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

I was sleeping soundly, well as soundly as I ever sleep, when Ginger nudged my elbow around 1:00 a.m. to let me know that what Mary felt was Ginger's final out @ 9:00 p.m. last night, wasn't. At any rate, she went out, I did the dishes, emptied the dishwasher, and gave her and her sister STWD, a treat.

We have a current temperature of 59° as we drop to the overnight low of 56° under mostly-clear skies. What's the difference between mostly-clear and partly-cloudy? I am speculating here, but it must mean that there are less clouds than clear skies. Today's high is forecast by the NWS to reach 76° under sunny-skies. That I understand. The sun will rise later this morning @ 7:21 a.m. and set later tonight @8:00 p.m.

What a great spot to segue to the sports report from last night. My beloved, 99 - 46 1st place Red Sox, clinched a berth in the AL playoffs with a convincing win over the visiting, 65 - 79 Toronto Blue Jays, 7 - 2. Brock Holt helped seal the Sox' win with a two-out, three RBI pinch-hit home-run. The Blue Jays remain in Boston to provide a chance for the Sox to reach 100 wins tonight @ 7:10 p.m. Not surprisingly, the Sox are the first team in the Major Leagues™ to clinch the playoffs this season.

The 1st place in the NL Central Cubs, behind starting pitcher Jose Quintana, got some life in their bats last night as they dropped the 2nd place Brewers, 3 - 0, to take a two-game lead over the Brewers. Cubs' shortstop, Addison Russell, wowed the crowd and his teammate, David Bote, as he made a stop on a sharply-hit ground ball off the bat of the Brewers Ryan Braun to rob Braun of a sure hit. Even Braun was impressed by the play. The Cubs return to the field against the Brewers tonight @ 8:05 p.m.

The 59 - 86, 3rd place in the AL Central Tigers, lost to the 91 - 54, 1st place in the AL West Astros, 4 - 5. I guess that being only 27 games under .500 means that the Tigers really are a rebuilding team. Tigers' skipper, Ron Gardenhire, says that his team never gave up and JaCoby Jones nailed a three-run home that was the hardest hit homer for the Tigers in what has been an otherwise dismal season.

I am predicting that two-years from now, the Tigers will be a legitimate contender. Team owner, Chris Ilitch, who inherited the Tigers when his father passed away, expressed confidence in GM Al Avila, manager Ron Gardenhire, and players throughout the Tigers system from the A level White Caps, to the AAA level Toledo Mud Hens, and of course, the players that are already at the Major-League™ level.The Tigers close out their series against the Astros this afternoon @ 1:10 p.m.

Trainspotting yesterday was easy. At 9:00 a.m. MMRR locomotive #2019 was spotted heading south, solo. Later, @ 12:32 p.m., that same locomotive was spotted by Ginger and me heading north, towing a fully loaded contingent of 20 DBTCs, two DWTCs, and 11 CHCs. As the train passed, the manse shook, attesting to the fully-loaded cars in tow.

I had a great day yesterday. My annual check-up went well and I am good to go for another year. I also went to the grocery store afterwards and came home with nearly everything on Mary's list and only a few things she hadn't asked for. Not bad!

Mary stayed behind to accomplish some tasks that she has been unable to get to due to her indexing workload. When I got home, I got the privilege of accompanying her to a big-box craft store for a return. That went smoothly. Dinner was the last of my Italian meatballs with spaghetti in one of Mary's famous down and dirty sauces. I liked it. I also drank too much wine that made me sleepy and sent me to bed to listen to the Cubs game on the radio.

Today, I have to set up the tripod and make sure that I can get our camera to do what I want it to do when we travel to Road America this weekend. The camera only does what what you ask, so any problems are of the operator-error variety.

Mary is trying to get something ready to take to Road America too. I plan to take some books along with the camera. I am still working my way through my latest read, a novel entitled, the woman in the window. by A. J. Finn. At first, I wasn't sure about this novel that is similar to the Alfred Hitchcock movies Rear Window and Vertigo in style. However, Finn hooked me and now I need to know how the story turns out. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 5:30 a.m. in "The City."

