday, 4 - 5. The Caps still hold onto 1st place in the MWL East by two games over the Bowling Green Hot Rods. The Caps overall record is 13 - 5. They play the Captains again tonight @ 7:00 p.m.

I am making progress in my highlighting and I hope to do some pleasure reading today after the morning safari. Mary has to get to work on chunking of the index along with a follow-up visit to the chiropractor to assess the efficacy of the treatments he gave to her insect bites. They are looking better.. Otherwise, we don't have any specific plans. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 4:00 a.m. in "The City."

I got carried away on another subject while sitting here and so I am going to try to be more abbreviated in this blog.

A current temperature of 61° under mostly clear skies will lead to an NWS forecast high of 79° under mostly sunny skies after the sun rises @ 6:14 a.m. and well before it sets @ 9:25 p.m. Monday, the forecast from the NWS calls for a 50% chance of scattered T-storms. After the huge storm, we had early Friday morning, who knows for sure as that wasn't forecast at all.

The Cubs lost to the Pirates, 2 - 4 to stay firmly rooted in 2nd place in the NL Central @ 43 - 44 as the Cubs and the Pirates play the "Rubber Game" of their weekend series @ the "Friendly Confines" today @ 1:10 p.m. before they go into the Major League All-Star break.

The Tigers are still a bad baseball team, one which lost again to the Indians, this time by a score of 0 - 4. That dropped the Tigers into 5th and last place in the AL Central, trailing that other team from Chicago. The Tigers and the Indians play again tonight @ 8:05 p.m.

My beloved Red Sox have a bad case of "Slumber in the Lumber", as they fell to the Rays, 0 - 1. The Sox are still firmly in 1st place in the AL East with 3.5 game lead over the winning Yankees. The Sox and the Rays play this afternoon @ 1:10 p.m.

The Caps roll merrily along, tripping the Captains 2 - 0 yesterday. That keeps the 13 - 4 Caps in 1st place in the MWL East with a solid record of 13 - 4, 3 games ahead of the Bowling Green Hot Rods. The Caps and the Captains play again today @ 1:30 p.m.

We did get out yesterday after Mary dropped Ginger at daycare. We purchased two new TVs, more on those later, and a replacement set of speakers for my computer.

Otherwise, Mary finished her latest book and we both turned in books for the Loutit Library's Beachcomber's Book Bingo activity., I am nearly done, but Mary is less likely to make it. I have two categories to complete, while she has eight.

Today, gypsum on the lawn where Ginger is wreaking havoc, watering that lawn, TV set up, speaker set up and more highlighting of the latest indexing project after the morning safari. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 3:30 a.m. in "The City."

Although hot and humid yesterday, the day went well. We are nearly done with the carpet installation and with the exception of one chair, all of the furniture has been delivered and set up. That last chair is still being made so it will be available when it is done.

Ginger went to daycare as she can't deal with being in her crate. I am sure that the real consternation comes from her human caretakers, but that's one of the reasons that we adopted her, to enjoy us and so that we can enjoy her company.

Our current weather conditions, as forecast and detailed by the NWS, show a current temperature of 64° under partly cloudy skies. Today's high should reach 73° under sunny skies with lower humidity. The chance of precipitation is less than 20%. The sun will rise @ 6:13 a.m. and set @ 9:26 p.m. If anyone is planning a wedding in Central Park, they should have a great day.

As I described in yesterday's blog, the severe storms blew directly through GH between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. yesterday. The rains came hard, the winds blew at tornadic speeds that were given the designation of EF 0, which translates to 65 - 85 mph. Mary, STWD, Ginger, and I went walkabout yesterday morning to see what those wind speeds had produced. Many tree limbs were down and roads were blocked by fallen trees. Sadly, a tree fell on the house of a 72-year-old man here in GH and he was killed. In that instance, the Grand Haven Tribune stated that the winds were unofficially clocked @ 102  mph! Otherwise, there were no casualties. We are still in search of our recycling bin which is probably in another township by now.

For those interested, here is a link to pictures of the storm damage in West Michigan.

http://woodtv.com/gallery/west-michigan-storm-damage-july-7-2017/.

Sports news yesterday was 3/4 good. The Cubs returned to .500 with a 2nd place record of 43 - 43 in the NL Central following a 6 - 1 win over the Pirates @ "The Friendly Confines" yesterday. The Cubs and the Pirates reprise their roles again tonight @ 7:15 p.m.

The Tigers were manhandled by the Indians yesterday 2 - 11. That gives the 4th place Tigers a 38 - 47 record in the AL Central as they return to the field tonight to face those same Indians @ 7:15 p.m.

My beloved Red Sox toppled the Rays yesterday 8 - 3. That gives the 1st place Sox a 50 -37 record in the AL East, 4.5 games ahead of the losing Yankees. The Sox face the Rays again today @ 4:15 p.m.

The Caps eked out a win in Ohio over the Captains 6 - 5. That win gives the 1st place in the MWL East White Caps an overall 2nd half record of 12 - 4. I read a short description a few days ago about how difficult it is for an "A" level team to be consistently successful, as their players are almost always new every season. The Caps have a 1st-year manager, Mike Rabelo, this year, and this is another in their string of playoff appearances and MWL Championships. The Caps came to GR in 1994. The Caps and the Captains play again tonight @ 7:00 p.m.

We retrieved our cuckoo clock yesterday after some maintenance. This clock was in my grandmother's home and my parent's home for many years and I believe it to be somewhere between 60 and 75 years of age. It was made in Germany and has an eight-day movement that according to the clock repairman is showing its age. It may not survive many more years without being replaced.

While in Spring Lake, we also purchased a new lamp at the resale store to add to our new living room furniture. It needs a new shade, but otherwise, it works and looks great.

Today, it looks like we can kick back and relax as we await the final carpet installation and some finishing touches on the thresholds. The furniture looks great and it was a terrific feeling to be able to eat at our new dining room table. In honor of that new table, Mary made one of mine and Adam's
favorites, spaghetti role casserole.

So, that looks like enough for one day. Ciao.