Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is fast approaching 11:00 p.m. in "The City."

I hope to keep this blog brief, so here goes. Current temperature, 53°., feels like 49°. Wind out of the south @ 15 mph. Overnight low, 47°. Tomorrow's high temperature, 52°. Tomorrow night's low, 45° Sunrise tomorrow, 7:14 a.m. Sunset tomorrow evening, 8:19 p.m. It rained a lot today. Rain showers in the a.m.  forecast and through Tuesday.

4 - 3 cubs defeat the 1 - 5 Pirates, 4 - 2. Bryant, Rizzo, and Baez hit home runs. Winner, 2 - 0 RHP Jake Arrieta. Tomorrow night's game @ 6:35 p.m. EDT. RHP 1 - 0 Zack Davies gets the start. 

Beloved 4 - 3 Red Sox get the win for 1 - 0 Eduardo Rodriguez, 7 - 3. Rodriguez was sidelined last season with complications due from the Covid-19 virus. Tomorrow night, RHP Garrett Richardson gets the start @ 7:05 p.m. EDT.

3 - 3 Tigers are in Cleveland for a 7:10 p.m. start, as 1 - 0 RHP Julio Teheran gets the ball. The Tigers will be welcoming their regular pitching coach Chris Fetter back after he was declared okay following a positive Covid-19 test in spring training.

Today, we finished a crossword, I made Funfetti cookies, a very delicious vegan spicy salami which became part of our dinner, and I did part of those repairs I had lined up in the man-cave. I listened to a photographic workshop on night photography. Very esoteric.

Tomorrow, a short trip to Spring Lake to have my glasses adjusted. Possible photo opportunities. Mostly stay in out of the weather and do some music practice, some reading, and that's about it for me. Mary still wants to do more reading. She is into reading right now versus knitting or cross stitching. That's all folks. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 5:45 a.m. in The City."

We have a current outdoor temperature of 62° that feels more like 61° with a wind out of the east @ 10 mph. The overnight low is forecast to be 61°. Today's high temperature of 64° will be the last in the 60s for many more days. Plus, we have a 70% probability of scattered T-storms today. STWD will not be pleased. 

The NWS in GR is showing a current barometric pressure of 29.69" of Hg and falling, while my own DTWS is showing 29.15" of HG and rising. I'll go with the pressure here at the manse versus the presure in GR. But, and that's a big but, generally speaking, falling barometric pressures are a sign of stormy weather which is in the forecast from the NWS, so...

The sun will rise this morning @ 7:14 a.m. and set this evening @ 8:19 p.m.

We got a lot accomplished in the vast gardens yesterday. Mary planted the seeds for her herb gardens/pots and I spread lots of fertilizer. Oops, not that kind of fertilizer, but the odor of that other kind is reminiscent, was spread on the numerous roses in our gardens. Since the rain is supposed to fall today, we hope that that will allow the fertilizer to soak in and the herb seeds to ultimately sprout.

Since the temperature was in the upper 70s yesterday, we took the opportunity to give both of our fur-children a bath. The chance to get them outside to dry while we gardened was too good to pass up. Ginger is very curly now and STWD is clean but miffed, by being required to take a bath. They both got dental treats after their ordeals, so that made up for some of the indignities forced upon them. 

Before that, we were off to Spring Lake to pick up my new glasses and make a pick up @ Ace Hardware™. We had hoped for some photo-ops while out, but various factors, including a bad automobile accident, precluded that. Oh well, maybe on our next outing. In the category of odd feelings, it was a weird feeling to actually walk into a store for a pick up after more than one-year of forced segregation. 

Speaking of accidents, the 3 - 3 Cubs took an accident into the 10th inning yesterday against the now 3 - 3 Brewers and came away with a 2 - 4 loss. The Cubs' offense was buoyed by a home run from Joc Pederson in the bottom of the 8th inning to tie the game at two all. But the Brewers came back against the porous Cubs' bullpen and reliever Brandon Workman, who signed late in the offseason for a "paltry" one million dollars. The rest is history. The Cubs have a game today in Pittsburgh against the 1 - 5 Pirates when RHP Jake Arrieta, 1 - 0, takes the hill @ 1:35 p.m. EDT.

