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

Well, I knew it. I knew that if I watered yesterday that it would rain. It did. Oh well, in this case, more is better. Except that when you take the fur-children out, you have to wipe their collective paws.

We have a current temperature of 69° according to the NWS in GR. In fact, in GR, it rained a lot earlier in the day. As of now, that same NWS is forecasting a high later today of 66° and the chance of rain returning is anywhere from 45% to 70% continuing throughout the day. We shall see, as we are on the shores of the "Big Lake" and that always mitigates the effects of the forecast from the NWS. The sun will rise later today @ 6:38 a.m. and set @ 9:02 p.m.

STWD and I went for a short walk yesterday morning and we espied many areas that have been sectioned off along Washington Ave. in preparation for Saturday's annual Coast Guard Festival parade. Technically, no one is supposed to stake their claim before 12:01 a.m. this morning, but that seems to apply to other people. I have heard that GH Public Works crews would remove any unattended claims @ 10:00 p.m. last night, but I don't know that for certain.

This claim staking is a recent phenomenon, at least to me, where people stake their claims well before an event, be it a concert, a parade, or a pyrotechnics display. I can't picture myself doing that. Maybe because I have memories of standing or sitting in the backyard of my ancestral home and watching the fireworks display provided by the golf course directly behind. Plus, I also think that it is possible that I had enough parades as a kid and in high school marching band to last a lifetime.

Yesterday/last night was an interesting time in sports.

The Cubs played to a loss in rainy Wrigley Field, 8 - 10, losing to the D'backs despite a six RBI night from catcher Willson Contreras, who was quoted as saying he'd rather have gone 0 - 5 and gotten the "W." At any rate, the 1st place Cubs, with a record of 57 - 50, still sit atop the NL Central, 1.5 games ahead of the winning 2nd place Brewers. The Cubs welcome the Nats to the Friendly Confines this afternoon @ 2:20 p.m.

The Tigers took a while in a rain delayed game in the AL Central, but they defeated the Orioles, 7 - 5 to move to 50 - 57 while remaining in 4th place. That other team from Chicago stayed in 5th place with a record of 41 - 65, following their loss to my beloved Red Sox. That other team comes to Fenway Park tonight to face the beloved @ 7:10 p.m.

What a perfect segue. My beloved Red Sox, with a record of 60 - 49, topped that other team and stayed atop the AL East by two full games over the 2nd place Yankees. As noted, the Sox play tonight @ 7:10 p.m.

The 1st place Caps defeated the 2nd place TinCaps last night 9 - 7 in a showdown between the top two teams in the MWL East. The Caps now have a 1st place record of 27 - 10, and play against the TinCaps again tonight @ 7:05 p.m.

I made it to the chiropractor yesterday and that went well. However, I am still waiting for a call from the other doctors. If I don't hear from someone today, I'll call them to check on the progress, or lack thereof regarding my referrals. Like I said, what a circular system.

As noted previously, I watered and then continued the great spider hunt in the back forty. I also harvested numerous tomatoes. They are coming in hot and heavy right now as are the green peppers. I also have to remind Mary that we have a bumper crop of scallions to use before too long.

I am anticipating another wave of cucumbers along with the kale and potatoes that are coming along nicely. The zucchini is budding again, so more of that crop is on the horizon. I do remember in a land far-far away and a @ time long, long ago, that when we lived in our old home in Palatine, IL, the cucumber crop came in so heavy one year that Adam asked if we could go out to dinner just to avoid one more cucumber related salad or dish. Mary was/is creative, but there are only so many ways to prepare cucumbers.

Today, I hope to make that much-anticipated squash/kale soup, yak permitting. Elsewhere in the manse, Mary is wrestling with her latest catalog index so I'll stay out of her way as there is nothing I can do to help, I hope. I also need to get her to read my novel so that I can get a fresh look at my efforts before I begin another effort to finish my story. Ciao.