They came, armed with rakes and sweatshirts and noble intentions. A determined band of eager reinforcements, representing six decades of age and energy on a brisk November day, set to tackle two acres of leaves.
Leaves were blown into swathes.
A tarp was put into position with the help of extra hands,
and hauled leaf laden batches, like a sack of toys, out to the curbside
where they floated down into enormous piles, just waiting to dive into.
The boys hunted in the underbrush for twigs and bark to feed the bonfire.
A bushel and a peck of thanks to our reinforcements, Jake, Scott, and Peter, and to Heather, Jennifer, and Jason, the grown-up helping hands that gave so freely of their time and energy.
You warm our hearts and you’re the best!
Two acres of leaves, Penny? I feel tired just thinking about it. 🙂 Thank goodness you had such lively, willing helpers.
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Yes. two acres. What were we thinking? Many hands make light work, as the saying goes, and it was a joy having the youngsters around helping, and watching them have some fun.
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Helping hands are wonderful things, Penny! I love the face in the heap of leaves. Do you have hedgehogs there? They are running campaigns about hedgehogs getting stuck in bonfires for Guy Fawkes night….
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We don’t have hedgehogs here, Kate. I don’t think they are in any of the states, but, the thought of them getting stuck in bonfires is a terrible thought. Poor things. I hadn’t noticed the face until you mentioned it. Hmmm?
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The face in the leaves!!!! All I can say is that Tom asked me tonight what I was talking about when I said I hadn’t noticed the face in the fire. Sigh. Blast. Oh me, oh my! I read too fast, didn’t pay attention. What I thought I read was the face in the fire.
The face in the leaves is my dear nephew. Isn’t he cute? I’m going, now, to bury my own head in the leaves.
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Oh, gosh. That face in the leaves…….I used to LOVE to do that.
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I don’t know how that face got there, Andra. Both you and Kate mentioned it. Amazing what your writers’ imagination sees.
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Andra, dear Andra, please read my second comment to Kate above. My face is red. Sigh.
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That must have been some job even with that many helping hands. Thankfully most of our leaves have blown away! The only ones we ever do anything about are the ones around hubby’s shop – he’s afraid a spark will catch them on fire, though it’s cool enough now he doesn’t have the doors open so much when using welder or cutting torch. I still love to scuffle through leaves, but no belly dives, thank you.
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And it is only half done, Joyce. The front yard still needs some work. It isn’t as hard as the back yard. We have a lot of trees, but some of these are from our neighbors’ yard as well as they don’t seem to have any. I would probably worry about a fire, too, especially with the torches so close. A lot of our leaves go into compost, but, some just have to go out to the road for the city to pick up.
No belly dives for me either.
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That’s a lot of leaves Penny, but how satisfying to have them herded and harnessed by such willing helpers. My dad used to sweep up all the oak leaves a tip them into a wire cage, where they would break down and make great compost. But he had only a quarter acre to attend to.
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“herded and harnessed” describes our leafing activity the best, Juliet. We do have compost piles as well, one in the front for mostly leaves and green matter, then another bigger one in the back where scraps go in with the leaves. We just have too many here. The city comes by with a big truck and sucks the ones up by the street, using them for city mulching purposes. I’m sure our leaves are providing good homes to worms all across the landscapes. yea!
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I am so glad you got such beautiful photos of such a lovely autumn day of fun and work combined. I love big piles of leaves. Do you remember cartoons of the Charlie Brown gang jumping into a pile of leaves and yelling “Ker-leaf !!!” as they landed. We were big fans of Peanuts and would copy that bit of fun.
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Yes, I do remember Charlie Brown and the gang jumping into piles of leaves. Ker -leaf! I wish I had remembered that on Saturday. What fun! Did you see The Great Pumpkin right before Halloween? I still watch it. Correction, WE still watch it. Now, I’m off on yet another tangent, Janet.
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Penny: Your opening snapshot stopped me in my tracks!!!! The open hands with the bird. . . Representing the cold season that awaits us. So well stated before you ever
began still a wonderful little story about the season upon us.
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Thank you, Mary Anne. It is such a sweet little bird bath that actually was a gift to Tom way-back-when. I couldn’t resist it with the leaves caught in the palm. Ah, November . . .
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Dear Penny, the smells and sounds of autumn. Two acres of leaves that must have seemed to the children to be two acres of adventure. How wonderful the day. Peace.
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I think they had some fun, Dee, and they were a big help in getting those leaves on the tarp, with several chances to jump and wrestle and bury themselves in the leaves. It was enjoyable to see their enthusiasm over leaves and the youngest lad really enjoyed riding in the tractor with his Uncle Tom. Life is grand.
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Thanks for fortifying us with lunch and homemade treats to keep us going!
And a little bonfire was a great way to finish things off.
Jake brought one of the huge perfect and delicious sycamore leaves to school today.
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My dear, it was an enormous help to have you all here and it is always fun for me to feed a crowd.
Yea, Jake! Who knew they smelled so much like maple syrup? It was rewarding watching the older boys exploring. I’m smiling, Heather, and thankful.
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Oh my gosh! What a fun way to get a huge job done. The picture of the little boy so happy in the pile of leaves is just especially wonderful!
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To be that young and full of happiness of such simple things! It was such a pleasure to watch, Sallie, and to reap the benefits of all those leaves being raked up in the process.
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Penny, how wonderful that everyone pitched in to help with such a big job. Sounds like it ended up being a lot of fun!
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It was fun, Sunday, and a job well done. We were lucky to have so much help.
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Somehow such a big job was indeed made fun! I cannot imagine caring for two acres. Nor can I imagine that many leaves! But it sounds like you had some very willing helpers and they had fun, too. Did you start rolling in the leaves first and pull a “Tom Sawyer” on them? 🙂 Really delightful photos, Penny….I think I see a face in one of those piles, too! Ha!
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If I started to roll in the leaves it would have taken a crane to haul me out! Our niece volunteered to bring the boys and our daughter and son-in-law offered help as well. We’re so grateful to them all, Debra. Oh dear. I had to go back and respond to both Andra and Kate’s comments just about the time you posted your comment. I thought they said face in the fire. Now, stop laughing over there on the west coast.
Isn’t it a cute young face in the LEAVES? That is Scott – our grandnephew.
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That’s so funny, Penny! I thought you were teasing them! LOL!
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It was just one of those days, Debra. Gotta laugh at one’s foibles. Have a good Tuesday.
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The pictures turned out great. It was a fun day!
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It was, dear daughter, made all the more so with your and Jason’s help. As you could attest to, the pictures don’t truly capture the size of that leaf pile. Thank you, Jennifer.
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Oh Penny I can just smell those leaves burning! What a delightful day that must have been for everyone! I love autumn.
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It is such a distinctive smell, isn’t it? We’re lucky we can burn brush here, though we only two one or two burnings. The boys had fun tossing twigs and leaves into the fire (and so did the grown-ups). I do too, though winter is starting to creep in now.
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