Well, another sunrise is just around the corner. Our current temperature of 56° was reached about 4:00 a.m. and there is nowhere else to go but up from here. Once the sun actually rises @ 7:20 a.m. and before it sets @ 8:01 p.m., the NWS has forecast the high for today to reach 73° under partly-cloudy to partly-sunny skies. I'm not sure what the difference is.

I was really tired after my day in the kitchen yesterday. Mary made a dinner of my freshly made Italian meatballs and a baked potato and by the time I'd finished dinner, I was ready for a nap. So, I repaired to the media room and took one. I awoke and stayed awake last night, just long enough to watch the Detroit Lions and their new head-coach, Matt Patricia, look even worse than the Bears the day before, as the Lions lost to the Jets and their rookie head-coach and rookie quarterback, 17 - 48.

My beloved Red Sox had the day off before they meet the Blue Jays tonight @ 7:10 p.m.

The Cubs and the Tigers should have taken the day off, as they both lost by identical scores of 2 - 3. The Cubs lost to the Brewers while the Tigers lost to the Astros. The Cubs now have a slim one-game lead over the Brewers before they meet again tonight @ 8:05 p.m. The Tigers once again face the Astros @ 6:40 p.m.

As I noted earlier, I was tired due to my day in the kitchen. I'd made the aforementioned Italian meatballs and those sausages. I guess I"m not as young as I used to be. Surprise!

At any rate, the meatballs turned out great, but I won't know about the sausages until later today. I guess that Mary will be making those garlic smashed potatoes, as I ran out of steam. That was her suggestion from the start.

Today, I have nothing planned other than my regular annual check-up with my internist and that's fine with me.  Ciao.

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

I was downstairs around 3:30 a.m. to let Ginger out, and I can verify that the NWS got it right. Our current temperature is 54° under partly-cloudy skies. The balance of today will also be partly-cloudy with a 20% chance for scattered showers. Will we get any of those scattered showers? No telling, but today's high temperature forecast is for 71°. The sun will rise @ 7:19 a.m. and set tonight @ 8:03 p.m.

I am going to do an abbreviated sports report. The Cubs were rained out again in D.C. and that game had been rescheduled for Thursday in the middle of the Cubs' home-stand. The Cubs will have to board a plane and fly to D.C. The home-stand opens tonight in Wrigley Field against the Brewers @ 8:05 p.m. The Cubs are in a must win situation now.

The Tigers lost to the Cardinals yesterday, 2 - 5. They are home tonight to play the visiting Astros @ 6:10 p.m.

My beloved Red Sox tipped the Astros last night, 6 - 5. The Sox are off tonight before welcoming the Blue Jays @ 7:05 p.m. Tuesday night.

It is over for the Caps, as they lost to the Hot Rods, 1 - 3. It has been an up and down season. We'll get em next year.

The Bears once again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, as they surrendered a 20 point lead to an injured Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, losing, 23 - 24.

The Lions play tonight @ 7:10 p.m. against the visiting New York Jets.

We had a great day yesterday. We walked the fur-children collectively to Health Hutt, and then we dropped STWD at home and continued to the waterfront for some reading and photography. Ginger is full of energy, but Sugar, not so much. Mary is working on Ginger's training, but it will take some time. Ginger is very smart, but she can be stubborn. We met a few dogs, both large and small, that Ginger wanted to "meet and greet", making Mary's training task a bit harder.

This dog was friendly and Ginger was willing to meet and greet him.

The channel was mostly empty on the fine fall-like afternoon. A few boats were plying the channel, sharing the waters with some birds.

Some serious $$ in the water.

The birds I mentioned were of the gull variety and they were flying over and diving into the channel.

I especially like this shot with the wispy clouds in the background.

A few shots of the channel and its surroundings rounded out our visit.

Not many tourists out yesterday.

As I said, diving into the water.

Our municipal power plant framed by the empty stage in the waterfront stadium.

The tourists are mostly gone, but now the streets are filled with heavy equipment and large holes.

The coal tipple against the blue sky and clouds.

Our Prairie Wildflower Walk began close to home with this unknown genus and species of mushroom.

