As I moved through the house this morning I could feel, really feel that autumn is on its way. For one thing, it was just before 5 am and the house was dark. The days are getting shorter I usually don't notice it as much on this end, because for the most part our bedroom, aka "the hobbit hole", has one small window and tends to stay pretty dark no matter the time of year. I notice it more in the evenings as we go from the amazing summer nights where it's light out 'til well after 9 pm to those times when it feels like you go to work in the dark and come home in the dark. I still remember the feeling and I know Stu sees it every day.

The dark house - there was no reason to turn on any lights until I got back here to the office (aka second bedroom, the one with "who knew they made venetian blinds in that shade of green?") And as I snuck through the house from bedroom to office, trying not to ram into things, I noticed the numbers of little glowing red eyes, er, numbers and lights. The stereo receiver and the clock on the table near the television. And the television and the cable modem that I'm still getting used to. It had the yellow light on too. That's a stupid "message" light that repeatedly sends us revolting, unwanted bulletins about some revolting, unwanted wrestling/ extreme sports show now available to us. That's aberrant, the only yellow light in the bunch. There's a light on the toaster oven - oh nice toaster oven. The coffee maker.

And those were just the ones I could see.

Some years ago, I acquired a wonderful little bat bean bag (say that three times. No go ahead, it's fun.) It was from a design by Edward Gorey for the production of Dracula on Broadway that used his artwork. So it's a little Gorey bat bean bag. (hurray) and because it was, of course, it had little red eyes. Glass or cheap crystal. But it used to sit on the fireplace mantle (properly upside down, of course) until I realized one too many nights that it unnerved me to see little glowing red eyes when I got up at night. So it now resides on another shelf where it doesn't catch the ambient light in the same way. And this morning I realized I could put it back because there's no way to hide all the rest of the little red glowing things that come with living in the 21st century in urban America when you have appliances and electrical and electronic things. In fact, I think I need to put that little bean bag back on the mantle. After all, it was first. The little bat does it all on his own, without a chip or an electrical signal or being plugged in at all. He deserves to be back among the little things that glow red at five in the morning.