What's October Without Leaves?

On the way home from the retreat last Sunday, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Bad move. It was Oktoberfest! and streets were blocked and traffic was backed up for what seemed like a mile. We grabbed a fast bite and got the heck out of the pandemonium but not before I took a pretty picture. As it was, we got home later than we planned.

Arriving home, I was pleasantly surprised to find that our front lawn was COVERED in leaves that had fallen from the tree in the front yard over the past two days. In the sea of green suburban lawns, ours was glittering, golden. I'm sure it drove our neighbors nuts since they usually have their leaves scooped up almost as soon they've fallen so the mess isn't too unseemly. While we were gone, the dogsitter (my son) had neglected to keep up with the Joneses. But I wasn't mad; I liked it.

I think we're the only people on the block who don't have lawn service. Yes, it's shocking, my husband actually cuts our grass himself. One, to save money (he's an accountant) and two - he says it's an opportunity for him to get outside and get some fresh air and exercise he might not otherwise find the time for now that he no longer coaches our daughter in soccer. Raking leaves in the fall  - another one of those old-fashioned traditions that seems to have fallen by the wayside in suburbia.

The little dog likes the leaves too!

My scraggly shrub roses are still blooming! For now, that is; they'll be turning brown in a bit.

The weather has been lovely and this season more than any other makes my senses come alive. In the morning, while I'm drinking my coffee, if I take time to listen I can hear the squirrels and chipmunks scurrying after each other, crunching through the potpourri. In the afternoon, as the children get off the school bus and walk home down the block, I can hear them shuffling their feet through my leaves. It's a great memory of my own childhood. Who doesn't love to skip through fallen leaves??

My husband has to work late a few nights this week so the leaves will stay until he can get around to raking them next Sunday. (Don't ask me to do it; I have allergies. Besides, I do the vacuuming.) That means I have a few more days to revel in the color and sounds until they're gone. What's that Robert Frost poem?

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

I love that poem. Time passes, change is inevitable. I guess I'll try to enjoy the leaves while they're here.