I was time to get home, drop Ginger and turn the camera over to Mary once we got to the Hemlock Crossing Nature Center for the Prairie Wildflower Walk. We learned a lot about the prairie itself and also about the various species of goldenrod that grow there. We actually saw six different species of goldenrod, a plant that is often maligned for producing sneezing fits. Actually, it is the ragweed in the field that produces the allergic reactions. 

As we walked, the naturalist, a young woman with an advanced degree in botany, pointed out the various species of goldenrod and the ways that you can tell them apart. 

I forget which species this one is, perhaps a Canada Goldenrod.

We learned that what most of us think of as flowers are really the flowers themselves surrounded by false flower petals, designed to attract pollinators.

A nice shot with Mary's macro lens, which is designed to capture close-up shots like this one.

Or this one.

And this one of a Monarch Butterfly caterpillar on the leaves of a milkweed plant.

In this wide shot of the prairie, all of the species of goldenrod can bee seen.

Mary captured the welcome sign on the way out.

We stopped at a very busy Tip-a Few tavern for dinner and then headed home to feed the fur-children.

Today is a kitchen day for me and a revision day for Mary. The most recent and last index of her career needs some minor modifications, but overall, the author was delighted. The required modifications are due to what is referred to in indexing parlance as re-flow. That means that some page numbers moved due to publishing changes. Mary says it's not a big deal.

I plan to make some vegan sausages after I grind more of the multi-purpose grind I made and froze a few weeks ago. I also plan to turn some of my potato crop into garlic-smashed potatoes. Plus, I'd like to find time to make Mary's favorite, vegan Italian meatballs too. I may be a bit ambitious, but most of the time is actually devoted to steaming and boiling, so I should be able to make it happen. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 3:30 a.m. in "The City."

I got up around 2:00 a.m. when Ginger hopped off the bed. That is usually a sign that she wants to go out. But no, it was a sign that she wanted a treat, as I learned when I went downstairs, So instead, I made her and her sister, STWD, go out. Then I did the dishes and emptied the dishwasher. Can I say that the fur-children weren't rewarded for coming downstairs? No, I can't, because they know me too well.

But I digress. When I was outside with the fur-children, I learned that the NWS is right. The current temperature is a brisk 54­­° as we drop to 52°, our overnight low. In addition, the skies are indeed partly-cloudy. Later today, after the sun rises @ 7:18 a.m. and well before it sets @ 8:05 p.m., the high is forecast to reach a sweltering 70°!, also under partly-cloudy skies. We like it! I don't mean the Royal We. I mean we, as in Mary and I.

Baseball news yesterday was not good. It had nothing to do with Amanda's birthday and everything to do with slumber in the lumber for all the teams and perhaps fatigue on the part of the Cubs, as they are near to wrapping up their long road-trip.

The now 83 - 59, still in 1st in the NL Central Cubs, were rained out on Friday night, forcing them to play two last night. Plus, I think that the start 1st game last night was delayed by inclement weather too. The Cubs dropped the first game, 3 - 10 to the Nats, behind a rookie Cubs  pitcher sent up from Triple A to start the game, and they lost the second game, 5 - 6, in spite of Victor Caratini's Grand Slam in the 4th. Oh well, maybe they can salvage the final game today @ 1:35 p.m.

My beloved, 97 - 46, still solidly in 1st place in the AL East Red Sox, were thoroughly outplayed by the 89 - 63, 1st in the AL West Astros, as the Sox lost, 3 - 5. Eduardo Rodriguez came off the DL for the Sox and was unsteady. Sadly, as has been the case lately, the bullpen nor the Sox' bats could bail him out. Maybe tonight in Fenway when they face the Astros in the series finale @ 8:05 p.m.

The sole bright spot in the day was the 59 - 83, 3rd in the AL Central Tigers defeat of the 78 - 64, 3rd place in the NL Central Cardinals, 4 - 3. Too little too late for the Tigers, but you have to take the wins whenever they come. The Tigers and the Cards play again this afternoon in Comerica Park @ 1:10 p.m.

The Caps didn't fare so well against the stronger Hot Rods last night as they Caps fell to the Hot Rods, 5 - 6. Game 2 in the playoff series is tonight in Bowling Green, KY @ 7:35 p.m.