My beloved 3 - 3 Red Sox snapped out of their early season funk and defeated the 2 - 4 Tampa Bay Rays 9 - 2, as third-baseman Rafael Devers looked like he was finding his hitting groove. The Sox' pitching staff looked solid too, as starting RHP Nathan Eovaldi 1 - 1, got the win for the beloved. The Sox travel to Baltimore today for a 3:05 p.m. start, with 0 - 0 LHP Eduardo Rodriguez going for the beloved.

The 3 - 3 Tigers snatched defeat from the jaws of victory yesterday with a 2 - 3 loss to the 4 - 2 Twins. The loss went to starting RHP Matthew Boyd 1 - 1, as the Tigers got the slumber in the lumber again yesterday. They couldn't mount any real offensive threat to support what was a solid outing by Boyd. The Tigers are off today before they travel to Cleveland on Friday to meet the 1 - 5 Indians for a 7:10 p.m. start, as RHP Julio Teheran, 1 - 0, takes the ball for A. J. Hinch and the Tigers.

Which brings us to to today. With the rain in the forecast and the need for some downtime, why that is when you are retired I'm not sure, we plan to do as little as possible. Mary wants to spend the day reading and I want to get to the man-cave for some repairs to our outdoor equipment, do another crossword puzzle, and also do some reading myself. Another busy day, but one that is more sedentary in nature. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 1:00 a.m. in "The City."

Another day has come and gone, during which we had an unexpected and not in the forecast rain shower yesterday afternoon. It came in by 3:00 p.m. and was done by 4:00 p.m. leaving behind just enough water to wet my newly planted potatoes and perhaps get my grass seeds to germinate. However, in a few days, we'll be having many 50 plus degrees days and so those seeds may be be loathe to germinate.

Our current temperature is 57° under partly-cloudy skies and it feels like 57° with only a 4 mph wind blowing out of the south. The overnight low will fall to a very seasonal 53°. Today's high temperature forecast from the NWS calls for 72°, also under partly-cloudy skies with the overnight low falling to a very comfortable 58°. 

The NWS is actually forecasting a 72% chance for showers on Thursday with a high temperature of 69°. Our plans call for us to get some seeds planted, spread some fertilizer on Mary's rose bushes and go to Spring Lake to pick up my new glasses and make a stop at the Helpful Hardware Folks, Ace Hardware™ for a replacement inner tube for my wheel barrow. In short, a very suburban kind of day here in the Tri-Cities.

Yesterday, the baseball news was once again mostly good That is unless like yours truly, you are a Diehard Cubs fan. The 3 - 2 Cubs sent 0 - 1 RHP Adbert Alzolay to the mound, but he was not very sharp, giving up two home runs, as the Cubs offense managed to eke out only one measly hit in their 0 - 4 loss to the 2 - 3 Brewers. No bright spots in that game. The Cubs send 0 - 1 RHP Kyle Hendricks to the mound for a 2:20 p.m. start this afternoon before traveling to Pittsburgh for a Thursday afternoon game. 

The Cubs, in an attempt to deflect attention from their on-field performance, will be erecting a statue to honor Ferguson Jenkins outside Wrigley Field in the near future. 

On the local front, the 3 - 2 Tigers took 10 innings, but with the new rules in effect this year, they were able to score a runner from 2nd base when Akil Baddoo got another hit, his third game in a row, to drive in the winning run, in  4 - 3 win over the 2 - 3 Twins. Tigers starter, RHP Casey Mize, threw some good pitches and left with a lead, but the Tigers' bullpen blew that and forced the extra inning game. The Tigers and the Twins close out their series when they take the field today for a 1:10 p.m. game as RHP Matthew Boyd, 1 - 0, goes for the Tigers.

My beloved 2 - 3 Red Sox struggled mightily through 12 innings, but they squeaked out a win over the 2 - 3 Tampa Bay Rays 6 - 5, on a 12th inning walk-off double by J. D. Martinez to drive in the winning run. The beloved and the Rays close out their series @ 1:10 p.m. today when RHP Nathan Eovaldi tosses the first pitch for the Sox.

Mary soloed to that big-box nearly everything store without her wing gal, Ginger, for a pick up of some groceries and some new African violets for her flower room, AKA our foyer. Then she made a short visit to Duncan Woods for a walkabout. She took a couple of pix with her Smartphone camera while she was there.

Once again, a class we took several years ago came into play, as Mary captured this winding path. 

Amazing what a Smartphone camera can do in the hands of our Senior Staff Photographer. 

I finished the indoor chores, assisted in the preparation of a pair of extraordinary vegan beests, and did some reading.

