A Quiet Week

Not much to report here on this rainy morning. I've just been out with the dog and as we walked along the dark street, a cat leaped at us from beneath a parked car, hissing like a Sleestak and scaring us to death. Even Olga was alarmed. I thought she'd attack it, but she backed away and seemed quite happy to keep walking! Then the cat followed us. It was one ballsy cat.

We're seeing more signs of the arrival of autumn, like the slow turning of the tree above. This is the gate from our apartment complex to the street, the spot where I occasionally see foxes and window-washers.

I started to write about the government shutdown, but really, I just don't want to go there. I'm going to bite my tongue. I've been watching the Facebook pages of some of my Tea Party-sympathizing contacts, and surprisingly even they've had very little to say about it. I'm thinking about all my federally employed friends, hoping you're weathering the storm OK.

School is incredibly quiet this week. The high school students are all away on school trips, so we've only got middle schoolers to deal with -- and surprisingly, they are a much better behaved, less demanding group. I got out for a long walk yesterday at lunch, which felt great.