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

I was originally thinking about keeping this one short, but as is often the case, so much happened in my world yesterday, that I decided that short wasn't long enough. A nice play on words, don't you think?

The weather today will be improved over yesterday. While not significantly different, the fact that we will reach the upper 50s or lower 60s today is a marked improvement. However, that improvement will only last one more day, tomorrow, and then it's back to the 50s until May 17, if the forecast from the NWS is to be believed. Today's high will reach 59° after we fall to this morning's overnight low of 44°. The skies will remain partly-cloudy, but there isno rain in the forecast. The sun will rise shortly @ 6:34 a.m. and set much later @ 8:48 p.m.

Baseball news yesterday was 75% good. The lone dull spot was the 12 - 14 Caps, who lost to the Burlington, IA Bees, 2 - 5. That loss finds the Caps in sole possession of 6th place in the MWL East, while the Bees, @ 17 - 11, are in 2nd place in the MWL West. Both teams go again tonight @ 6:00 p.m.

In Major League™ baseball, the 17 - 12, 2nd in the NL Central Cubs, took one from the 20 - 12, 1st place in the NL Central Cardinals, 4 - 0. RHP Kyle Hendricks turned in a pitching performance reminiscent of Hall of Fame and former Cubs pitcher, Greg Maddux. Hendricks needed only 81 pitches to shut out the Cardinals as he got the win, his second against four losses, over the Cardinals RHP Jack Flaherty, who is 3 - 2. Anthony Rizzo nailed a 3-run home run in the 3rd for all the runs the Cubs would need.

Today, the Cubs send RHP Yu Darvish, 2 - 3, to the mound @ 4:05 p.m. today to get his first taste of the Cubs/Cardinals rivalry, against the Cardinals own RHP Micheal Wacha, 2 - 0.

Meanwhile, the decision was made to activate last year's starting shortstop, Addison Russell, to the MLB™ active roster, but he remains in Iowa with the Cubs' triple A team, relearning how to play 2nd base upon his return to the parent club. Russell has not played @ 2nd since 2015, so he has to relearn how to field from a different angle. Javier Baez is playing so well at shortstop, that the Cubs have no plans to upset the apple cart and move him back to 2nd base.

My beloved, 15 - 18 4th in the AL East Red Sox took one from that other team from Chicago, 6 - 1. The Sox "Ace", LHP Chris Sale, looked like the old Sale as he fanned 10 and nearly went the distance in the win. That other team is not that good, as is true of the Sox, so take Sale's win with that proverbial grain of salt. The Sox and that other team go again tonight @ 7:10 p.m., when the Sox' LHP Eduardo Rodriguez, 2 - 2 goes against that other team's LHP Manny Banuelos.

The 14 - 15 Tigers, 3rd in the AL Central, took one from the lowly 11 - 22 Kansas City Royals, 4 - 3, as LHP Matthew Boyd improved to 3 - 2 with his win over the Royals' Jorge Lopez, 0 - 3. The Tigers and the Royals play again this afternoon @ 4:10 p.m., when the Tigers' Tyson Ross goes up against the Royals' RHP Homer Bailey, 2 - 3.

I started a new book yesterday before we went out to run some errands. We finally made arrangements to have a new carpet made for the mud-room. We returned to the store that installed our current whole-house carpeting. The new carpet should be ready in about two to three weeks.

Otherwise, John has nearly finished painting the kitchen, but Mary's corner shelf remains in pieces, pending a final decision on whether to reinstall it in the original location, or, to change things entirely. Frankly, I am in favor of reinstalling the old shelf and being done with it. But, the decision is not mine to make, as it is Mary's kitchen, However, I'll remind her that the old shelf was/is the home for many cookbooks and her treasured earthenware bowls which are now on the counter, so...

Ginger had her dinner last night and true to form, she had to lie about and rest afterwards. She always looks so cute when she is sleeping. What say you?

While only the "Second Cutest Dog on the Planet" she looks great when quietly resting.

Today, I am off to Hemlock Crossing County Park for another art session, this one in watercolors, entitled Wildflower Splendor. This workshop will be led by the same artist that facilitated my workshop on acrylics. I'm looking forward to the session, as I may come away with another, suitable for hanging, painting of flowers.

Mary has a game-time decision to make on whether she will go along and enjoy the splendors of the trails @ Hemlock Crossing as I slave over my canvas, or whether to stay home and keep the fur-children company. I don't know as of this writing whether John will be in the house again today. Ciao.