The first most wonderful time of the year

I have loved this prolonged Indian Summer!  The stubborn leaves that remain on the trees are brilliant and beautiful.  I wish they could hold on throughout the holidays because they are way more festive than the usual commercial Christmas decorations.

As the sun sits lower in the sky every day, blazing sunsets illuminate gold quakies and hot orange embers fluttering on tree limbs in the fall breezes.  Taking my kids to school in the morning is a glowing drive through neighborhoods softly lit in the warm light of early morning sun shining through the leaves.  It is a beautiful time of year!

The trees in my own neighborhood take turns dumping their leaves. Neighbors can enjoy a different show each week because it seems that no two trees drop leaves at the same time.  Across the street is a gigantic old walnut tree that is always the first to drop.  My neighbor Robert, whose house has been shaded by that tree for over 30 years, recalls climbing it when he was a boy, over 60 years ago.  I wonder if that old tree drops its leaves first much like my tired, retired neighbors don their jackets and sweaters earlier in the fall than I do.

The willow tree in my front yard has again been the last to shed it's leaves.  Elongated and slender, they are just turning yellow and beginning to litter my yard and the street.  It's a good thing that my boy Tuffy loves using that new leaf blower I bought last month!