A short digression, if I may. We stopped @ Stan's in Spring Lake on our way home from the 57th Native American Pow-Wow in GR yesterday. I was lucky enough to score a 2017 Frederick Douglass quarter for my America the Beautiful Quarter collection. This was the first of those I've seen and it bears the "D" for the Denver mint along with the 2017 designation. The Douglass quarters are for the District of Columbia.

Speaking of that 57th Pow-Wow, we enjoyed it immensely in spite of the windy conditions and the cool temperatures. We took a lot of pictures and we learned quite a bit about the meaning of the feathers on the staffs of the tribes present. In addition, the Pow-Wow paid homage to the many Native America veterans present there.

As the drums pounded in rhythm, the veterans of wars that ranged from WWII to Afghanistan were saluted. In fact, one of the songs/chants that the drums and the singers played was the Veterans Welcome Song, to accompany their entry into the arena. We learned was their Native American regalia is not a costume. Pictures were only allowed at specific times and everyone was asked to talk to the various men and women before photographing them outside the arena.

I wish I had room for all of the pictures, but I have chosen to include some that best illustrate what we saw and heard. Don't forget, you can click on any of them for an enlarged version.

In spite of the cool temperatures, the Pow-Wow was well attended.

Vendors selling various goods were in abundance.

Staffs representing tribes and the POW/MIAs from the U.S. and Canada were carried in the Grand Entry.

Colorful regalia was proudly worn by the men and women of the various tribes.

These two men were "Elders" participating in the Grand Entry.

The rhythmic drumming was accompanied by the rhythmic jingling/ringing of bells on the feet and legs of the dancers.

Truly amazing!

This man,  a Vietnam Era Veteran, explained the meaning of the various Eagle Feathers on his staff, that had feathers and rings that represented the four seasons, 13 for the Native America 28 day calendar, and other aspects of Mother Earth.

You can't go anywhere with a camera without getting some shots of the sky through the trees.

We came home and I commissioned Mary to make her famous Spaghetti-Role Casserole for dinner. It was great and like most of our meals, generated leftovers.

Today, we plan to go to Hemlock Crossing for a Prairie Wildflower Walk, another great photo-op. Other than that, we have to walk the fur-children. The cool temperatures are less stressful on STWD. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 2:00 a.m. in "The City."

We have a current temperature of 59° as we drop towards an overnight low of 53° under either clear or partly-cloudy skies. I have seen both options on The Weather Channel website which I use for part of my report. That's why I often rely on personal observations, for example, when I go outside with the fur-children, or when I gaze out the Weather Window.

Much like the always accurate Weather Rock, when I see that the deck or the sidewalk is wet or snow-covered, or when I see that the Weather Rock  is swaying in the wind, or if I couldn't see the rock, I can get a pretty good idea of the current weather conditions. I thought for edification, I'd include this link to the USSSP, (US Scouting Service Project) site, that shows a Weather Rock and the explanatory chart needed for interpretation of the readings obtained from the rock.

http://www.usscouts.org/profbvr/weather_rock/

This morning, I am gazing out the WW and I am going with partly-cloudy. Later this morning, after the sun rises @ 7:16 a.m., the forecast calls for mostly-cloudy skies as we try to reach today's high temperature of 72° before the sun sets @ 8:07 p.m.

I was busy in the kitchen yesterday. I made that aforementioned stir-fry for our lunch and it was delicious. In fact, there are once again left-overs for another meal. I did use up all of the left-over rice, so that's a good thing. I also baked a loaf of light whole-wheat bread following a recipe that I found on the Internet. It turned out great, so much so, that Mary and I decided that it is a keeper.

The recipe called for only five ingredients and minimal handling. The recipe suggested that I use the Kitchen Aid™ stand mixer that Mary got me a few years ago. Then, it was waiting for the dough to rise, once in a bowl and once in a USA™ baking pan, my favorite, followed by 40 minutes of baking time @ 400°. The hardest part of the process was waiting for the finished loaf to cool.

I observed the passage of MMRR locomotive #2019 heading south @ 9:22 a.m. towing only one GTC, two DBTCs, eight CHCs and two DWTCs, one with a green anti-corrosive strip around its mid-section. All of the cars were in an unloaded state.

