My backyard is a tapestry of gold, crimson, yellow, orange and purple. Beautiful doesn’t begin to describe it. However, this past weekend’s wet and windy weather has taken the tapestry from above and placed much of it below ... In other words, many of those leaves are now a colorful carpet, just waiting to be raked. Ugh.

I feel kind of guilty complaining about the upcoming raking, mulching, blowing, burning, bagging and hauling of these leaves, especially since I find them so beautiful right now — hard to imagine how something so vibrant and eye-catching could cause so much work, don’t you think?

I’m thinking about having a huge party. I’ll supply the hot dogs, drinks and s’mores, if you’ll supply a rake and lots of energy. Any takers?