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

Yesterday I was a busy beaver. I did some work in the gardens of the vast PE. I baked a terrific loaf of bread if I do so so myself, and I went to my first ever drawing class at the local art studio just around the corner. All of my endeavors turned out great.

Here is a picture of my baking efforts. Everyone who was present shortly after the time that the bread came out of the oven can attest to the quality of the outcome. Everyone includes yours truly, Mary, Ginger, and John. It came out larger than I expected, but that means there is more to enjoy.

This loaf of bread tastes even better than it looks!

I'd include a picture of the vast lawns and gardens of the PE, but that would seem redundant at this juncture. My first still-life drawing is not yet ready for prime time, but I am satisfied with my efforts and I'll be going back next week for more coaching. I've always liked drawing, but I never felt confident in my efforts. I feel better now.

GTTSD and I observed the passage of locomotives 2057 and 2019 as they plied the rails of the RSTL heading south yesterday morning @ 10:13 a.m. In tow were four CHCs, five DWTCs, and 15 DBTCs. At 4:35 p.m., Ginger and I observed the same locomotives passing by towing 13 DBTCs and six DWTCs, one with a green stripe around its mid-section.

I also spent quite a bit of time reading Toly's Ghost on my tablet version of Amazon's Kindle e-reader. This book is part of a series that was written many years ago by B. S. Levy. I 'll let your imagination decide what the BS stands in for. However, Levy is a gear-head who writes fiction liberally laced with facts about auto racing in the U.S. and Europe in the late 1950s and early 1960s. As Adam can attest, you need to be a gear-head yourself to fully appreciate the stories.

I suppose that's like the book Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?, written by John R. Powers back in the 1980s. His efforts produced a book and a play of the same name which Mary assured me after I read it was better appreciated by people who grew up in the Catholic faith in the 1960s, especially on the Southside of Chicago. Powers also wrote other books like The Last Catholic in America, which had a similar theme.

I'm not certain, but there are probably books that only people of the Jewish faith can fully appreciate too. I also enjoy reading romances and mysteries that are based on the Amish religion that I enjoy, but which are probably best appreciated by people of that faith.

Sports news yesterday was mostly good. The Cubs came out of the gate swinging and they never looked back as Kyle Schwarber hammered a ball onto Sheffield Avenue in the bottom of the 1st and Jason Heyward nailed another in the bottom of the 2nd en route to a 4 - 1 win over the visiting Giants. That gives the Cubs an NL Central record of  23 - 21, still only good enough for 3rd place. They play the Giants again tonight @ 8:05 p.m.

The Tigers didn't fare so well as they fell to the Astros 2 - 6. That loss drops them to 21 - 23 in the AL Central, still good enough for 3rd place. They play the Astros again tonight @ 8:10.

My beloved Red Sox handily dispatched the Texas Rangers yesterday, 11 - 6. That gives the Sox an AL East record of 23 -21, and surprise, also good enough for 3rd place. They play the Rangers again tonight @ 7:10 p.m.

The Caps once again defeated the TinCaps, this time by a slim margin of 2 - 1, to move into a 1st place tie with the Dayton Dragons @ 30 - 14 in the MWL East. The Caps play the TinCaps again today @ 11:00 a.m.

We have John over again today to do more repairs to the manse. We sometimes think he should have his own room so he could just get up in the morning and start on the next task in our version of This Old House. We don't mind because the house in itself is a treasure that needs to be preserved.

Otherwise. I plan to read more and that's about it before we go to our appointment at the chiropractor for maintenance.

The sun will rise this morning @ 6:12 a.m. and set @ 9"11 p.m. Right now we have a current temperature of 57° according to my DTWS and 55° according to the NWS in GR. In both cases, I can personally attest to the presence of rain. The NWS is also predicting rain/T-storms later today with a 60% chance of certainty. Ciao.