Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 2:30 a.m. in "The City."

We have a current temperature of 38° under cloudy-skies. According to the NWS, after the sun rises @ 8:05 a.m. and well before it sets @ 6:52 p.m., we'll see a high temperature of 47° with cloudy skies in the a.m. hours and sunny skies in the afternoon. I like it!

As I was perusing the weather lore from the NWS, I noticed something that warms, pun intended, the cockles of my heart.What's that you ask? It is the prediction of a mild El Niño in the coming months. That means that the south will be wetter, while the north and Great Lakes states will see less precipitation and warmer temperatures. When I have my rotator cuff surgery, I may not have to worry about snow-removal. Plus, walking the fur-children should be relatively easier. So, here's hoping.

Speaking of the weather, Mary and I did see those massive waves on the "Big Lake" after my jam session, but the heavy rains and T-storms never materialized here. However, before I went to my monthly Irish Jam session, the skies looked threatening at first, then cleared, then turned cloudy again. Go figure.

However, yesterday, the game between the Wolverines of Michigan and the Spartans of MSU was halted for about one-hour, as the stands were cleared in Spartan Stadium and the players were taken off the field until 1:52 p.m. Eventually the fans and the players returned and the game resumed. Sadly, the Spartans were unable to upset the Wolverines and win the Paul Bunyan Trophy, as much to the dismay of Spartan's fans, they lost to the Wolverines, 7 - 21. However, it was a joyful day for Wolverine's fans.

As long as I am on football, I'll mention that the Bears and their young head coach, Matt Nagy, and young QB, Mitch Trubisky, host the New England Patriots and their head coach, Bill Belichek and their veteran QB, Tom Brady today @ 1:00 p.m. EDT. Following last week's loss, the Bears should be hungry, but the Patriots are still the Patriots and the Bears are still, well, the Bears, so.....

I had a great time at my Irish Jam session yesterday. We had a larger turnout than anticipated and I got to sing a couple of my favorite tunes. A good time punctuated by the ache in my shoulder.

In other sports news, the final teams are now set for the 2018 World Series™. The Dodgers dispatched the Brewers last night, 5 - 1, to take the 7th and deciding game and return to the World Series™ again this year. The Dodgers defeated the Cubs last year in the NLCS, but they lost to the Astros in the World Series™. Of course, I'm hoping that the Dodgers will fail once again to win the series and fall to my beloved Red Sox starting Tuesday night in historic Fenway Park in Boston. Fortunately our current POTUS is not a fan of baseball, so it is likely that he won't want to throw out the first pitch.

Today, we'll be traveling to GR to see the GR Ballet company perform Wild Sweet Love, featuring an eclectic mix of music from performers like Queen, The Partridge Family, and Roberta flack among others. This ballet is in four acts and features works by the father of American ballet, George, Ballanchine, and music by Tchaikovsky as a counterpoint to the modern music. Plus, the company will perform a piece by in-house choreographer, Penny Saunders and anoher a piece created specifically for the GR Ballet, by new Artistic Director, James Sofranko. Yes Virginia, "Real Men" like ballet.

That should be enough for today. We'll walk the fur-children before we go, as they will be alone for nearly four-hours. That's a long time for Ginger to wait at the window for our return. Ciao.