Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 7:00 a.m. in "The City."

The current temperature is 67° under rainy skies. Our overnight low reached that same 67°.

That Small Craft  Advisories remains in effect until 5:00 p.m. Saturday evening. The National Weather Service in Grand Rapids is forecasting winds south to southeast 15 to 25 knots and waves from 3 to 5 feet are likely. That Small Craft Advisory means that winds or waves are expected to produce hazardous conditions to small craft. Inexperienced mariners...especially those operating smaller vessels, should avoid navigating in these conditions unless they have a crew and good captain.

We had a terrific time at the concert last night @ Seven Steps Up in Spring Lake. We saw/heard an artist new to us, Iowa based Elizabeth Moen and her band. Sadly, we were part of a small audience. While that allowed the venue to move us to a stage-side table vs. our regular seats, I know how hard it can be to play to a small crowd. However, Ms. Moen and her band delivered a terrific performance that consisted of mostly new material written by Ms. Moen and slated for an upcoming album. Here are two samples of her work courtesy of YouTube™, as she performs her songs, Songbird and Headgear.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7jUEfz2oG8

Headgear adds another layer to her music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOdNHaLWDFo

I took numerous pictures, many of them very close up and so I'll add just a few here.

Her voice was sultry and sweet and very bluesy as she played her hollow-body guitar.

We spoke with Dave after the show, and he was very congenial and friendly.

Somehow, I missed a close-up of the band's bassist, Annie, stage right.

Lead guitarist, Tom, as he soloed.

Annie provided back-up vocals for most of the songs.

Taken from near to our usual location at Seven Steps Up.

I hope that Elizabeth and her band come through Michigan again, as this was their first visit. The band played in Columbus, OH last night. Dave, the drummer, told us that in November the band is off to Italy for three weeks to play every night. Interestingly, Dave previously spent time in Italy studying art history.

Baseball news was good for the 78 - 68, tied for 2nd place in the NL Central with the Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs. Yu Darvish fanned 14 batters and he may be returning to the form that the Cubs had hoped for when they signed him to that $126 million contract two years ago. Here's hoping. The final score was Cubs 4, Padres, 1. The Cubs return home today for a 4:05 p.m. EDT game against the Pittsburgh Pirates as Jon Lester tries to bounce back from his less than stellar last outing. Oh, the Cubs kept pace in the Wild Card race. too.

My beloved, 77 - 70, 3rd place in the AL East Red Sox, saw the X-Man, Xander Bogaerts, reach a milestone of 50 doubles and 30 home runs in a single season. He joins former Yankee, A-Rod, as the only other shortstop to accomplish that feat in a single season. The Sox defeated the Blue Jays, 7 - 4

The Sox are still hoping, but the light of hope is dimming for them in the post-season as the regular  season winds down. The Sox and Eduardo Rodriguez will visit Philadelphia for a game tonight @ 7:05 p.m.

The 43 - 102, 5th place in the AL Central and the only team in either league with 100 or more losses, lost two to the visiting Yankees yesterday, 4 - 10 and 4 - 6, as the Tigers' pitchers once again failed at their jobs. What can I say, it will be along winter. The Tigers welcome the 47 - 99 Orioles to Comerica Park for a game tonight @ 7:10 p.m. as Jordan Zimmerman gets the call for the Tigers.

I made some vegan brats yesterday en route to doing little else. WE did take the fur-children for a short walk and then we took both to the groomers so that STWD could get a pawdicure.

Today, we have plans to go to Holland for the annual Tulip City Gem and Mineral Show. No particular needs or wants, but a chance to see some of the ways that artists have utilized stones in their artwork.

Tomorrow, we  have plans to go to the Michigan Irish Music Festival in Muskegon. We can't leave the fur-children for too long, so it will be an abbreviated visit. I love Irish music, but that's the way the camán bounces sometimes. Plus, the recent rains can make the festival grounds very muddy too.

Ciao.