Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 4:30 a.m. in "The City."

The 4th of July has arrived. That means that although it should be time to celebrate the birth of our nation, for too many it is a time to see how much noise they can make with personal fireworks along with how many animals and people they can terrorize. If the amateur pyromaniacs are lucky, they will escape any serious injuries. If not, they will be seeing the local ER staff to be patched up for yet another year.

Just a reminder for all dog owners. This is also the time of year that shelters become overloaded with dogs that have escaped their yards in an attempt to run away from the noise of the fireworks. Our own Sugar the Weather Dog will spend her day and night in the bathroom, swaddled in her Thundershirt™, shaking and being inconsolable as the noises overwhelm her psyche. I try to soothe her, but nothing seems to help.

Yesterday, she was hearing the random booms from our local pyromaniacs. When I went down to feed her and Ginger in the morning, she wouldn't eat, she wouldn't do her duty when I let her out, and I finally had to take her for a short walk to give her a chance to relax. Sigh.

Ginger on the other hand, was all too happy to go walkabout with Mary. First, to the UPS drop-off box and second, a stop @ the Cooks Store to get our French-fry slicer replaced. Ginger always scores treats at that store, so she is happy to stop in.

Earlier, Mary walked to the GH Farmer's Market for some veggies that I can cook on the grill along with the ears of corn that she picked-up the other day at that big-box nearly everything store. I have to choose what clothing to consign to the laundry after I use the grill and get my clothing saturated with hickory smoke. I'll be grilling corn, zucchini, vegan sausages, and... Speaking of which, we got all of the indoor chores done yesterday.

I did some yard-work and rode to the local big-box home center to get some rolls of tape, masking and packaging.

Baseball news yesterday was an 0 - fer. All of my Major League™ teams lost their games as did the White Caps, who lost twice to the South Bend Cubs.

Today's games will be played @ 4:05 p.m. EDT for the struggling, 2nd place Cubs. 2:10 p.m. for the "rebuilding" Tigers, who sent another rookie pitcher to the mound yesterday to record yet another loss. 7:07 p.m. for my beloved Red Sox, who watched pitcher Chris Sale again try to earn his $45 million, four-year contract extension yesterday, just as Yu Darvish has yet to earn his $126 million, six-year salary as he left the game without a loss or a win. The loss went to Craig Kimbrel in his first blown save since signing a $ 45 million, four-year contract with the Cubs. The White Caps are home tonight to face the South Bend cubs @ 7:05 p.m.

We have a current temperature of 71° under skies that will be clear until about 5:00 a.m. and then partly-cloudy for the balance of the day/night. Fortunately for fans of fireworks, the chance for rain is only 20%. Our high temperature today is forecast to reach 81° after the sun rises @ 6:10 a.m. and long before it sets @ 9:27 p.m. which is about 15 minutes before "Ooh/Ahh time.

We'll be "staying in" today and tonight. I'll be reading yesterday's newspaper, reading my latest book, playing some music, watching baseball, doing some artwork, and grilling, not necessarily in any particular order. Mary will probably be preparing for my grilling, reading, and sitting with Ginger on the couch, also not in any particular order. Ciao.