Later in the afternoon, after I was done baking, Ginger alerted me to the impending arrival of that same locomotive heading north @ 3:51 p.m. This time the cars were fully laden as they passed. In tow behind #2019 were 23 CHCs, 23 DBTCs, each of them very long and capable of carrying around 197,000 lbs. of hazardous liquid cargo, two GTCs, and two DWTCs. The sheer size of those DBTCs is exactly why I gave them the sobriquet Dreaded Black Tank Cars, or DBTCs.

We only went out twice yesterday, once to walk with the fur-children to The Bookman to pick up the Friday edition of the Grand Haven Tribune, and later to enjoy some adult beverages @ JWs. Otherwise, we were retired homebodies.

Baseball news yesterday was interesting. As you may recall, I was unable to report on the West Michigan White Caps opponent for tonight's 2nd round playoff game @ 6:00 p.m. I can now identify that opponent as the Bowling Green Hot Rods. The Hot Rods are an excellent team, but as I've often stated, on any given day, average teams can beat better teams.

Speaking of average, or in the case of the Tigers, below average teams, they used a walk-off home-run to defeat the Cardinals last night, 5 - 3. The Tigers have an AL Central, 3rd place record of 56 - 83, while the Cardinals have a 78 - 63 3rd place in the NL Central record of 78 - 63. At any rate, they Tigers and the Cards play again this evening @ 6:10 p.m.

My beloved, 1st place in the AL East, 97 - 45 Red Sox were looking good as long as starting pitcher David Price was on the mound. He recorded 10 Ks before being relieved. Unfortunately, the Sox' bullpen imploded once again and wasted Price's effort as the Sox gave back their early 2 - 0 lead and fell to the 1st place in the AL West, 88 - 53 Astros, 3 - 6. The Sox and the Astros meet again this afternoon in Fenway Park @ 4:05 p.m.

The 83 - 57, 1st in the NL Central Cubs, were rained out in D.C. for their scheduled game against the 69 - 72, 3rd place in the NL East Washington Nationals, aka, the Nats. They'll try again this afternoon @ 3:05 p.m.

We currently have plans to travel to Grand Rapids and see the 2018 Grand Valley American Indian Lodge Pow Wow @ Riverside Park. Part of today's events include the Grand Entry @ 1:00 p.m. There will also be exhibitions of dancing, crafts, and food. I am including this YouTube™ video provided by the organizers. It depicts the dancing and the Grand Entry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqoSkyOsb2w&feature=youtu.be

That should be enough for one day. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 2:00 a.m. in "The City."

I'm going to change my focus a bit this morning because this is my son's birthday. How old is he today? Well, let's just say that he is mature, just like his parents.

I am very proud of Adam. In all the years I have know him, he has been a good son and a good man. While no man is perfect, I can say that he has been there for us through many changes. His wife, Stephany, is part of who he has become too, and so we are thankful for her too.

However, this is supposed to be about A.J, so let me begin near the beginning. It must have been about this time in the early morning hours of September 7, when Mary woke me and told me it was time to go to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, IL for Adam's arrival. Since it was not a dark and stormy night, and there was no traffic to contend with, I never got to drive like a madman on the way to the hospital. I guess that some father's do, but we made most of the lights and arrived safely.

In those days, fathers were finally being allowed into the delivery room. While it wasn't a novelty, fathers were usually excluded from the birthing area and confined to the waiting room nearby. We had prepared for Adam's arrival with Lamaze classes to facilitate the process. As I recall, he was nine lbs, nine oz, and 23 inches in length. I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say, I was not in the room when Adam was born.

Where was I? I was in the father's waiting room when the hospital chaplain came in in his clerical collar and asked if I was there. When you see someone dressed in clerical garb asking for you, you conjure up all sorts of scenarios, none of then good. However, the chaplain was there to tell me that both Mary and Adam were fine. I don't remember much after that.

The usual things happened for the first few years, and I watched as Mary did a great job of guiding Adam towards becoming the self-sufficient adult that he is today. Elementary, high-school, and college all seemed to happen so fast. I'll leave it to Stephany to make the final determination, but I think that he turned out fine.

