Turning Over a Few Leaves

I'm not bragging, I promise.

But we have more leaves than anyone else on our side of the street, around the block and back - and more, I am certain, than any other yard perhaps east of Division.

Of course, leaves are the result of trees, and many of the trees in our yard are a result of us - us and years of plotting and planting around this place - including some very foolish tree choices.  

But the largest culprits are the two age-old cottonwoods in our front yard.

Planted too close to the house 100 years ago, they still produce fervently each year, and their roots seem to be slowing tipping our old house over.

Either that, or those roots are what holds us up. 

But that's another story, back to the leaves.

To our neighbors' chagrin, we don't usually rake our leaves until all of the said leaves have left the trees.   Because of the volume that we know will come, it seems foolish to us to try to keep up with the constant downfall.

So, yes, sometimes the weather catches us by surprise.  And there have been times when we have had to race the oncoming change of seasons.

But in the 25+ years that we've lived here, I can remember only a handful of Falls that blended so seamlessly into Winter, that we were unable to get the leaf debris out of the way of the snowmen.  

Ice Storm in 1996 was one year,
the Winter of 2008-09 another,

and that one year, for certain, when my husband had a heart thing going on and we concentrated on that, and only that.

Regardless, each year...you just have to start.  And you can't think about how much more there is to do, you just have to go at it and

do the best you can.

It's not a totally unpleasant experience.

An outside fire on a cold, gray day helps.  

As does having other sustenance.

On a good day, the sun can be so encouraging.

The leaf clean up really fell to me this year, since my dear one was busy with another project on the property.  It is usually a shared responsibility, but I clearly saw that he was going to be unable to participate this year - due to the other project.

That's okay, each day that the weather cooperates, and I am able to put in a few hours, progress is made. 

And I am cheered on by the spectators.

But there are miles to go before I sleep.

And the holiday season is nipping at my heels.