Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 6:00 a.m. in "The City" where the current temperature is a brisk 54° that feels like 54° with a gently breeze out of the south @ 1 mph under clear-skies. 

Thee are two alerts on the horizon. 

First is a Beach Hazard Statement that goes into effect late tonight and that will then run until late tomorrow night for Allegan, Mason, Muskegon, Oceana, Ottawa, and Van Buren counties in MI. High waves from four to seven feet in height, will be accompanied by strong currents, especially near piers, that will pose serious danger to swimmers, mostly south of Holland.

In addition, a Small Craft Advisory goes into effect from St. Joseph to Manistee beginning @ 5:00 a.m. tomorrow and running until 5:00 a.m. Monday. Strong winds will produce those same wave heights of four to seven feet. 

The sun will rise this morning @ 6:34 a.m. and set tonight @ 9:07 p.m.

We walked with Ginger to the auxiliary gardens yesterday, where Mary watered, helped me weed, and assisted in the harvesting of some collard greens as seen below. I have it on good authority that Mary will be making vegan collard greens later today. In there somewhere, I'll be making more vegan Italian burgers and meatballs. 

Also seen in the pic, are some tomatoes from our vast-gardens.

Yesterday, I did a lot of reading along with crossword solving and we watched all of one episode and part of another of our latest TV series, Salvation. 

Baseball news both yesterday and over the last several days, has been so/so and on the sad side too, due to numerous trades, mostly by the sinking Cubs, who @ 50 - 55 and following yet another loss by RHP Jake Arrieta, fresh off the IL and now with a 5 - 10 record, to the 48 - 55 Nats, 3 - 4.

Gone from the Cubs roster are pitchers Andrew Chafin, Ryan Tepera, Craig Kimbrel, Trevor Williams, along with infielders Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, and Kris Bryant. In addition, the Cubs traded outfielders Joc Pederson and Jake Marisnick too. There are probably others I've failed to list, but the gist is that the core of the 2016 World Series team is gone to places like the south-side of Chicago, NYC, LA, San Fran, and Atlanta.

Sure, the Cubs got lots of "Prospects" in return, but the Cubs are now a rebuilding team with Major-League ticket prices in effect. The Cubs face the Nats again tonight @ 7:05 EDT when RHP Kyle Hendricks, 12 - 4, takes the mound. 

My beloved, 63 - 42 Red Sox dropped another one to the 62 - 42 Tampa Bay Rays, 3 - 7. The loss went to LHP Marti Perez, 7 - 7. The Sox struggled mightily as they await the arrival of former Cubs' slugger Kyle Schwarber, received in a trade from the Nats and currently on the IL for about 10 more days. In addition, LHP Chris Sale should be back soon. The Sox and the Rays go again tonight @6:10 p.m. when LHP Nathan Eovaldi takes the hill.

The 50 - 56 Tigers and Miguel "Miggy" Cabrera tried to stage yet another late-inning comeback, but they fell short in a 3 - 4 loss to the 36 - 66 Orioles, as LHP Tarik Skubal notched another loss on his less than stellar 6 - 10 2021 won/loss record. The Tigers and the Orioles do battle again this afternoon @ 1:10 p.m., when LHP Tyler Alexander, 1 - 1 hurls for the Tigers. 

The Tigers only trade was sending LHP Daniel Norris to the Brewers for RHP Reese Olson, who will be sent to the Tigers' High A minor-league affiliate, the West Michigan White Caps. That is before being moved up to the West Erie Sea Wolves and potentially the Toledo Mud Hens and then the Tigers sometime next year. Olson is now the Tigers' #13 prospect. 

Speaking of the White Caps, they too were upended, as they lost to the Great Lakes Loons last night, 4 - 5. The Caps and the Loons play in Midland, MI again tonight @ 7:05 p.m.

Today should be more laid back as I paint more, read more, solve another crossword puzzle, do the indoor chores, work in the kitchen, and then kick back and rest for the balance of the weekend. Mary is still hard at work on her interim needlepoint project along with listening to her latest book. Plus, I believe she is going to try her hand at those collard greens today too. Ciao.