Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 6:00 a.m. in "The City."

The sun will rise into cloudy skies this morning @ 7:43 a.m. and set later this evening @ 7:24 p.m. In between, the NWS has forecast a high temperature that will be about six or seven degrees warmer than yesterday's high in the mid-50s!. I was so cold last night, that I had Mary turn on the furnace for the first time this fall. We may not need it again for a few days, but I sure needed it last night. My old joints and other assorted bones sincerely appreciated the warmth.

We had another storm last night/early this morning, that followed that gully-washing storm of Sunday night into Monday. As a matter of fact, there was so much rain from that Sunday night into Monday morning storm, that part of US 31 near Holland was closed to traffic for a few hours, both north and southbound!

The latest storm and the accompanying Special Weather Statement from the NWS for Ottawa, County, meant that severe weather was expected until about 3:45 a.m. today! I slept through it, but I understand that Mary coaxed Ginger out about 1:00 a.m. I also understand that STWD wouldn't go out at all! Today there is only a 10% chance of more rain. That forecast will last until tomorrow night, when following the 76° high temperature forecast from the NWS, we expect to see T-storms in the evening. Where was that rain last summer when my gardens and the vast-lawns of the PE needed it?

Yesterday, Ginger and I observed the passage of MMRR locomotive #2019 heading south @ 9:38 a.m., towing 10 CHCs, one very long DBTC, and one DWTC. Later, @ 4:55 p.m., shortly after I had picked up the Monday edition of the Grand Haven Tribune @ The Bookman, I saw the same locomotive heading north @ 4:55 p.m., towing five DWTCs, four DBTCs, one very rusty tank car, original color indeterminate, and six CHCs.

That was after the disaster that was the tie-breaking game between the Cubs and the Brewers that ended 1 - 3 in favor of the Brewers, handing them the NL Central Division Crown and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. That loss forces the Cubs to play the Colorado Rockies in the one-game, winner take all, Wild-Card portion of the playoffs tonight @ 8:00 p.m. At this point, all I can do is cross my digits and hope that the baseball gods will smile on the Cubs. At least my beloved Red Sox did not disappoint me.

It seems like only yesterday when I was anticipating the start of spring, well spring for me anyway, when the Cubs would open spring-training in late February. Like all Die-Hard Cubs fans, I had hopes for a great season. I wasn't really disappointed, as the Cubs led their division from late July up until yesterday's loss to the Brewers.

Sadly, much of my hopes were tied to the winter signing of Yu Darvish to that huge $126 million dollar contract. Alas, he pitched in about four games before being sidelined with arm-troubles. Like all long-suffering Cubs fans, I'll have to wait til next year to see if the surgically repaired arm of Darvish can pay dividends on that $126 million.

Today, I have plans to make some chocolate-chip cookies for our History Book Club meeting tomorrow and also make more of my famous vegan sausages. If Mary had her way, I'd be making more of my famous vegan meatballs too, but I don't have that in me.

Otherwise, I/we have no plans except for the morning walk with the fur-children to The Bookman. We did get to their doctor's appointment yesterday, and that went well. We need to give them their special monthly treats this morning, which are really protection against heart-worm, but to the fur-children, the medicine is a special, beef-tasting treat.

Mary will stay out of my way in the kitchen after she makes our late-morning meal. She did a great job yesterday and made her famous mushroom gravy to cover some of our homegrown potatoes and my vegan Italian meatballs. Ciao