The key to a good night's sleep is probably being so exhausted that not even John Cusack and Demi Moore in One Crazy Summer can keep you awake. (Okay, bad example.) In my case, I think the new book I started helped a lot, since I was asleep within five pages. (That's unfair to this book, because anything I read would have had the same effect.)

For whatever reason, I woke up feeling significantly more animated than yesterday morning (most of which I slept through). It's unusual for me to wake up with any enthusiasm on a thoroughly overcast day, but at least it wasn't one of those cold, drizzly winter mornings. This was a more typical late-summer cloud layer, which was gone by early afternoon.

This was the first time I've watched any football since the Super Bowl, and it didn't take long for me to get bored with it. Is it just me, or has the quality of play deteriorated just since last season? Anyway, at noon I was happy to settle on the baseball game and watch Barry Bonds hit three home runs, passing Babe Ruth and Roger Maris in the record book in a single day.

For once I didn't just sit in the lounge chair or behind the computer all day. While I was watching all those games I did some stretching and calisthenics at the same time, and once I sprinted outside to get a look at the helicopter that was racing by overhead. I also went out to see how close the kitten who was digging in my garden would let me get to it. (Answer: not very.)

No butterflies have yet discovered my butterfly garden, and I'm beginning to think they won't find it before next spring. The hummingbirds are still around, though. I was greeted closely by one ruby-throated fellow as I was watering this evening. I've also spotted finches and sparrows making use of the birdbaths. They drink out of them mostly, but every day when I change the water I'm likely to find a floating feather.

I'm also finding more and more leaves floating in the birdbaths and covering the paving stones. Meteorologists are saying we're having an early fall this year, and the trees in my yard are proving them correct. The agapanthus blossoms that were everywhere just days ago are now mostly a memory. It was warm enough today, but as the day went on the air held just the hint of an autumn chill.

Later this afternoon, as the sun sank way too quickly in the west, I redeemed my day with a vigorous session of aerobic weed-pulling. It's a much more satisfying form of exercise than running up and down the stairs, although it itches quite a bit more.