How many leaves do you think that is?

I imagine most of us are familiar with the Harper's Weekly Index, that list that gives funny, thought-provoking, and frequently shocking bits of data. Well our local index for the past weekend, B's and mine, reads like this: Number of bags of leaves collected off the surface of our yard in this the second weekend of leaf cleansing: 37

Mind you these are packed, brim-filled, overstuffed leaf bags and a few garbage cans.

Here's part of the Harper's list for last month:

Harper's Index for October 2005

Estimated amount of African wealth held in foreign accounts, expressed as a percentage of African GDP: 172

Chance that a U.S. MBA obtained since 1980 was awarded to a woman: 1 in 3[U.S. Department of Education]

Chance that a corporate officer of a Fortune 500 company today is: 1 in 6

Percentage by which the average amount of anesthetic required by redheads exceeds the average for everyone: 19

Chance that a medical study may be inaccurate or misleading, according to the AMA’s journal: 1 in 3[JAMA (Chicago)]

Months of vacation that President Bush has taken in five years: 11

Years after the Watts riots that the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation trademarked “Burn Baby Burn” for a hot sauce: 40

Rank of 2004 among the most fiscally reckless years in U.S. history, according to the comptroller general: 1[U.S. Government Accountability Office]

Projected cost of disability payments to Iraq War veterans by 2050, based on rates for Gulf War veterans: $285,000,000,000