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

I was downstairs around 3:30 a.m. to let Ginger out, and I can verify that the NWS got it right. Our current temperature is 54° under partly-cloudy skies. The balance of today will also be partly-cloudy with a 20% chance for scattered showers. Will we get any of those scattered showers? No telling, but today's high temperature forecast is for 71°. The sun will rise @ 7:19 a.m. and set tonight @ 8:03 p.m.

I am going to do an abbreviated sports report. The Cubs were rained out again in D.C. and that game had been rescheduled for Thursday in the middle of the Cubs' home-stand. The Cubs will have to board a plane and fly to D.C. The home-stand opens tonight in Wrigley Field against the Brewers @ 8:05 p.m. The Cubs are in a must win situation now.

The Tigers lost to the Cardinals yesterday, 2 - 5. They are home tonight to play the visiting Astros @ 6:10 p.m.

My beloved Red Sox tipped the Astros last night, 6 - 5. The Sox are off tonight before welcoming the Blue Jays @ 7:05 p.m. Tuesday night.

It is over for the Caps, as they lost to the Hot Rods, 1 - 3. It has been an up and down season. We'll get em next year.

The Bears once again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, as they surrendered a 20 point lead to an injured Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, losing, 23 - 24.

The Lions play tonight @ 7:10 p.m. against the visiting New York Jets.

We had a great day yesterday. We walked the fur-children collectively to Health Hutt, and then we dropped STWD at home and continued to the waterfront for some reading and photography. Ginger is full of energy, but Sugar, not so much. Mary is working on Ginger's training, but it will take some time. Ginger is very smart, but she can be stubborn. We met a few dogs, both large and small, that Ginger wanted to "meet and greet", making Mary's training task a bit harder.

This dog was friendly and Ginger was willing to meet and greet him.

The channel was mostly empty on the fine fall-like afternoon. A few boats were plying the channel, sharing the waters with some birds.

Some serious $$ in the water.

The birds I mentioned were of the gull variety and they were flying over and diving into the channel.

I especially like this shot with the wispy clouds in the background.

A few shots of the channel and its surroundings rounded out our visit.

Not many tourists out yesterday.

As I said, diving into the water.

Our municipal power plant framed by the empty stage in the waterfront stadium.

The tourists are mostly gone, but now the streets are filled with heavy equipment and large holes.

The coal tipple against the blue sky and clouds.

Our Prairie Wildflower Walk began close to home with this unknown genus and species of mushroom.

I was time to get home, drop Ginger and turn the camera over to Mary once we got to the Hemlock Crossing Nature Center for the Prairie Wildflower Walk. We learned a lot about the prairie itself and also about the various species of goldenrod that grow there. We actually saw six different species of goldenrod, a plant that is often maligned for producing sneezing fits. Actually, it is the ragweed in the field that produces the allergic reactions. 

As we walked, the naturalist, a young woman with an advanced degree in botany, pointed out the various species of goldenrod and the ways that you can tell them apart. 

I forget which species this one is, perhaps a Canada Goldenrod.

We learned that what most of us think of as flowers are really the flowers themselves surrounded by false flower petals, designed to attract pollinators.

A nice shot with Mary's macro lens, which is designed to capture close-up shots like this one.

Or this one.

And this one of a Monarch Butterfly caterpillar on the leaves of a milkweed plant.

In this wide shot of the prairie, all of the species of goldenrod can bee seen.

Mary captured the welcome sign on the way out.

We stopped at a very busy Tip-a Few tavern for dinner and then headed home to feed the fur-children.

Today is a kitchen day for me and a revision day for Mary. The most recent and last index of her career needs some minor modifications, but overall, the author was delighted. The required modifications are due to what is referred to in indexing parlance as re-flow. That means that some page numbers moved due to publishing changes. Mary says it's not a big deal.

I plan to make some vegan sausages after I grind more of the multi-purpose grind I made and froze a few weeks ago. I also plan to turn some of my potato crop into garlic-smashed potatoes. Plus, I'd like to find time to make Mary's favorite, vegan Italian meatballs too. I may be a bit ambitious, but most of the time is actually devoted to steaming and boiling, so I should be able to make it happen. Ciao.