When I was out with our fur-children after their dinner, I took some pix using the wide-angle lens that came with my camera. I got some nice pix of our own vast gardens here on the Palatial Estate. Nothing fancy, but some nice pix of our daffodils in bloom and Mary's Tree Man planter.

This group was late to bloom, but they doing great now.

I captured this close up of a yellow daffodil in bloom.

Same here. I think the detail of this yellow-centered daffodils is excellent.

A nicely focused bloom with a blurred background.

Same effect with a twin set of blooms.

What I believe to be Mary's Tree Man, but it could be some other name. 

Out in the back-forty, these yellow daffodils are blooming nicely .

Otherwise, not much is happening. No great plans for today that I haven't already highlighted. I'll be sure to take along my camera when we go to Spring Lake to see what pix I can capture there. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 5:00 a.m. in "The City."

The current temperature is 60° under clear skies, but it feels like 57° with a wind blowing out of the south @ 15 mph. The overnight low is forecast by the NWS to drop to 52° before we rise to today's high temperature of 63° under partly-cloudy skies. Later tonight, the low is forecast to drop to 52°. The rain is forecast to fall from Thursday through Sunday, but I'm not holding my breath, as that forecast is often inaccurate. 

The NWS is showing a barometric pressure of 29.88" of Hg and steady, while my own DTWS is showing 29.30" of Hg and also steady. The sun will rise this morning @  7:17 a.m. and set 13 hours later @ 8:17 p.m.

Baseball news was mostly good yesterday, as the 3 - 1 Cubs defeated the 1 - 3 Brewers at the Friendly Confines, 5 - 3, behind a great pitching effort by 1 - 0 RHP Trevor Williams, with a stellar closing effort by Alec Mills to get the save. 

The Cubs and the Brewers take the field again this evening @ 7:40 p.m. EDT, when young RHP Adbert Adzolay takes the mound for his 2021 MLB debut. Long gone, are former Cubs pitching stalwarts, Jon Lester and Yu Darvish.

My beloved 1 - 3 Red Sox finally won their first 2021 game, 11 - 2 over the visiting 2 - 2 Tampa Bay Rays. The Sox gave starting and winning RHP Nick Pavetta, 1 - 0, terrific offensive support, including a four for five day at the plate by the X-Man, SS Xander Bogaerts. The Sox and the Rays return to the field tonight @ 7:10 p.m. EDT when LHP Martin Perez goes for the beloved.

The now 2 - 2 Tigers came back to earth yesterday, as they fell hard to the 3 - 1 Twins, 6 - 15. Rule 5 acquisition, Akil Baddoo, continued his torrid pace at the plate, with a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth. However, that was much too little and much too late, as the only other runs scored by the Tigers came on solo home runs by Victor Reyes and Wilson Ramos. If the Indians could stay at Comerica Park for every game, the Tigers would lead their division from start to finish in 2021.The Tigers and the Twins play again today @ 1:10 p.m. when Detroit fans get their first MLB look at rookie phenom, RHP Casey Mize.

Elsewhere in the Tri-Cities area news, I made it to my eye doctor's appointment yesterday with time to spare. Mary was right, I was overly concerned with the traffic tie-ups being caused by the annual repairs to the bridge on US 31 over the Grand River. At any rate, I will have new glasses today or tomorrow and new lenses for my current glasses at the same time. 

Mary took a late night walkabout after letting our fur-children out for their final visit last night. She tells me that it was a beautiful night for a walk. I had gone to bed by that time to listen to the end of the Cubs win over the Brewers.

Today is indoor chores day and I'd like to read more too. Is music ever far from my thoughts? We will try to watch another episode of Legends this evening and also listen to more from Heather McGhee's The Sum of Us, as read by the author. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. across the nation and across the world. It is just past 11:30 p.m. in "The City."

The current temperature is a very comfortable 54° under partly-cloudy skies, following today's high-temperature of 66°. Tonight's low will drop to a very seasonal 48°. In other words, it felt like a spring day should. We spent some time on the deck reading after a tasty brunch, solving the weekend crossword puzzle, planting this year's potato crop, and doing a pawdicure on our fur-children. We had quite a busy day. Tomorrow's high is forecast by the NWS to reach 60° under cloudy skies with a 53% chance for T-storms in the morning hours. 

