What Comes Down...must be raked

 

Remember all that ooohing and ahhhhing about beautiful, vibrant, colored leaves a few weeks ago? I'm over it. Lin's lawn and driveway are thick with brown pine needles and fallen leaves now. Some days, it looks as if there's a pine needle/leaf blizzard in her front yard. I sweep daily, but there's no keeping up with it. The trees are beginning to bare and it's raking time.

Living on a boat, we've missed this lovely autumnal activity for several years (thank goodness), but here in New England, it's an unavoidable chore if there are trees nearby and for the second time this season, Lin began her yard clean-up on a brisk Saturday morning. We were touring Vermont last time, but this time she enlisted our help.

Lin has a blower and between raking and blowing, the job isn't all that onerous. I remember as a kid jumping in the piles of leaves. Now we just rake them onto a tarp and drag them to a big compost pile in the woods in Lin's backyard. No exhilaration over jumping in the leaves, just get the job done … and watch more leaves fall as soon as we were finished.

The lawn mower has been winterized. The deck furniture has been stored away. Things are beginning to look bare and stark. The temps are dipping below the freezing point. Winter's on its way.