Raking in the Wind

We've had a couple of doozy storms these past few days, either that or it was one big storm with a respite built in the middle, how does one ever really know? Which ever the case may be, it rained a whole, whole lot and the wind breathed hard enough to detach a fair amount of leaves from the places they've called home since they were born back in the Spring. Not that I mind, mind you, because it's a spectacle worth watching...from inside. Besides, the rain sounds all that much more impressive when it's falling onto leaves as opposed to grass. Rain, I suppose, enjoys the opportunity to make an impression once in awhile, and yesterday was one such opportunity.

The downside of all of this bluster, of course, is the fact that now there are leaves all over my yard and sidewalks and cluttering up my gutters. These leaves aren't even mine! The tree that formerly housed all these leaves isn't even in my yard, it's my neighbor to the south's and as my fortune has been since I've lived here, or maybe even since the beginning of time, the wind prevails from the south. So it goes. Can I expect green buds in the Spring, cool shade in the Summer and a front row seat to twirling leaves in the Fall without a little payment?

By the time the rain stopped and Wind changed it's name to Breeze I had a decision to make...do I make the effort to rake and pick up leaves now or should I wait 'til I was sure the worst was over? If I get it all cleaned up now I might still have to do it again tomorrow given the fact that it IS Fall after all. On the other hand, if I wait 'til tomorrow the pile might be twice the size.

I got a few funny looks from people driving by while I was raking in the wind, but I found that wet leaves are really cooperative. They just lay there while you pick them up. They seemed uninterested in taking the wind up on it's offer of a free ride, choosing instead to take a ride in my wheel barrow. In the end, I was glad I had decided to do the work now instead of putting it off. Oh sure, tomorrow I may have to rake some more, but the pile will be smaller. That's kind of the way life goes too, isn't it? There will always be something I need to work on about myself and I can either put it off knowing that that work will still be there tomorrow or chip away at it today so tomorrow the pile will be much smaller and more doable and who knows, maybe this is why there's a respite built into the storm. That's just the way things are in this season called the Fall...of man.