Earlier this afternoon, we walked to the library and the waterfront for some book pickups and picture taking. It has been a long time since we had been out in the world on an extended basis due to that Covid-19 pandemic.

Upon our return, I was tired. Fortunately, Mary was not as she always seems to be invigorated by a walkabout and so she prepared out Easter dinner of vegan steak, acorn squash, and fresh, never frozen, green beans that were cooked just right and then slathered in olive oil and garlic. 

I was tired after dinner and another episode of Legends and so I repaired to the media room for some TV viewing and napping. 

In baseball news, the 2 - 1 Tigers snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, as relief pitcher Dan Norris, 0 - 1, proved totally ineffective and the Tigers went from a slim 3 - 2 lead over the 1 - 2 Indians to a lopsided 3 - 9 loss. Tigers centerfielder Akhil Baddoo, was one of the few bright spots, as he got a home-run on the first pitch of his first major-league at bat, a feat accomplished by only nine other Tigers' players before him

The Tigers take the field again tomorrow in Comerica Park @ 1:10 p.m. EDT, when Jose Urena toes the rubber for the Tigers against the visiting 2 - 1 Twins.

The 2 - 1 Cubs eked out a win over the visiting 1 - 2 Pirates, 3 - 2, as recently arrived starting pitcher, right-hander Zach Davies notched his first win as a Cub. He was ably assisted by closing pitcher Craig Kimbrel and some great work in the field by Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, and Javier Baez. The Cubs take the field again tomorrow night in The Friendly Confines @ 7:40 p.m. EDT, when another new Cubs pitcher, right-hander Trevor Williams makes his Cubs debut against the visiting Milwaukee Brewers.

Sadly, my beloved 0 - 3 Red Sox were trounced by the visiting 3 - 0 Orioles, 3 - 11. There were no real highlights in that game. The Sox take the field again @ Fenway Park tomorrow night @ 7:10 p.m. EDT, when the visiting 2 - 1 Tampa Bay Rays come to town.

As I noted earlier in this blog, we went walkabout and I snapped some pix along the way. Here they are for your perusal.

Looking north and east up the the channel of the Grand River. 

Southwest towards the mouth of the Grand as it leads into Lake Michigan..

This is the remnants of the chimney of the long closed Story and Clark piano factory that was toppled years ago by a strong wind.

I couldn't resist getting another angle on our coal tipple. 

Along the way, flowers were in bloom.

Some protected by shrubs.

And others just out in the open.

Once again I was experimenting, looking directly into the late afternoon sun.

Tomorrow, I have an appointment for my annual eye exam and probably some new glasses. That's about it for me. Mary will be crafting, reading, and staying out of the rain. A long time ago, we enjoyed walking in the rain, but age confers wisdom, at least for yours truly. So, I'll be driving to my eye appointment for glasses that I didn't need 47 years ago.

The sun will rise tomorrow @ 7:21 a.m. and set late @ 8 :14 p.m. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 5:30 a.m. in "The City. I hadn't intended to get up, but as "They" often say, "The best laid plans of mice and men..."

At any rate, that Small Craft Advisory has been extended until 4:00 a.m. tomorrow from South Haven to Manistee. Winds of 15 to 25 knots may propel waves of 3 to 6 feet. on Lake Michigan. 

The current temperature is 21° under clear-skies and it feels like 21° with only a 1 mph wind out of the south. That 21° is our overnight low before we rebound to today's high temperature of 43°, also under clear/mostly sunny skies. The overnight low tonight will drop to only 37°. The sun will rise this morning @ 7:24 a.m. and set this evening @ 812 p.m. Currently, the NWS is reporting a barometric pressure of' 30.54" of Hg and steady, while my own DTWS is showing 29.92" of Hg and also steady.

We finally made it. Opening Day for MLB and my favorite teams, the Chicago Cubs, the Detroit Tigers, and my beloved Boston Red Sox. Let's get into the details of their first games. 

The 0 - 1 Cubs and 0 - 1 RHP Kyle Hendricks, began the season under 2nd year manager David Ross, with a 3 - 5 loss to the 1 - 0 Pittsburgh Pirates. Hendricks was not sharp and issued three of the 11 walks given up by the Cubs yesterday. The Cubs have the day off today and they will resume play against the Pirates Saturday afternoon when RHP Jake Arrieta takes the mound for a 2:20 p.m. EDT start. Arrieta is back for another stint with the Cubs following a departure for the $$ a few seasons back. 

