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

Newsflash, the skies may be cloudy, but there is no rain in the forecast for today, a welcome bit of news for the campers at Grand Haven State Park and elsewhere in the Tri-Cities area. We have a current temperature of 56° as we drop to our overnight low of 52° before rebounding to today's high of 65°. What's not to like? However, there are no 70 degree days in the forecast for at least one week. Sigh. While I like the cooler temperatures, our vegetables don't.

Baseball news yesterday had only one bright spot, that was the Cubs 8 - 6 win over the Reds. Yu Darvish pitched well, but did not get the decision. The win went to reliever Dillon Maples. The 1st place Cubs and the 5th place Reds renew their rivalry today @ 2:20 p.m. EDT.

The Red Sox fell to the Astros, again, 3 - 4. The 27 - 25, 3rd place Sox, are treading water, hoping against hope, that this season won't be a total loss. Meanwhile, the 35 - 18 1st place Astros, last year's World Series™ champions, are riding high and stand a good chance of going to the World Series™ again this year. Both teams meet again today @ 2:10 p.m.

A side note, the Sox erstwhile 2nd baseman, 35 year old Dustin Pedroia, was rehabbing his left knee with the Sox' AA farm team the Sea Dogs, in Portland, ME, but once again felt the pain that has allowed him to play only 9 games over the last two seasons for the parent club. Pedroia pulled himself out of the lineup and flew back to Boston to consult with the Sox' medical staff. I think it is time for Pedroia to call it a career and get on with his out of baseball life.

The Tigers tried in vain, once again, to win over the Mets, but they fell in 13 innings, 4 -  5. That loss still finds the Tigers in 4th place in the AL Central, versus the Mets, who are in 3rd in the NL East. The Tigers continue to slide, having lost their 9th out of 10 tries yesterday. The Tigers try again today to right the ship @ 1:10 p.m.

The West Michigan White Caps, fell hard to the South Bend Cubs, 7 - 10 yesterday. The 18 - 30 Caps, are still in 7th place in the MWL East, as compared to the 26 - 21 Cubs, who are in 4th. Both teams take the field again tonight @ 7:05 p.m.

I did make more of my vegan soy curl jerky yesterday, my best to date, along with doing some indoor chores.

You'd think I would be staying home today to watch the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing, the 103rd running of the Indy 500, but that race is very iffy due to the rain that always seems to be in the forecast at this time of year in Indianapolis. If the Green Flag drops as hoped @ 12:45 p.m., it will be without me.

I opted to go to that Birding Talk @ Hemlock yesterday. It was very informative and made for a nice prelude to the walk we'll be attending today @ the Grand Ravines County Park. Both yesterday's talk and today's walk were and will be directed by park naturalist, Kristen Hintz. She took some of yesterday's attendees on a walk @ Hemlock yesterday after her presentation, but I opted to save my gimpy yak for today.

As I noted earlier, we had a great time @ Hemlock and hope to have a similar experience today @ Grand Ravines. I took a lot of pix of during a short walk that we made before the presentation and also during the presentation itself. I'll include some here.

A shot of one of the trees repairing itself in the woods @ Hemlock.

While not birding, this sign captures the way beavers are an integral part of life @ Hemlock.

The large tree on the right was felled by the resident beavers.

As were several smaller trees.

From the nearby river overlook, this picture can't really do justice to the splendor that is Hemlock

Same here.

Yes, a truly amazing odyssey for the birds who stay, migrate short distances, and those who migrate 1,000s of miles/kilometers in a single season.

This is a Scarlet Tanager who travels from Canada to South America, and back, during its migration.

An Indigo Bunting which can travel over 2,000 km during its migrations.

What would a birding presentation be without a baseball reference, this time to the Baltimore Oriole, which may also travel from Canada to South America and back during its migration.

When we got home, the vast gardens of the PE were covered by the "Snowfall" from the ornamental pear tree that is in our back forty.

Last night, Mary once again went to her refrigerator food stash and made a modified spaghetti role casserole that tasted great, I washed mine down later with a slice of apple pie as we watched the movie Independence Day.

So today, walking with the fur-children, something we had planned for yesterday, only to be stymied by the rain that had begun to fall, and that aforementioned bird walk and some reading. Monday, I plan to collapse. Ciao.