Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 2:30 a.m. in "The City."

I was saddened yesterday to read about the passing of Rosalie Byrne, a longtime nurse in Community Consolidated School District 21 in Buffalo Grove/Wheeling IL. When I came to the district in 1993, it was my pleasure to see Rosalie and watch her interactions with the students at our school. Like many of the teachers, I had Rosalie's daughter in class and like her mother, she was a delight. I certain that Rosalie will be missed by everyone in the D21 family.

We waved goodbye to Adam and Steph yesterday after a great visit. The fur-children were sad to see them go too. In fact, the fur-children wanted them to stay and give them more pets and attention, not to mention the leftovers from the meals that our human children ate. Since Mary and I are vegans, the fur-children never get any animal-based foods other than their dog-food. Oh well, that's the breaks girls.

Baseball news yesterday was mostly good. The 58 - 40, 1st in the NL Central Cubs, defeated the 4th place, 50 - 49 Cardinals, 7 - 2. That was after the Cubs and the Cards split a double-header on Saturday. In yesterday's game, Kyle Schwarber got his 19th home-run and led the Cubs' attack en route to the win. The Cubs welcome the 54 - 46. 2nd place in the NL West, AZ D'Backs to the Friendly Confines tonight @ 8:05 p.m.

My beloved, 1st place in the AL East, 70 - 31 Red Sox, defeated the hapless 44 - 53, 3rd in the AL Central Tigers yesterday afternoon by a final score of 9 - 1. Die-hard Tigers fans think that the replay review of the call at 2nd base that erased a Tigers' runner made the difference. Unfortunately, for those of us with divided loyalties, we recognize that that one play didn't make any real difference. The Tigers were simply outclassed by the Sox. The Sox are off to Baltimore tonight to play the Orioles @ 7:05 p.m. The Tigers travel to Toronto to face the 4th place, 46 - 52 Blue Jays tonight @ 8:15 p.m.

The 49 - 50, 6th place in the MWL East White Caps defeated the 5th place in the MWL West, Quad Cities River Bandits yesterday, 6 - 4. The Caps are home again today @ 2:15 p.m. to once again play the River Bandits.

We didn't do much yesterday after our children headed for home. We read more from the scary book, The Plot to Destroy Democracy by Malcolm Nance, and it is more frightening than we'd like. Mr. Nance is a log-time intelligence analyst and his insights are enough to make everyone who is paying attention, worry.

We did get out yesterday afternoon to run some errands and then we settled in for the night. I went to bed early and didn't stir until around 1:30 a.m.

Today, I have an appointment at the barber shop and that's about all that I have on tap. Mary is feeling empowered by her success with the sink-skirt, so she may get to work on the valances for my music room.

We have a current temperature of 66° under cloudy skies. We had quite a bit of rain on Saturday that gave everything growing on the PE a much-needed drink. I should be able to avoid watering until tomorrow. Adam rightfully pointed out that the few vegetables that are being produced are costing more in water than they are worth. Oh well, I can't give up now.

The sun will rise high into the cloudy sky today @ 6:26 a.m. and set later tonight @ 9:15 p.m. No significant rain is in the forecast until Thursday's 40% chance. That should allow the landscapers to complete their work in the parkway. Ciao.