My sister the horticulturist gave me permission to rake the leaves onto the beds without mowing or otherwise crushing them. Fortunately, the worst of them - from the next-door neighbor's gorgeous big-leaf maple - obligingly fell right onto the bed along the fence anyway, so I have only the slightest raking to do.

Which is good, because it's been nasty-cold-and-wet the last few days, and is expected to stay that way all weekend, and I'm feeling strongly inclined to stay indoors and study my lines and maybe light the season's first fire in the fireplace.

I tried to do errands myself this evening, after work, but was too exhausted to focus and found myself in the mall - where I hadn't even intended to go - wandering aimlessly around wondering what I was looking for. It took me nearly two hours to buy nothing (although I did rent a couple of movies) and come home.