My beloved 0 - 0 Red sox were rained out in their opener at Fenway Park yesterday. The Sox and RHP Nathan Eovaldi hope to get the game in today @ 2:10 p.m. EDT. 

The 1 - 0 Detroit Tigers behind very sharp 1 - 0 RHP Matthew Boyd and featuring 37 year old Miguel "Miggy" Cabrera starting @ at first base for the first time in several seasons, got the win over the 0 - 1 Cleveland Indians, 3 - 2. Miggy got off to a great start in Comerica Park in spite of a blizzard on the shores of Lake Erie. Miggy got his 350th home-run that just cleared the wall in right-field. You almost couldn't see the ball as it went out, the snow was falling so heavily. He also turned in a sparkling play at first to hold off the Indians, 3 - 2. It was Tigers' manager A. J. Hinch's idea to give Miggy the job at first this season instead of Miggy being a full-time DH and it paid off. 

The Tigers are also off today before they return to the field @ 1:20 p.m. EDT Saturday with RHP Julio Teheran taking the ball.

Yesterday, we finally got rid of the donations to Goodwill. Mary has been packing them for so long, that even she couldn't remember what was in all of the boxes and bags. Oh well, we obviously didn't need the donations so they should go to new homes and new purposes.

Since we were out, we took along my camera and after what seemed like what might become a fruitless search for a phot-op, we landed in nearby Duncan woods. We journeyed up some pathways that were steeper than we at first thought, but I go some great pix to share.

The immortal Yogi Berra once said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it!" So we did.

Once again, I was experimenting with settings on my camera and I captured the sun through the trees along the way.

Back to the pathways.

These paths are steeper than they look on the dunes of Duncan Woods.

Like many trees in the woodlands here in our area, the trees are allowed to fall and decay without the intervention of humans.

I especially like how this shot turned out.

We decided it was time to head home and feed our fur-children. Upon our arrival and with my camera in hand, I took some pix in the vast-gardens of the manse.

This trio of daffodils is growing near our deck.

Sometimes, when you see the right picture, snap the shutter.

Today, we have only one mission. We are off to the phone store to get a Sim Card for my new phone. We've been putting that chore off as we awaited our "Independence Day" of April 1, that was two weeks from our second Covid-19 vaccination. 

Otherwise, I have some things awaiting my attention in the man-cave, but they can wait as they are related to outdoor activities that will not be starting anytime soon. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 3:45 a.m. in "The City."

This blog shouldn't take too long. No new pictures and not much in the way of news.

We have a current temperature of 28° that feels more like 18° with a wind out of the north @ 12 mph. That may be due in part to the fact that the NWS has continued the Small Craft Advisory until Friday @ 1:00 a.m. The forecast calls for winds of 15 - 25 knots and waves from four to seven feet from St. Joseph to Manistee. I know it is getting to be repetitive, but that's the way the weather is on the shores of the "Big Lake."

We have a current barometric pressure reading supplied by the NWS in GR of 30.36" of Hg and rising, while my own DTWS is showing 29.71" of Hg and falling. The distance between the shores of Lake Michigan and GR, which is further inland, is large enough to account for that discrepancy. 

 

The overnight low tonight/this morning will be 25°. Today, we'll rebound to a high of 38° before another overnight low in the mid twenties of 24°. Although there's a light at the end of the tunnel. The NWS is forecasting daytime highs in the 50s and above starting with Saturday's 55°. It looks like I'll be getting out my summer uniform very soon.

The sun will be rising in a few hours @ 7:26 a.m. and setting this evening @ 8:11 p.m.

While Mary and Ginger went to Home Depot™ and then on to The Bookman, I stayed behind with STWD and made some vegan seitan steaks. I had help from Mary before she left to properly cook the required lentils, but after that, I was on my own. Of course, we had two of the four steaks for dinner which had been marinated in my own secret marinade. Well no secret really, I just followed the suggested recipe. Mary assisted with the marinating and then the cooking later. 

I did some reading of a new novel today and finished a crossword puzzle. We also started a new TV program, having finished our last one, Timeless. We are also listening to a digital book, The Sum of Us, read by the author, Heather McGhee. It is fascinating.

The sewer service came by yesterday afternoon and we should be good to go for another 18 months or so. 

Otherwise, not much was happening and that will be the case today too, with the exception of a run to the Goodwill Store for a donation. Ciao.