...And Just Around the Corner...

I think there are certain traditions that need to be followed; I don't mean the obvious holiday and family-time traditions. I mean the traditions that come with being carefree and spontaneous. That's why I always get a kick out of preschool kids. When one is with them, anything is "cute," though if an adult were to do the same things, folks would look askance and call for the jacket with really long sleeves.
So it is with leaves. The time-honored tradition for centuries, one would imagine, involves piling up leaves and running, jumping and falling into them or throwing them overhead just to see them cascade down and get inside a shirt collar. Adults walking by smiled broadly at the fun this little girl was having though they would not stop and join her: maybe because I was too threatening, or maybe because this occurred in Chicago and people are naturally a bit hesitant to involve themselves in the lives of others. Whatever the reason, the hours (literally) spent gathering leaves and throwing them skyward now ranks up there with spending all day at the park on the swings.
Sadly, though, there was not a rake to be found so we were left to scraping them together with our feet and cleaning them off the windshields of the parked cars...eventually ranging halfway down the block to get "new" leaves, the "old" ones being apparently used up after several hoists heavenward.
Since the trampoline we gave her was such an enormous hit, perhaps it's time to get her a leaf rake so she can have hours of fun working for the street department in Chicago raking leaves. I'm sure her parents would be excited to play in the leaves for hours; at least they wouldn't have to take the long walk to the park so often.
And she would be ready for the shovel by the time winter came.