I was savagely attacked by a dog last night. I was minding my own business, not ten feet from my front door, when this barking little ball of fur raced at me from 30 feet away. I use the term "raced" loosely, because he had about a 6 inch stride. I was frozen in my tracks; fearing that if I made any sudden movements, that I might step on him inadvertently. He came at me like a lion until he got about 6 feet from me, when he veered off to the right and circled back to his owner; kind of like he just remembered it was supper time and this was Kibbles and Bits night. I give him a solid 10 for approach, but his end game needs a little bit of work. Even so, I feel much safer knowing he is patroling the park, keeping unruly squirrels and bunnies with attitudes from taking over. He may have the body of a tiny muskrat, but he has the courage of a wolf. I salute him.

I saw "Tuesdays with Morrie" at the Northlight Theater in Skokie on Saturday. The theater holds around 300 people. The stage is semi-circular and the furthest row is 10 rows back, so it's a small, cozy place to see a play. There's also a larger theater that holds aournd 800 people for larger shows such as the Chinese Acrobats or the Chieftans or Good Grief Charlie Brown; events that I've seen in the past. The play stayed fairly close to the book by Mitch Albom which was published a few years ago. It describes a professor who is dying from Lou Gehrig's disease and one of his favorite ex-students who visits him every Tuesday. The student hasn't seen him in many years because he has been too caught up in the many distractions of life since graduating from college. The premise is that the professor is teaching his last class to his prize student about the meaning of life. I'm not sure that you learn the meaning of life, but for those who have never witnessed someone dying, it does give one perspective on how difficult it can be for everyone involved. That alone can make a person examine his own life and whether the right choices are being made. It was definitely one of the better plays that I've seen at Northlight. They usually have a great selection every year.

What a glorious weekend! On Saturday there wasn't a cloud in the sky in Chicago. On Sunday in St. Louis it made it to 81 degees. One of the reasons that I like autumn so much is that when the weather is great, one seems to appreciate it so much more. It's like all of your senses come alive and everything is much sharper and brighter. The air seems to be crisper with the approach of winter. All the trees become dazzling with color. Kind of like they're participating in their own personal fireworks display and autumn is the climax of the show that they've been preparing since last spring. It's just a great time to be alive. All God's creatures suddenly know their purpose; from the birds migrating south to the squirrels gathering food for winter, even kids who are back in school. I envy the early settlers who would celebrate their harvest knowing that they were prepared for winter. It must have been a great feeling, after all the hard work was done. It's no coincidence that Thanksgiving is in the fall. It's a wonderful time to relax for a while and be grateful for all God's blessings.