For the Love of (Raking) Leaves

The changing of the leaves in fall always seems so magical to me. Walking out into a brisk, chilly morning with the sun beginning to stream through a thick canopy of reds, oranges, and yellows really makes me put my life into perspective. There is such much beauty around me, but most of that beauty has become regular or nothing special to me because I neglect to take the time to stop. To stop and just be.

There was nothing to do on a warm, sunny late afternoon (a perfect combination for a photo-shoot, wouldn't you say?) and so I decided to rake me some leaves. A lot of leaves. For those of you who don't know me personally, my family lives in the middle of no-where-man's-land. And no-where-man's-land + mountain = a lot of trees. A lot of trees = a heck of a lotta leaves...and I think you know where this is going.

I snapped pictures as my siblings jumped (and disappeared) into my large mound of leaves and wondered to myself when the last time was I had enjoyed jumping into a leaf pile. Maybe age 6?

So I stopped and put my camera down. With a smile on my face, I took a great leap into that pile, and decided to just be.