Autumn leaves of red and gold

Cold weather, full moon, can't sleep. I had a perilous day yesterday. I took Caramel for an early morning walk- apparently it was too early for drivers to obey traffic rules. We were crossing with the green light when a guy (!) just sailed through the red, almost hitting me. I saw his face, he was looking the other way. I screamed at him just as the car behind him followed suit and almost hit Carrie, which totally freaked her out. So, we all decided to have a cozy day at home. Steve didn't feel good and slept most of the dayand we had to decline an offer of Knicks tickets for last night. Being in possesion of a lovely hambone from last week's party, I decided to make black bean soup and used my Mom's old heavy-duty pot.The soup was great but when I was cleaning up, I hoisted a too-heavy tray then tripped and fell, spraying the entire dining room with black bean soup, breaking my favorite bowls, lacerating my left hand on the shards and smashing my knee and right hand. I am nothing if not thorough. The cuts were bad but I'm OK, just really sore and feeling stupid. I was a basket case last night- a little post traumatic shock flashback from my accident 2 years ago, a dose of feeling sorry for myself and a feeling of extreme shame. This is a very unsteady time of year for me! I needed a scotch, 3 hours of Deep Space Nine, Singin' in the Rain and cheesecake to calm me.
So I am blogging now because I started the newspaper and got too disgusted. Stupid humans! Stupid Americans! I really hope people will get off their self-involved, complacent asses and vote this Tuesday. In order to be in the world, one must be a part of it.
It's a beautiful, if dangerous world. I took Carrie to Prospect Park, which is so gorgeous now, it's ridiculous. One of my favorite places since childhood, it is landscaped, but also has a natural forest and a dog beach. There was no one around, so I let her loose and we ran in the meadow, scrunched in the leaves, chased squirrels in the woods and barked at ducks on the lake. It was a perfect day. All this goodness had to lead to bad because the next day, while we were out, she attacked and killed the fur strip in the hood of my ski jacket, and spread the fuzz everywhere. It was my fault- I didn't leave her any shoes. Although she has many toys and balls, she prefers our shoes as companions when we are out. She does not chew them, she just moves them around the house, removing the inserts in the process, and deposits them in separate rooms. For example, if it is a muddy gardening shoe, it goes on the couch. Still, she is our perfect darling poochie. Our lucky can you get?