I know why they're called leaves.  When those lovely green appendages reach the end of their lives and the trees let loose of them they sure do scatter in a hurry and leave crunchy carpet piles in their wake. 

When I was a kid we never raked them up.  Dad's credo was that the good Lord  put them there and he'll surely take them away.  And I must say that this fall he has done his best to accomodate by providing plenty of hefty winds to scatter them hither and yon.

But I'll admit that due to the sheer bulk of leaves this year in my yard that I've had three sessions of leaf abatement this fall.  I don't know where they all came from and I must say that among the plethora of maple leaves from my own trees, I spied a few oak leaves as I raked.  Now I know there aren't any oak trees in the near vicinity of my neighborhood, but I guess Mother Nature decided to share the wealth so I can't complain.  

Dried leaves are truly lovely with their array of colors and shapes and I love them all. There's hardly anything quite as satisfying as shuffling through a pile of dried leaves. It's almost like breaking a path in freshly fallen snow.

This year son Patrick ran his nifty leaf sweeper over the lawn and together we removed three brimming truck loadfuls and a trailerful initially.  Then a few weeks later, pending a forecast of snow I attempted another round of leaf removal just hours before the white stuff fell atop them.  Satisfied that I'd taken care of them for the year, I was disappointed when the trees deposited yet another rusty blanket  on the yard.  So in a third round I raked them up for the final time this year. 

My leaves joined the mountain of leaves at the tree dump.  Aren't we fortunate to have such a wonderfully maintained tree brush dump in our community?  It's open for anybody in city limits to access.  In the past there were problems with inappropriate dumping there so it was locked up and accessible only by visiting city hall for the key.  Three cheers to the responsible use by citizens now, which allows for open access to the dump at all times.

Frankly I never understood the concept of stuffing ones leaves into big plastic bags just like trash when they make such perfect mulch.  But leaving a thick blanket of leaves to smother the tender grass isn't a great idea either.  I look at raking leaves like having a good aerobic workout. It's a win-win situation I suppose.

When my kids were little we'd rake the biggest pile of leaves possible and then take turns leaping into them.  It's one of life's greatest joys enjoyed by not only the littlest ones.  Yes you'd emerge with itchy  leaves down your back and in your hair but it was oh so much fun. 

This year intent on removing them, alas I didn't take the time to do any leaf pile jumping.  I'll admit  though that it was tempting to scale the towering mountain of leaves at the dump and wallow in them  just a bit. 

I restrained myself.  But it wasn't easy.