Mark Twain on Heaven

Heaven goes by favor; if it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.
-- Mark Twain

The beautiful statue above is near a headstone in the Mont Vernon, NH town cemetery. More...
 

Word Problem

Dave never rakes the leaves in his backyard until the day after Thanksgiving. His neighbor Norm's maple tree leans over Dave's backyard. Norm's maple is the last tree in New Hampshire to lose its leaves each Fall. This year an early snow covered the leaves in Dave's backyard. Then Norm's tree dropped its leaves on top of the snow. By Friday this will be a mushy, leafy mess. How many excuses does Dave need to avoid raking this weekend?

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Enjoy the long weekend!