This past weekend, I took trip to see my mom in Illinois. I packed pretty much just what I thought I would need for the time I was planning to be gone; I’ve made so many similar trips I didn’t feel like I needed to add a bunch of extra stuff just in case. You can probably guess where this is going: due to unforeseen circumstances, I ended up extending my trip one more night. That’s why yesterday found me going commando (I didn’t bring any extra underwear), wearing sandals that were perfectly appropriate for Sunday when the high reached 78 degrees but less fine on Monday when it was 61 (I didn’t bring any extra socks), and pretending my pajama top was perfectly acceptable in place of a t-shirt (it sort of was, being made from the same sort of material). I’ll pack slightly less lightly next time. One good thing about delaying my departure from Illinois was being on the Skyway in the middle of the night when traffic was light enough that I could safely pull over to the side and take some shots of the toll plaza. I ended up liking this out of focus one the best.

I’ve been enjoying the fall colors, like this brilliant golden yellow tree outside my office.

I’ve not bought any sock monkeys lately, though I did consider these three at Meijer and hang them up on the Halloween sock display for a group photo before I put them back on the shelf. The main reasons I did not add these to my collection: 1) they’re too big—I felt they might frighten my other sock monkeys, which are all much smaller, 2) the way they are constructed, they neither sit nor stand nicely on their own.

I am still not getting enough sleep. Some days that’s my own fault, some days I blame it on other people, though that’s really unfair because they do not mean to make me lose sleep when they do whatever it is that my brain latches onto and won’t let go of when I’m trying to sleep. I guess I can sleep when I retire, which I hope will be long before I am dead.