Maybe it was the temperature. Maybe it was the humidity. Maybe it was too much onion salt on the cheese bread we had for supper. Whatever caused it, last night was restless around our house. Creatures of all kinds were meandering around. Indoors and out.

First it was my daughter. After having watched some of her volleyball match at school, I was home and in bed by the time she returned. It didn't stop her from walking into the bedroom and giving me a play-by-play of all that happened on the court. It had to be later than the 9:00 p.m. the clock said. She disappeared in a puff of energy.

Then, my wife hovered. She was in and out of the room. On and off the computer. Occasionally giving the kids the "SHHHHHH. Dad's sleeping" louder than the original noise offense.

Taylor, the oldest one still at home, was mostly quiet and in his room but he had already left his mark: the aroma of burnt Texas Toast...heavy on the garlic...was wafting through the house. The rest of the city may have a GREEN Skycast for today but, in my house, it will be approaching the RED ALERT category for days to come.

Alexander is away at college but he must have been telepathically communicating with me because I woke up a couple times ready to tell him to turn off the laptop, I-pod and TV and go to bed.

The two most oddly behaving creatures last night were Harrison and the dog. At about 1:00 a.m., I awoke to see Harrison standing over me.

"What's the matter, Harrison?" I asked, groggily.

"Can I get picked up early from school?" he said, clear as a bell.

"Why?"

"So, I can watch the video."

"What?"

"So, I can watch the video."

"Well, Harrison, I have no idea what you're talking about so you'll have to run this by your mom."

As Harrison turned, Zombie-like, and walked out, the mom, who was still rambling around the house, came into the room. Remember, it is one in the morning.

"You'd better make sure he makes it back to bed," I meekly suggested.

When the mom came back, I asked her what was up.

"Well, here is what Harrison told me: 'This kid went to the city and got sacked.'"

This kid went to the city and got sacked? HUH?

Was Harrison channeling his inner Briton and using "sacked" as in "fired?" Or, was it because he was watching football right before bedtime. Regardless, Harrison will have no memory of this event or conversation. I will, since I couldn't fall back to sleep for the remaining hour of possible "sack-ed" time I would have had coming to me.

While this whole Harrison episode was going on, even the dog...usually the most likely not to move a muscle, was up and walking around. Now, this is a pooch who puts a premium on his ability not to do more than absolutely necessary. You can drop a hot dog in front of him...just out of reach and, rather than getting up, he will look at you with eyes that say "Could you slide that thing over here for me?" Yet, last night, he joined the parade of activity. Pacing and panting. An hour or so later, 2:00 a.m., when I went downstairs, the pup came with me, which he never does and, actually, went outside. In the dark! He's a bit of a chicken, frankly.

He wasn't alone outside. The neighborhood cat was on our back porch but she and the dog just nodded at each other. Then, on the way to work, I saw more than the usual number of raccoons and possums. They appeared to be playing cards. Also, a mess of deer were wandering around as if there was a casting call for the live-action version of Bambi.

Like I said, maybe it was the too-warm weather that had everybody and everything stirring. Or, maybe it was just me. You know, how sometimes you just can't turn your brain off and so you toss and turn and....uh...well...okay, you'd have to turn your brain on in the first place to have trouble turning it off. Must have been the weather. Come on, FALL!