Chilly!

The temp's dropped from the low seventies yesterday to the low forties today, after a day of gusting wind that helpfully took the pile of leaves that my wife had put at the curb and cheerfully distributed it all the way down the street. We used to have a neighbor who was civil but not particularly friendly, and when our leaves (we had one large tree in the front yard; now we have two) would blow onto his lawn, I'd make an effort to get them -- at least, for about ten feet into his property. No sense being manic about it. Now we've had a different family in that house for the last ten years, and they planted a couple of trees -- still pretty spindly, but definitely trees. Last year, when I was raking, I remarked to the husband how I was amazed how many leaves on his property had been generated by his treelets, and he said with some humour that the identical comment had been made by my wife the very same day.

The offspring and wife are out doing things -- the offspring volunteered to work at a Christmas workshop, which she does like to do, but which also gets her some 'service hours', required by our church. She was a bit grumpy this morning when she realized that weekends are not infinitely elastic; having committed to an event last night, this one this morning (in addition to her normal 'weekend stuff' of cleanup for her pets), and then going to see her cousin in the Nutcracker (I used to like that play until I thought about the actual plot; now I think it's just weird, and I've seen quite enough of it), plus, of course, homework, she is now effectively back at Monday morning. Welcome to the real world, kiddo.

I got up late this morning. I wanted to, anyway, but not this way; I was sick in the middle of the night, and it took me an hour before my body would calm down and I could lay back in bed without being sure that there was a clear path between me and the bathroom door. The aftereffect is that for some reason I'm not really hungry! I still don't know what I'm going to bake; as I think of it, the profiteroles, though fun, are too lightweight. I feel like doing Baking, not just baking. I need a challenge. Not, he hastened to admit, that I am a Master Baker or anything even remotely close; I just don't feel like making The Usual Stuff.

So we'll see. Maybe I'll spend some time rereading The Adolescence of P-1. Or maybe I'll just goof off!