Never Enough Time

The comments from yesterday's post made me think of something from a few years back. We moved from a subdivision with small trees to an older neighborhood. There were 9 trees on our lot. Our neighbors had maples. I loved the maples. I could lie on my bed and look at the walls that had changed from off white to yellow. The room took on a sunny appearance in the fall. Looking out the window...it was a sight to behold...solid yellow leaves. I thought it was heaven. The leaves fell that first year and I was seeing that beautiful sight a little differently. These leaves along with ours completely covered the yard.We were actually up to our knees in leaves. What could we do with all of them? The lawn mower wouldn't chop them. Where would we put them? We could burn in our town. My son was in the 3rd grade at that time. He had a lot of friends in the neighborhood. I got the idea of having a leaf raking party, of sorts. John told his friends...if they would come help us rake...we would show them a good time. We waited till evening and all the kids came dragging a rake behind them. They raked with vigor...working up a sweat....taking off their jackets. There were piles everywhere. Kids jumping in piles...dogs barking and rolling in the leaves. The other neighbors watched us...probably thinking that we would have a real mess to clean up. I told the kids to get the job done and we would start the big burn. Kids love fires. I was a little apprehensive, because I was alone with these kids and worried that someone would get hurt. They behaved and we started pulling piles of leaves on a big tarp to the fires down the front of our property. When the fires started to dwindle...I went in the house and brought out the treats. We had sharpened sticks with hot dogs, buns, all the goodies that go with a hot dog. Everything was spread out on our front porch. There was pop and crunchy potato chips. The best was yet to come...s'mores. Everybody loves them. Crunchy graham crackers, oooey gooey melted hershey bars and a plump marshmallow. My mouth is watering just telling about them.They put their marshmallow on their stick, held them over the embers, and popped them on top of the chocolate, and squished them between the crackers. The kids ate their fill and my yard was clean as a whistle. They went home dirty, full, and sleepy. Tomorrow was a school day. We did this for a couple of years. The kids remember it to this day. That is one of the memories they have reminded me of. John has good memories too, of those nights in the fall when his yard was the place to be.

Balisha