If he has one fatal flaw, it's that he inherited the car gene from both his mother and me. He has bought, driven, sold, and worked on more cars than most men do in a lifetime. Naturally, he became a banker. Go figure. Fortunately, he got a math gene from somewhere, perhaps his maternal grandmother, and so he is in the right profession.

There are a lot of stories that I could relate, but instead, I'll just wish Adam a Happy Birthday!

We have a current temperature of 60°, very similar to the morning of Adam's birth. We are supposed to drop to an overnight low of 53°. Today's high after the sun rises @ 7:16 a.m. and well before it sets @ 8:08 p.m. will be a very comfortable 74° under partly-cloudy skies.

The Caps are on their way. They are moving on to the MWL East championship series against either the Lansing Lug Nuts, or the Bowling Green Hot Rods. The Caps first game in round two will be Saturday night @ 6:00 p.m.

The Cubs took 10 innings, but a solid double by David Bote pushed across Albert Almora Jr. and sent Cubs fans home happy and Nationals fans home to wait until next year, following the Cubs' 6 - 4 win. The Cubs and the Nats play again tonight @ 7:05 p.m.

Both the Red Sox and the Tigers were off yesterday. The Sox open a series tonight against the Astros @ 7:10 p.m. in Fenway Park en route to the AL East championship, while the Tigers play out the string and open a series in Comerica Park against the St. Louis Cardinals, also @ 7:10 p.m.

Mary tried a new recipe for dinner last night, a slightly modified version of cheeseburger pizza. I loved it! I started to make vegan jerky after I got back from my walk with STWD. Mary arrived before I was done. She had been out taking pictures with Ginger and both Mary and I think this is my best effort to date. I too modified the recipe as I went along, something that I feel more comfortable doing these days.

Today. Mary has requested that I make more of my famous vegan stir fry. I have rice left over from my last effort, so I am ready to go. Some chopping, dicing and sauteing and lunch will be served.

Otherwise, we have nothing, and I mean nothing, on tap for today. Adam and Steph are out of town, so we'll call him later this morning. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 3:30 a.m. in "The City."

I really am going to follow the KISS formula in this edition of my blog

We have a current temperature of 67° under cloudy/rainy skies. Today's forecast from the NWS calls for a high temperature of 74° with showers in the a.m. The sun will rise @ 7:14 a.m. and set later @ 8:10 p.m. STWD spent a lot of time in her hide-e hole last evening due to the very, very, severe T-storms and high winds that lashed the area between 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. 

 

When Mary and I returned from our book club and JWs, I tried to coax Sugar out of the downstairs bathroom, but instead, I had to wait in there with her while she ate her dinner. I feel so sorry for her as she is not getting better with age. At least she was able to go to The Bookman with me earlier in the day where she got a doggie treat from Scott there. She is beginning to trust him more each day.

Ginger and Mary took a walk downtown while I was at my final P/ T appointment. I have been released with some exercises to keep my shoulder strong. 

Mary and I had a good book club meeting and my vegan blueberry muffins were a hit there and later at JWs with the staff. I received accolades on my baking.

All of my baseball teams won yesterday. The 1st place Cubs defeated the 2nd place Brewers, 6 - 4. and the Cubs now have a four game lead over the Brewers. The Cubs are off to D.C. to play the 69 - 71, 3rd in the NL East Nationals tonight @ 6:15 p.m.

My beloved 1st place in the AL East Red Sox, have a nine game lead over the 2nd place Yankees following the Sox' 9 - 8 comeback win over the 79 - 62, 1st place in the NL East Braves. The Sox are home tonight in Fenway to face the 87 - 53, 1st place in the AL West Astros @ 7:10 p.m.

The Tigers are still playing AAA level baseball disguised as a major league team, as their disappointing season winds down. The Tigers thumped that other team from Chicago yesterday, 10 - 2. The Tigers host the 3rd place in the NL Central Cardinals tonight @ 7:10 p.m.

 

The Caps won their first game in the MWL East playoffs over the Loons, 6 - 0. Game two is tonight @ 7:05 p.m.

Today should be a relatively quiet day. We have no plans other than some kitchen activities and maybe a walk with the fur-children once the rain ends. Ciao.