Autumn

Temperatures in the 40s F for my newspaper walk this morning, clear, condensation on the windows from all the summer's humidity trying to find a balance. No frost here yet, judging by the foliage, but more leaves turn every day. The "burning bush" by our back fence seems to be kindling, just a few spots here and there rather than full flame, and the other one by the side corner apparently is just thinking about it. That latter one gets less sun and thus works on a slower season.

Mow lawn, wash paint flakes off front porch, contemplate the purchase of paint. Or will we just wait for spring before repainting? Procrastination may be the thief of time, but sometimes he's a lovable rogue....

And the battery in Wife's car appears to have died the real death. 1997 model, original equipment battery, good idea to head into the Maine Ice Age with a new unit anyway.

Balancing act

Well, from the absence of wall-to-wall Rita news on the "news" tonight (yeah, far, far away in Maine) and the presence of football and frigging _golf_ broadcasts, I would deduce that the storm fell short of the catastrophic threshold needed to hold our national monkey-brain's abbreviated attention span.

Which brings up the emergency planner's dilemma -- what do you _do_ when you know several days in advance that ordering an evacuation may kill more people than the storm _might_?