Have a slow picnic, even if it's a workday. Get up a little early and prepare a wonderful sandwich, choose a ripe piece of fruit for dessert and fill a bottle with filtered water. Stuff a warm throw into your backpack—especially if that fall chill is filling the air—and head for the park at lunchtime. As you enjoy your lunch, take time to look up and decide if that cloud to the west looks like a dragon or a butterfly.

Make a pie with the preserves you canned earlier this year. Or, for a pecan pie, have a nut-cracking party for the whole family so that everyone contributes. This way, when biting into the first warm mouthful, you will be that much more appreciative of the delicious outcome.

Search out a great recipe for dog or cat treats. Even a peanut butter cookie recipe (using only organic ingredients, of course) can work. Shape the dough into bones or hands, fish or cats (depending upon the species of your particular pet). Mixing, shaping and baking are sure to slow you down—though there's no way you can guarantee your pet will eat the resultant treats in a thoughtful manner.