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

According to the NWS, we have a current temperature of 52° under partly cloudy skies, which I can confirm from a visit to the mud room with Ginger @ 4:00 a.m. and from a quick look out the WW. Later today, after the sun rises @ 6:32 a.m. and well before it sets @ 8:50 p.m., we'll enjoy a high temperature of 65°, also under partly cloudy skies.

This is Cinco de Mayo, in Mexico, the fifth day of May, on which the citizens of Mexico and also Mexican people here in the US, celebrate the victory of the Mexican Army over the French Army @ the Battle of Puebla. Here in the US, the people of Mexican heritage use it as a day to celebrate Mexican culture.

In addition, in the US, this being the first Saturday in May, we will witness the annual Run for the Roses, the Kentucky Derby, when 20 thoroughbred horses will run to kick off the Triple Crown of horse racing, that also includes the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes. Very few horses win all three races, the last being American Pharaoh in 2015. Before that, the last Triple Crown win was 1978, when Affirmed won all three races. Naturally, we'll be watching the race late today just for the fun of it.

Yesterday, we made it to our appointment downtown and that went as well as can be expected. We hope for a good outcome in our pursuit of a fair and just settlement with the trip insurance company that was supposed to repay us for a deposit we had to forfeit when we had to cancel last year's trip to Florida when my yak went south and we couldn't travel, but we are not hopeful.

We traveled to Holland in the afternoon to get some spices and perhaps another pair of walking shoes for me. Since it is time for the annual Tulip Fest on Holland, we had to get there yesterday or skip the trip for the next 10 days due to a lack of parking anywhere in the downtown area of Holland.We were successful on the spices, not on the shoes. Plus, while we were in Holland, Mary tried out our new camera and I have successfully downloaded the pictures that she took. I'll add some of those here.

Actually, this was Mary's first picture as she took a picture of a familiar subject, Ginger, on the back of our couch.

Yours truly next to a tulip patch and in front of the shoe store in Holland.

Mary's first tulip shot in Holland.

Various plantings make for a colorful display.

A much larger display.

This group was in various stages of bloom.

All in all, the camera worked well and while it will be a steep learning curve, we'll take some classes, practice, and improve our techniques and results.

Sports news yesterday was a .500 average, to use baseball terminology, as the 16 - 13 Cubs fell to the 18 - 12 Cardinals in a battle of NL Central division rivals that finds the Cubs in 3rd place and the Cardinals in 1st. Once again, the Cubs' hitters didn't give any support to Cubs' pitchers and the result was a 2 - 3 loss. The Cubs and the Cardinals play again today @ 2:15 p.m. EDT or 1:15 p.m. CDT.

The 13 - 18 Tigers also lost, in their case to the 10 - 22 Royals, 2 - 4, in a game that pitted two AL Central rivals against each other. Neither team is very good, so it was a battle of teams with little hope for a playoff berth in the fall. The Tigers and the Royals play later this afternoon @ 4:15 p.m. EDT.

My beloved 23 - 9 Red Sox righted their ship against the 13 - 21 Texas Rangers with a 5 - 1 victory that featured the fifth straight win for Rick Porcello. The Sox and the Rangers play tonight @ 8:05 p.m.

The 16 - 11 Caps were victorious over the 13 - 9 Kernels in Cedar Rapids, IA in a battle of MWL Eastern and Western division rivals. The Kernels lead the Western division, while the Caps are in 3rd place in the Eastern division.

Today, after a morning walk with the fur-children, Mary will be indexing and I'll be doing indoor chores and planting one of the new roses. That looks like enough for one day as of now. Ciao.