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Leaf Raking

         Don't you just love this time of year if you don't live in an apartment? Leaves everywhere. Rake all day long every day! If you don't get them up, the wind blows yours into the neighbor's clean driveway. Sounds like a plan, but the neighbors don't like the plan.

         Porches and sidewalks and patios, so nice, but so much sweeping or blowing. A toddler came to visit Sunday and was allowed to play in the leaves. Bits of leaves were tracked in the house. I swept every room they walked through. Then a diaper change was needed. Not only were small bits of leaves inside his shoes and socks and pants, they were inside his diaper. I had to vacuum the bedroom where he was changed, including the bed.

         My dad is an old man. He does the yard work, trims the hedges. He comes in covered from head to toe. I have to brush him off if I can catch him at the back door. If he comes through the front or the garage, it gets everywhere. I have to stop him, "Don't sit on the upholstery until you change your shirt." I take his hat and shake it over the trash can. I can sweep the kitchen more easily than cleaning under the sofa cushions.

         Yes, the leaves are lovely, changing colors. The mountains are like patchwork quilts. I live on a small mountain, and it is beautiful.On mountain or valley, country roads or city streets, these colors are a great reminder of the constancy of the seasons, of the eternal passing of time. This great burst of beauty is not without its labor. Did you wipe your feet before you came in?