Autumn Leaves

Autumn Leaves song - partial lyrics - Google song title for various versions of the song

"The falling leaves drift by the window
The autumn leaves of red and gold
I see your lips, the summer kisses
The sun-burned hands I used to hold"

The song, partially quoted above, always pops into my brain this time of year. I believe I learned it in Miss Delma Wright's Freshman Choir class. We didn't sound anything like Nat King Cole or Doris Day. The lyrics seem a little racier than I remember singing at that tender young age. 😁

Summer is my favorite season. I used to pretend to enjoy Autumn the most. Paul loves Fall! Football and hunting impact those feelings, of course. But summer! I like to be warm. And going outdoors not dressed to the hilt with various layers of gear to ward off the chill. 

This year is different. I love the gorgeous low-wind days we have enjoyed thus far. Most leaves have fallen by now, yet the sun's angle and portrait painting sunrises and sunsets have awed me.

 

I think back to Autumns of my youth. Our home in Atlantic was on an Elm tree-lined street (until Dutch Elm Disease felled them) complete with bushels of leaves each fall. Raking was an annual chore and opportunity! We'd rake them into piles and jump in them. 

With neighbors, the Reinertson girls, we'd rake the leaves into thin lines which became walls for our pretend horse barn. We would take turns being the horses - using those rubbery jump ropes as halters around our waists. I loved picking my horse name and describing my horsy appearance. I was partial to black with white socks and a big white blaze on my nose. 

I think our neighbor Harley Baxter eventually managed the leaves - probably composting or burning in his backyard across the street. Later, at our first home in Creston, Paul and I managed leaves the same way. He found out the hard way that one should not burn on the patio close to the vinyl siding! Now I know how bad leaf burning is for air quality - especially for those with lung disorders. Composting is a great way to return organic material to the soil. 

As I age, I continue to look for ways to get exercise. My goal this year is to walk outdoors early - regardless of weather. It's been warm and very dry for the most part - making for gorgeous views. The sad part of that is we need rain badly to fill up streams, rivers, and ponds. The City of Osceola just south of DSM is in an emergency stage as their water supply lake is drying up. Scary! 

I hope you're enjoying Autumn wherever you are. 

This leaf spoke to me - in a crabby voice!

Leaf my imagination alone

Before Dutch Elm disease wiped out the trees lining Crombie Street in Atlantic, we spent lots of time raking each fall. (or Harley Baxter, our neighbor from across the street who did our yard work did).

We had fun with the leaves before they were burned or bagged for the trash. Of course we know now that's not good for environment. It's so wrong, but the smell of burning leaves takes me back to that time. You'd think burning something organic would be okay...but it puts bad stuff into the air, polluting it. Burning can be especially hard on people who have lung problems like asthma. But we didn't know that then...

Maybe Harley took our leaves over to his little backyard farm for organic material. Yeah! We'll go with that for now. Anyway...I digress.

When Mom would send us out to rake leaves, of course we didn't just do the job. Oh, no. It had to end up being so much more than that.

I was usually hanging with my sisters and maybe a stray Reinertson - our next door neighbors. Laurie Reinertson and I grew up thick as thieves. We'd rake the leaves into piles and jump into them! Next we'd rake them into shapes on the ground - like walls for horse stalls. Then with jump ropes we'd take turns being horses and riders. The horse would have the rope around her waist and the rider would steer her around. Great care was taken to choose the horse's name and what she looked like. "I'm black with white stockings and a star on my head." "My name is Star!" I loved being a black horse. (sheep?)

We likely made a bigger mess out of the leaves than they were before we started. But my Mom's true mission was to wear us out. Mission accomplished. This black horse never had trouble sleeping.

Not the Bullock yard (2014 photo)