It's sunny and will get up into the low 80s this afternoon. The paper and cardboard recycling was already taken and I'm waiting for them to pick up the bottles and cans. Later I have to sweep up some twigs and cut up a long but skinny branch for the yard waste pail for tomorrow morning's pickup. With all the wind from the weekend's storms we actually didn't have much in the way of breaking branches or twigs at all. The squirrels are already munching on the growing acorns so there's a bit of leavings to be swept up from that. The yearly cicadas are finally emerging and are starting to buzz in the trees. The crickets and Katydids are chirping at night. It definitely has that August late summer feel. I saw a story in my news feed that a few school systems in the area have decided to start the school year in August. Every couple of years now they experiment with this and it proves unpopular since August is still family getaway vacation season plus a lot of school buildings still don't have central air conditioning. The school in my neighborhood has their ongoing summer sports program so it's doubtful they'll start the academic year before Labor Day.

My sister from VA will likely drive up for the Labor Day holiday weekend to pick up her cat. He likes to sit next to me on the sofa and at night he sleeps next to me with his back touching my back and he purrs. Now that the weather is cooler the cats like to spend more time playing, especially at night.

I have to renew my AAA membership online in a while. I've been a member since the mid 1990's. The yearly price has gone down by $20 since AAA North Jersey was merged into the larger AAA Northeast. Membership has certainly been a money saver over the decades.

I'm just taking care of various chores and have a few errands to run this afternoon. My other sister should be dropping by this evening.