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

Wow, I had a busy day yesterday, as did Mary. With her assistance, I accomplished a lot of indoor chores. While she was out at the Equinox Expedition taking pictures yesterday afternoon, I got some reading done and finished my chores. More on Mary's expedition later.

It was great day in sports. Well great, if you aren't a NIU Huskies fan nor Red Sox fan. Plus, I got the chance to see pro-golfer, tiger Woods, play some of the bst golf he has played in years, as he leads the Fed Ex Cup™ by three strokes heading into the final round today.

The 1 - 0 in the Big 10, Spartans of MSU, dispatched the 0 - 1 in the Big 10, Hoosiers of Indiana, 35 - 21. The Spartans play next Saturday @ Central MI.

Not to be overshadowed, the also 1 - 0 in the Big 10, Wolverines of Michigan, demolished the 0 - 1 in the Big 10 Cornhuskers of Nebraska, 56 - 10. The score was deceptive, as the Huskers were never in the game. The Wolverines meet the 1 - 0 in the Big 10 Wildcats of Northwestern next Saturday @ 4:30 p.m.

Sadly, the 1 - 0 in the MAC 10 conference NIU Huskies, were soundly defeated by the 2 - 2 overall Seminoles of Florida State yesterday, 19 - 37. The Huskies travel to meet the 2 - 2 overall Eastern Michigan Eagles next Saturday @ 6:00 p.m.

Baseball news was mostly good. Unfortunately, my beloved, 105 - 50, 1st in the AL East Red Sox, were defeated by the 86 - 68, 1st place in the AL Central Indians, 4 - 5 in 11 innings. The Sox have to wait until tonight to win a franchise record 106th game @ 7:05 p.m. against those same Indians.

The 90 - 64, 1st by 2 1/2 games over the 2nd place Brewers in the NL Central Cubs, had to work hard to win over that hapless other team from Chicago, with a final score of 8 - 3. That means the Cubs now have a Magic Number" of 6 games to clinch their division. A magic number in baseball is any combination of Cubs wins and Brewers losses that totals 6.

MVP candidate Javier Baez, playing shortstop in place of Addison Russell, got his 34th home-run on the first pitch he saw, driving in Ben Zobrist for an early lead and recording his 110th RBI. Starting and winning pitcher Jon Lester did not have his best "Stuff", but with the assistance of a relief squad, also somewhat decimated by injury, Lester got his 17th win, which ties him with Max Scherzer of the Nats. The Cubs and that other team finish out their series today @ 1:10 p.m.

The 63 - 92 in the AL Central Tigers, eked out another win over the equally hopeless, 53 - 103 in the AL Central Royals, 5 - 4. The Tigers close out their home season today against the Royals @ 1:10 p.m.

The 0 - 2 Detroit Lions are home tonight to face the 1 - 1 NE Patriots @ 8:20 p.m. The Patriots may get the win to move to 2 - 1, or the Lions may get win over the Patriots to move to 1 - 2.

The 1 - 1 Bears meet the 0 - 2 Arizona Cardinals today in AZ @ 4:25 p.m. What will happen? Who knows!

Back to Mary's activities yesterday. She made what I like to think was her best Tater Tots™, mushroom and tofu casserole yesterday for our brunch. She didn't think it was her best effort. I guess I'll have to disagree. Then after she assisted with my chores, she was off to Hemlock Crossing County Park for that aforementioned Equinox Expedition. She took numerous pictures, I'll include some random shots, and then went to the grocery store. She came by to pick me up for a run to Stan's Bar and Grill in Spring Lake before we returned home to a dinner of left-overs.

At the risk of being over the top, she had the leftover lasagna, while I had the leftover Tater Tot™ casserole. It was just as good the second time. She did acquiesce to my way of doing things, reheating and serving both in their storage bowls. She calls this a male way of doing tings, I just call it expeditious.

I promised that I'd share some of her pix, so here goes in no order whatsoever.

I especially liked this pic.

Knobs on a tree.

Kayakers enjoying a fine fall day.

Preying Mantis's, I think.

Once again, I somehow managed to near the end of my blog and was nearly unable to close it in the way I know how. Like all things blog, it is operator error. But, with a little help from the blogger forums, I was able to resolve my issues.

We have a current temperature of 48° under clear skies. Mary pointed out that there are many planets visible in the early morning sky, including Mars, Venus, Jupiter and out own moon. Ginger and I briefly enjoyed the view around 3:00 a.m.

Today, football, golf, baseball, and reading are on tap for us. I need to rebuild my stamina that has waned due to my recent, nearly over illness, so we'll be taking an extended walk with the fur-children. I am about 95% over my virus. I've found that when you get to a certain age, these things aren't as easy to overcome as they were in your youth.

The sun will rise in a few hours @ 7:33 a.m. as the sunny skies allow us to reach today's high of 70° Later tonight, the sun will set @ 7:40 p.m. Hopefully, the sun will not also be setting on the Lions' season too. Ciao.