Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 6:00 a.m. in "The City."

I spent a good deal of time in-the saddle yesterday, well actually on the seat of my bicycle, but this being the 21st century, a bike seat is almost the same. I walked with STWD to The Bookman to pick up the Wednesday edition of the Grand Haven Tribune and then I was off on the first of my bike rides for the day.

I rode to my orthopedist appointment and arrived right on time. The doctor examined my ailing left-shoulder and still feels as though the problem is not deep-seated in the joint, but rather some sort of impingement in the musculature. He administered a shot of cortisone and gave me a referral to my choice of physical-therapists along with another appointment to see him in eight weeks.

I rode home by way of the big-box nearly everything store and took the back-streets once again. I arrived and found John hard at work on the outdoor painting. Plus, the landscapers had just finished up the plantings in the parkway and they look spectacular. As promised, Mary and I took several pictures of the work in progress and the final outcome. I'll include them now.

The parkway after the original tear-out/digging last week.

In process with the final layer of black-dirt being spread.

The right amount of fertilizer/weed killer was spread into the soil

While the plantings are drought-tolerant, they will require watering every-other day for a couple of weeks to ensure their long-term viability.viability. Roses, Cone-Flowers, Black-Eyed Susans, Stella D'oro Lilies, and Hostas mingled among the boulders to make a delightful appearance. With a little nudge from the landscape-designer, Dale Kwekel, of Grand haven Garden House, we opted for chocolate-colored mulch over small river-rocks, that should allow the plantings to spread over the ensuing years.

All in all, we love it!

Since I was now home, I called the P/T provider and got an appointment yesterday afternoon @ 3:00 p.m. This was an initial evaluation and a first therapy session. I have six more to go. In between sessions, I have some exercises to work on that should help me regain the strength and range of motion in my shoulder along with significant pain-reduction. Here's hoping.

I returned with bean-burritos from Taco Bell™ in hand for dinner, before Mary headed out to her evening activity, a guided tour through the Lake Forest Cemetery under the auspices of the Tri-Cities Historical Museum. Mary took numerous pictures, but she plans to write about her excursion in a personal blog.

Baseball news yesterday for my beloved, 71 - 32 Red Sox was a rain-out in their game on the East Coast against the 29 - 73, last place in the same AL East division, Orioles. The Sox will face the 2nd place in the AL Central Twins, with a sub -.500, 47 - 53  record in the AL Central, tonight in Fenway Park @ 7:10 p.m.

The 3rd place, 44 - 60 in the AL Central Tigers, are off today before they welcome the 1st place in the AL Central, 55 - 46 Indians, to Comerica Park @ 7:10 p.m. Friday night.

The 1st place in the NL Central, 59 - 42 Cubs, eked out a win over the 2nd place in the NL West, 56 - 47 D'Backs, 2 - 1. Those same two teams meet again today in Wrigley Field @ 2:20 p.m.l

We have a current temperature of 68° under mostly-cloudy skies. The rain that was in the forecast from the NWS @ 60% has been postponed too, with no make-up date scheduled. The sun rose today @ 6:29 a.m. and will be setting later @ 9:12 p.m.

Today, I have no specific plans. I don't know about Mary's plans. We will walk the fur-children and after that, I may make something in the kitchen. Speaking of which, while I was at that big-box nearly everything store yesterday, I picked up some new vegan lunch-meat to try. Fortunately for yours truly, I reread the ingredients label and discovered that one of the ingredients is sesame-seeds, an all too common ingredient in many vegan products such as cheeses and meats. So, rather than succumb to my severe, possibly life-threatening allergy to sesame seeds and related products, I had a vegan, non-sesame seed containing cheese sandwich, as my late-night snack. Ciao.