A pinkish-orange sun peeked through the lacy tree top when I wobbled out this morning to get the paper and the cats, the light softened by a light mist in the air. The delicately sculpted clouds above it were frosted pink and silver. The temperatures have cooled slightly, and the sparse morning fog is a welcome herald of fall coming upon us. The scattering of brown leaves on the lawn is promising more raking to do very soon.

Cooler fall temperatures cannot come a bit too soon. There is a tropical storm spinning off the Florida coast. If it cuts across the state and gets over those extremely warm Gulf waters, it could rapidly strengthen into another hurricane. The survivors in New Orleans are still not fully evacuated, and that would be the last thing they need. The water is being pumped out, but it could take more than a month and the hurricane season is hardly over. Now there are reports of people dying from the sewage-polluted water spreading diseases.

Many people and private organizations have geared up and are taking in as many people from the area as possible, providing everything from food and shelter to help in finding jobs, schools for kids, and whatever else is needed for the survivors to start a new life. New Orleans may take years to rebuild, and that will be after the ruins are razed in most of the area. People are getting into some areas to recover abandoned pets and whatever belongings survived the flooding, but it will be a long time if ever before the ordinary municipal services are provided again in most of the city.

This city lost power in some areas as the hurricane was spinning its last as a tropical storm, but now the damage is repaired and relief efforts for our southern neighbors are well underway. The trees are still scattering a few broken branches, but the plants look much better for finally getting a soaking rain. What was a curse for them was a blessing for us in that respect.

It is still very quiet when I go outside, though. The birds are largely absent this year. I don't recall seeing many fireflies or butterflies in the garden, either. Even the squirrels are more scarce than I remember in past years.

It's a reminder of how necessary the rain is in the proper amounts and the proper time. The environmentalists have been teaching that to us for years, about the need to keep the correct balance in the ecology. Yet, I noticed something ironic in the reports about West Nile virus. It doesn't afflict only large, obnoxious birds like crows. It also kills many types of songbirds. We stopped using DDT to kill the mosquitoes, so they provided a population to spread West Nile virus. Now instead of having a silent spring from DDT, we may be having a silent spring without it.

The sun wasn't nearly as kind when I wobbled out again with the garbage. It was flexing fiery orange muscles as it leapt higher into the sky. There was still summer work to be done in this hemisphere before the seasons changed. I sighed a bit at the housework also waiting to be done and wobbled back to start some pancakes and the laundry.

I got another sweater box mailed last week and there are only a few more skeins of free yarn left to finish. I have enough purchased yarn to fill another box, but it is close to the time when I may get another free box soon. I did knit some on the dishtowels for the kitchen on Sunday before starting another sweater.

The unfinished quilt is sitting beside my bed where I can step on it as an annoying reminder to work on it, but it is just so much easier to pick up the knitting instead. That is a good part of my procrastination -- my idea of appliqueing flowers in the blank areas and the thought of all that sewing. I like what applique looks like, but I don't like cutting out all those bits of cloth to sew on.

I'm thinking of scaling back on that and just using colorful sashing with quilted patterns in the blank areas . . . but it won't look like what it could with appliqued flowers. My old sewing machine only does straight stitch, and I can't afford one that does the necessary stitches to whiz through adding applique.

I should have been broken of this notion by sewing all those little hearts on the last quilt. I don't have enough time to hand-sew the sort of fancy work I've seen on the quilts being flaunted at the quilting contests. Yet it is so beautiful when well done and I need lots of practice to get to that point . . . and yet my organizer shows that I got four months behind from all that dental work and other medical care this year. So, back and forth I go, still trying to decide what to do and salving my conscience by knitting instead. Even hopelessly drooling at fabric.com hasn't resolved the issue.