Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 7:00 a.m. in "The City."

I know that some of my loyal readers were concerned that my blogging has been erratic of late. While I can't promise that I'll be an everyday blogger in the future, I hope to be a bit more consistent, especially since we are in the midst of the MLB™ playoffs and my second favorite sport, college football. Don't get me wrong, I like pro-football too, but for yours truly, there is still something more pure about the college game, at least for now. That may change with all of the recruiting scandals, coaching moves, and money.

Speaking of the MLB™ playoffs, my beloved 107 - 63, 1st place in the AL East Red Sox have already clinched their division. Sadly, they fell to those damn Yankees last night, 6 - 11. That was in spite of a grand-slam home-run off the bat of Steve Pearce. The Yankees are still in the Wild Card hunt, so they have a lot to play for, while the Sox are trying to conserve pitchers for the playoffs. The Sox and the Yankees play again today @ 1:05 p.m.

The 94 - 66, 1st place by one-game over the 2nd place, 93 - 67 Brewers in the NL Central, used a home-run by Kris Bryant, and some solid pitching by starting and winning pitcher, Kyle Hendricks, to defeat the Cardinals yesterday afternoon, 8 - 4. The Cubs have yet to clinch their division and their Magic Number is two, i.e., any combination of Cubs wins and Brewers losses that total 2 will give the Cubs the division title.

The Brewers have been hot lately, so it may get down to the final games on Sunday to determine the winner of the division. Or, it could happen today @ 1:05 p.m. EDT when the Cubs and the Cardinals meet at the "Friendly Confines" as Cole Hamels takes the hill for the Cubs, while the 93 - 67 Brewers take the field against the hapless, 64 - 96 Tigers @ 6:10 p.m. Like I've often noted, the Tigers are still a professional team, so anything can happen.

Speaking of the Tigers, they fell to those aforementioned Brewers last night, 5 - 6. It took two Ryan Braun home-runs for the Brewers, to seal the deal. However, the Tigers are still trying to win, so....

On to my second favorite fall sport, college football. The Spartans of MSU literally tee it up against the Chippewas of Central MI, today @ noon. The Spartans are tied with the Wolverines of Michigan atop the Big 10 East.

A perfect segue to the Wolverines, who also play today @ 4:30 p.m., as they host the Wildcats of Northwestern @ 4:30 p.m. The Wolverines have the chance to prove themselves a contender, while the Wildcats can be a spoiler.

The Huskies of NIU, who sit atop the MAC 10 West, host the Eastern Michigan Eagles tonight in DeKalb, IL @ 6:00 p.m.

It was a tad chilly yesterday as the high temperature never got out of the 50s. That occasioned the first chance to wear the long-sleeved T-shirts that Stephany got us during last winter's NCAA basketball playoffs, as the "Big School" Loyola Ramblers went to the NCAA Final Four for the first time since 1963! Their improbable run ended in defeat, but the Ramblers, who represent Mary's Alma Mater, gave it everything they had, as they tried to "Win One for the Nun", Sister Jean of Loyola. While the Ramblers came up short, they proved that with grit and determination, anything is possible. So, for Stephany, here is that requested pic of us in those T-shirts.

Mary is pointing to Sister Helen Prejean in the vestibule of JWs as we had our pic taken by one of the staff from JWs.

Sister Helen is a tireless, 79 YO advocate for the abolition of the death-penalty, a belief shared by Mary and me. Sister Helen will be speaking here in GH on October 27, @ 7:00 p.m. regarding Humanity for  Prisoners.

Speaking of humanity, we have been following the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings for the potential confirmation of the next Supreme Court Justice. The current nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, was nominated by the POTUS, Trump. Judge Kavanaugh is a polarizing figure who is a strong opponent of women's rights with regard to their health issues, including a woman's right to choose, i.e., abortion. Mary feels very-strongly about those women's health issues. And, stemming from an incident in her own past, brought back into her consciousness by allegations of the sexual misdeeds of Kavanaugh, she had a visceral reaction to him.

But let me lighten things up just a bit. While we were out the other day, we stopped off at Ace Hardware™ in Spring Lake so that I could get some items to organize the various cords and cables that have been displaced by our now-completed carpet re-installation. I was allowed to go into a hardware store without a chaperone, while Mary stayed in the car to listen to to those aforementioned Senate hearings. However, while she awaited my return, she noticed that there was a Monarch Butterfly atop some goldenrod in the parkway outside the store. So, she quickly changed to her trusty macro lens and snapped a great pic or three of that butterfly before he/she departed for Mexico.

I think that this is the best.

But this one is very good too,

But, so too is this one.

So, the decision is yours my loyal readers.

We have a current temperature of 52° as we head towards today's also chilly high temperature of 56° under partly-cloudy skies. There is no rain in the forecast from the NWS until Monday with a 40% chance for showers in the morning. As of now, the NWS is forecasting a 90% chance for T-storms on Tuesday. STWD will not be happy. She hasn't been happy for the past week as her world has literally been turned upside down by the great carpeting caper. Thankfully, the very professional installer is now done and we can all get some meaningful sleep-time.

Since we got our indoor chores done yesterday, today we'd like to sleep in for the morning and then do some vegan cooking that we've wanted to do. After walk with the fur-children, I plan to read more of my book, maybe tidy up those cables and cords, watch some baseball and football, and just relax. Mary wants her kitchen back and the fur-children just want whatever passes for normal around the PE. The sun will rise today @ 7:40 a.m. and set later @ 7:29 p.m. Ciao.