My First Real Autumn

Last night when I returned with Micah from the airport, we pulled into what used to be a driveway. Both it and the back porch area was a veritable ocean of oak leaves, and the thought of raking them was exhausting. "It would be a monumental task", I told myself. "Screw it. It's Oklahoma. Let the wind take care of it." But when I looked outside this morning, I knew that the wind would only blow it onto the lawn, and it had a sea of its own (which I'm going to ignore, allowing it to mulch the grass). Looking up at the leaves that remain on the Oak tree, I knew that we were only about half-way through the battle. If that were to be added to what was already on the ground, we'd need a crane to get out of the driveway. I put on my sweater and went outside to start the job. This photo isn't of my pile of leaves, but the pile was at least this size. I would have taken a picture, but I scattered the pile into several smaller ones, which doesn't look quite so impressive. When it was one huge pile, it must have stood about four feet high.

I imagine that by the weekend I'll be out there doing it again. This is new to me. I'm from southern California, where few trees lose their leaves, and although I've lived here for 9 years, this is first house we've lived in that has real trees. It wasn't so bad, really. It felt good being out in the crisp air and in the sunshine.

(By the way, does anyone know what tree is in the right side of the picture? It's my favorite, and I'd like to get one for our front yard. Click to enlarge.)