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

I hadn't planned to get up, but sometimes, nature calls, and so it did for me and for the fur-children around 2:30 a.m. At any rate, they are good for the night and so am I.

We have a current temperature of 68° under cloudy/rainy skies. The NWS is forecasting a 100% chance for T-storms right now through 6:00 a.m., so it was a good thing that I got the fur-children out. It is raining steady right now, but no thunder, so STWD is much happier. Later this morning, the NWS is forecasting that those T-storms will become showers and then give-way to partly-cloudy skies in the afternoon. The sun will rise @ 6:07 a.m. and set later tonight @ 9:28 p.m. We have John re-staining the deck, but although it is now power-washed, he has to wait for several dry days to finish the job and allow the stain to dry.

We got our estimate for the landscaping of the parkway area yesterday and it was as expected, so we signed the agreement and got on the schedule. We like the look of the design and the plants that are included and we can't wait. The idea was to make the parkway plantings need minimal watering, and Dale at Grand Haven Garden House, delivered.

Baseball news yesterday was mostly positive.

Let me start with the negative and then go from there. The 36 - 44, 3rd place in the AL Central Tigers, are now officially as expected, a rebuilding team. They allowed the 42 - 38, 3rd in the AL West Oakland As to chip away at what had been a six-run lead and go on to win the game, 9 - 7. The Tigers' bullpen once again imploded and defensive lapses led to extended innings which led to that loss. The Tigers and the As play in Comerica Park again tonight @ 7:10 p.m.

Additional bad news, Cubs' 3rd-baseman, Kris Bryant, is on the 10-day DL with  that sore shoulder. He believes that he injured his shoulder sliding into a base a few games back. At any rate, the 2nd place in the NL Central, 43 - 34 Cubs, are 2.5 games in back of the Brewers in the NL Central with the Cubs in La La land again tonight to face the 42 - 36, 2nd in the NL West Dodgers, @ 10:10 p.m. A bit of good news, Javier Baez blasted two home-runs, one a grand-slam, to power the Cubs and starting pitcher Jon Lester to win his 9th game en route to a 9 - 4 win and allow the Cubs to snap their five-game losing streak.

My beloved, 53 - 27, 2nd place in the AL East by 1/2 game Red Sox, blew out the 4th in the AL West LA Angels in Fenway last night, 9 - 1. Red-hot Mookie Betts got a dinger, as did resurgent outfielder, Jackie Bradley Jr., who went three for four with four RBIs. Bradley Jr, has been in a slump, but the last few games he had been getting better reads on pitches and spraying the ball all over the field. Christian Vasquez and J.D. Martinez also homered. The Sox and the Angels go at it again tonight in Fenway @ 7:10 p.m.

The 40 - 36 overall, 4 - 2 in the second half of the MWL East season, West Michigan White Caps, who are tied for 2nd with three other teams, pounded the South Bend Cubs, 10 - 3 last night. The Caps and the Cubs play again tonight @ 7:05 p.m.

Today, not much  is on tap. Mary will read more of my novel, we'll both walk the fur-children, and STWD and I will pick up today's Grand Haven Tribune, and then settle in. I'm tired of having no days off, chuckle-chuckle, but retirement is busier than I thought. Ciao.