Leaves Fall On Their Own

Leaves Fall On Their Own

Stepping on to the porch, there was no surprise hearing the familiar crunching of leaves sounding beneath my feet as I walked. Red. Yellow. Brown. The array of colors seemed to continue. The very large oak tree that stands in the middle of the yard had made plenty sure of this. My neighbor's oak and maple trees also provided its fair share of contributions as well.

I stood there momentarily surveying the yard. It seemed more like a patchwork quilt with all the colors. It was almost as if someone took the time and carefully sewed together each color. The golden-red placed next to the orange. The brown next to the yellows. If it weren't so many, it would almost be admirable. But it was work. It was a task. It was my task. I knew I would eventually be responsible for raking the yard. And getting up this blanket of leaves.

I jumped right to it. I put on an old pair of work gloves that had seen better days. There was still a hole near the right thumb where a sharp stick broke through. It happened last year while I was placing leaves into one of the large trash bags. The laces on my old tattered blue tennis shoes that I wore were tied in knots because they kept coming untied. And I wore my comfy and reliable grey sweats and a dank hoodie.

Walking outside you could feel the cool crisp air stirring. It wasn't unreasonably cold for this time of year, but the cool air and sharp winds called for long-sleeved wear. The skies were somewhat overcast seasoned with rain clouds threatening a shower. In fact, the night before there had been a forecast of twenty percent chance of rain.

I began raking and bagging. I would pause every now and then to inspect my progress. This year it seemed as if there were more than previous years. This was an annual thing. I noticed something peculiar while hauling my fourth bag of leaves to the curb for pick up. I had been performing this yearly ritual for as long as I can remember, but I had never realized this one thing.

I realized the more leaves I raked, bagged and dragged to the curb, the more fell. Like paratroopers jumping into the sky, they glided down and landed softly in the yard. It was a seemingly endless cycle. I rake. They fall. And this continued, but this wasn't the height of my startling epiphany.

The more I watched the leaves fall, and despite my best efforts to stay ahead of them, they continued to rain down from the trees. This is where I realized something. All the years of raking and endless bagging had been showing me something special. The tireless hours and arduous duty had been teaching me a valuable lesson about life and happiness.

You see, in other seasons to have this kind of outpouring and production of leaves, you would have to make them fall. You would have to employ machines, possibly friends or family. But when the air becomes cold enough and bright sunny days give way to clouds, leaves fall on their own.

Without additional help or coercion leaves fall all by themselves. Maybe we all don't need as much help as we think we might. Maybe all we truly need is a bit of cold air, a stiff breeze and some clouds for our leaves to fall for us.

Just because we can get people to help us make leaves fall, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's the right time of the year. Leaves fall on their own. When it's the right time, we won't need as much help to have the same results. Wait a while during the hot days, even if you must pause. You too will notice the incredible things around you. After a short while and all your efforts, you will notice that something amazing happens. Leaves fall on their own.