Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 3:30 a.m. in "The City."

I could start with baseball news, or I could start with the weather. Hmmm, yes the weather, since it is way too hot for the last day of June and the first day of July. It has been more like the "Dog Days of Summer", or an Indiana Summer, than an early summer in West, MI. The phrase, "The Dog Days of Summer", is used today to denote a time when temperatures are so hot that your dog just wants to pant, remain mostly inactive, and just lie around. However, the actual derivation is nicely defined by the Old Farmer's Almanac, which noted that the ancients referred to the time of year when the Dog Star, Sirius, would rise in the early morning hours between July 3, and August 11. Whatever, is it hot out. How hot is it? Well, let me explain.

Before we moved to GH, we used to travel to and vacation here after the school year was over, in order to decompress. Anyone who has spent 10 months in a classroom can understand the need to decompress. We always enjoyed the comfortable temperatures during the day and the very comfortable temperatures during the night. STWD was much younger, and she and I used to go for long walks throughout "The City." Now, both she and I are older and our walks are often limited to going to The Bookman to get the daily edition of the Grand Haven Tribune. I can once again walk longer distances after some surgical interventions, but alas, STWD ain't what she used to be. Her mind is mostly willing, but her flesh is weak.

At any rate, the high temperature yesterday reached 88° with about 78% relative humidity that was accompanied by the High Heat Warning issued by the NWS  (National Weather Service) that is still in effect until 8:00 p.m. tonight. The high temperature today is forecast by the NWS to reach 82°, also with 77% relative humidity. I was outside with Ginger around 1:30 a.m., and the current temperature being reported on my DTWS (Desk Top Weather Station) as relayed from its FPMS, (Front Porch Mounted Sensor), is 78° and that visit confirmed that reading. The NWS, which uses data from GR, (Grand Rapids) is reporting 77°. You say tomato... as the proverbial they often intone. That phrase, "The Proverbial They" is often defined as, "A gender-neutral way to refer to a larger group, such as the NWS." Whatever, I'll use it until I can think of something better.

However, what would a blog of mine be without some songs, courtesy of YouTube™. In this instance, these songs refer to heat inb their titles, such as this one from the band Asia, entitled Heat of the Moment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw1BJ5vNVA0

Or this one, from The Lovin' Spoonful, entitled Summer in the City, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9vbu8sfaBM

Or maybe this one from Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, entitled (Love is Like a) Heat Wave. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFYvVd3ntLA

What the hey, at this point what's one more reference to heat, so I'll close this short stroll down Memory Lane with this one from Glen Frey, of The Eagles, simply entitled, The Heat is On, from the soundtrack to the movie Beverly Hills Cop. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxWH8xFpHr8

But once again, I have digressed far and wide. The sun will rise today @ 6:09 a.m. and set later tonight @ 9:28 p.m.


With that long-winded reference to the heat, it is time for the baseball news.

The Cubs began their game yesterday @ 2:20 p.m. EDT and it went on for what seemed an eternity. Actually, about 3 1/2 hours. During that time, the 46 - 35, 2nd in the NL Central Cubs, changed the high scoring, 14 - 9 final score, several times. You might think that the Cubs hit many home-runs, but no, they played small-ball and scratched out those runs using base-hits and errors by the visiting 35 - 44, 2nd in the AL Central Twins. The Cubs are now just 1.5 games behind the 1st place Brewers who lost yesterday. The Cubs and the Twins close out their series today as 10 - 2 Jon Lester takes the hill. Hopefully, unlike yesterday, no more players will succumb to the heat. The game-time temperature yesterday was a sultry 95°, which caused Cubs' center-fielder Albert Almora Jr. to leave the game with leg cramps along with three Twins' players.

My beloved, 58 - 28, 1st place, best record in the Major Leagues™ Red Sox, manhandled the 2nd place in the AL East Yankees, as they annihilated those Yankees by the lopsided score of 11 - 0. Sox starting pitcher, 8 - 4 Chris Sale, allowed one-hit and recorded 11 strikeouts en route to that win. Rafael Devers became the youngest player to hit a Grand-Slam too. The Sox and the Yankees play again tonight @ 8:05 p.m.

The woeful, 36 - 48, oddly 3rd in the AL Central Tigers, once again managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory as they lost their 11th straight to the 39 - 43, 4th in the AL East Blue Jays, 3 - 4, in Toronto. The only bright spot was the continued hot bat of Nick Castellanos. In Toronto yesterday, the team closed the roof of the Rogers Centre, formerly known as the Sky Dome, due to an outdoor temperature of 86° with high humidity. Toronto, Canada is located @ 43.7° latitude, whereas GH is located @ 46.06 latitude, with similar longitudinal locations. When the temperature in Toronto gets that high in late June, something ain't right.

Finally, the overall 41 - 39, 5th in the MWL East Div., Caps, and their now 5 - 5, 2nd half record, once again were defeated by the overall 53 - 26, 6 -4 in the 2nd half, Bowling Green Hot Rods, 1 - 3. The Caps playoff hopes are very dim this season. The Caps and the Hot Rods play again today in the very hot Fifth/Third Ballpark today @ 2:00 p.m.

Well, that went longer than I expected. So, I'll close by saying that I'll have to water the vast gardens of the PE (Palatial Estate) after the fur-children have had their short morning constitutional. The plants and the vast lawns have their proverbial tongues hanging out. Ciao.




























Love is Like a