Those Damn Fall Leaves ...

One thing I can't stand is having to rake leaves that don't belong to me.  My backyard is barren when it comes to landscaping.  Mostly because we had a dog and if we attempted to plant a tree, she would just chew the trunk of the tree to bits (since we couldn't necessarily afford to purchase and have professionally planted "mature" trees).

We were supposed to purchase a tree this past spring in memory of our beloved dog, Zoey.  We couldn't find the right one and then time just zoomed by and we plain forgot.

My next door neighbor has landscaping that probably belongs in one of the more wealthy suburbs, it doesn't fit the neighborhood, but I'm guessing he has more money than he knows what to do with so he spends it on his house.  I guess its better than the alternative, having a house next door that has been foreclosed on.  Anyway, he planted several years ago at least 8 mature and robust trees in his very beautifully landscaped backyard.  He lives to the west of us, and as the wind typically blows from west to east guess where all the fallen leaves land?  Yep, you guessed it, on my side of the fence.  Frustrating enough, he has almost no leaves in his yard?

Today we are having a rare beautiful November day.  Since our lawn is starting to show signs of "lushness" in my backyard (it only took 6 years), I thought I better rake those leaves up so the grass could survive the winter!

I wanted to complain about these leaves and I was just about to when my 3 year old son, who was keeping me company while I raked the leaves, says to me "Mommy can I jump in the leaves?".  I was tired as I was awoken 3 times in the middle of the night because my Norah, was suffering from an ear infection.  I just wanted to rake the damn leaves and be done.  But I thought about it for a split second, looked at the smile and eagerness on Donovan's face and said to myself "oh hell, let him have some fun!".  So I laughed at him and said, "Sure buddy let me make a nice big pile for you (as I was making several small piles for easier pick-up) and you can jump yourself silly in the pile of leave! ... But you have to wait until I can get the camera so I can capture this moment!".  He waited patiently.  I got the camera!  And you can tell he had some fun!

This is my absolute favorite photo!
You can see the sheer joy on his face!