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

We have a current temperature of 61º under clear skies. Today's high temperature is forecast to reach 81º under partly- sunny skies. That's 5º warmer than yesterday. Tonight's low is forecast to be 70º.

Veggie update! Yesterday I saw that three of the tomatoes in our vast vegetable gardens are turning even redder. I anticipate that fresh tomatoes will grace our table as early as Sunday. We have an abundant crop of tomatoes on the vine, so it is looking good for tomatoes this year.

Speaking of the vast gardens, I watered last evening, so I can put a checkmark in that box for today.

We actually got to grooming Ginger yesterday and doing a pawdicure on STWD. Both of our fur-children are getting more patient with us as we work. Both Mary and I think we are improving too.

Here is a pic of Ginger at her post-grooming best, taken by our Senior Staff Photographer.

Looking good! I considered adding the song Beauty School Dropout from the musical Grease here, but I resisted the urge.

STWD tolerated getting a pawdicure too, but we think that's because both she and Ginger get a "Special Treat" afterward, a Greenies chew, sized for each of them. Ginger nearly inhales hers, while STWD savors hers. Age confers wisdom?

Before we attempted that grooming, we finished two crossword puzzles and sliced one of the hammishes I'd made the day before, It is now perfect as vegan lunchmeat.

A side note on our vegan lifestyle. If you watch even a small amount of TV, it is nearly impossible to avoid seeing those PSAs for the ASPCA that feature numerous sad-eyed dogs and their rescue and/or living conditions stories. I made the vegan connection about six years ago when I saw a truckload of pigs on their way to the slaughterhouse and realized how much they resembled STWD. The rest, like the ubiquitous "They" often, say, is history.

Baseball news yesterday was mixed.

The 10 - 3 Cubs versus the 2 - 3 Cardinals game was postponed yesterday, as was the entire weekend series at Busch Stadium. That postponement is purportedly to allow the Cardinals time to do more testing for the Covid-19 virus, Several members of the Cardinals' team and organization have tested positive already. I was already partially on the fence with regard to this season and the carboard cutout fans, the piped-in crowd noise, and the odd format, so perhaps canceling the entire truncated 2020 MLB™ season may be the right thing to do. I bet you never thought you'd read that here, did you?

My beloved 5 - 8 Red Sox used the heroics of Alex Verdugo, their new right-fielder, to take a game from the visiting 4 - 7 Toronto Blue Jays last night, 5 - 3. Verdugo snatched a ball ticketed for the stands and a home run and also crushed two home-runs of his own in what has been called his "Breakout" game. for the Sox and winning RHP, 2 - 0  Heath Hembree. Tonight's game @ 7:30 p.m. features the first Red Sox Fenway Park start for 0 - 1 RHP Zack Godley.

The 6 - 5 Tigers and the 3 - 11 Pirates had a slugfest in Pittsburgh last night, as they traded the lead many times as the Tigers went on to win, 17 - 13. Not much of a defensive struggle for either team, but the several times that the Tigers loaded the bases along with some serious hitting, led to a big score for both teams.

The Tigers made several roster moves yesterday, as they activated LHP Dan Norris from the 10-day injury list to start the game in Pittsburgh, hoping for some quality innings. Oops! He is now headed to the bullpen to be replaced by LHP Tyler Alexander who comes from the bullpen to the starting rotation.

Today's game against the Pirates will see 0 - 0 Ivan Nova on the mound for the Tigers beginning @ 4:05 p.m. EDT.

We managed some indoor chores yesterday and did some reading along with that grooming of our fur-children. We also watched another episode of The Man in the High Castle and two more episodes of Downton Abbey, not to mention an old episode of the sit-com, Dharma and Greg. Is calling a rerun episode of a sit-com old redundant?

I took about an hour to play with Blue, my Ovation six-string guitar, and to work on my vocals early yesterday. I was sounding better. Phew!

Oh, I'd be remiss if I didn't include a link that Adam sent to me regarding Michigan and it's beach towns from the website Thrillist. Note the first town mentioned and ranked # 1!

https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/19-michigan-beach-towns-ranked

Today, more reading, more puzzles, more Downton Abbey, more??? Ciao.