Signs of Fall

There's an old man that lives in our neighborhood, I think he's lived here over 40 years, and every fall he gives all the neighborhood kids an enormous gift- free reign over his front yard. See, he has a gigantic, and I do mean gigantic, tree in his front yard, with thousands of leaves. He told me he planted the tree himself, a father's day present, many years ago, and now it has grown and grown into a wonderful monument to love, friendship, and generosity. Every fall, when the leaves begin to turn brown and fall on the grass, he quietly rests rakes against the trunk of the tree- three little rakes, perfect for little arms and bodies, one medium sized rake, and two big rakes. The rakes are a signal, a silent invitation, to come into his yard and play in his leaves. The kids don't need to be asked twice. As the weather begins to change, they seem to sense it, and know it's time to visit his yard and play with the leaves. It's really joyful to watch them as they dive in, squeal with glee, and roll around in the leaves. They rake them into a big pile, play throw and chase with them, and organize them in all sorts of different ways. I overheard a woman questioning if he really liked this, if it was annoying to him, if all this noise and confusion wasn't bothersome. I thought to myself, when I'm an old lady (heck, I'd do it now if I had the right kind of tree), I'd like to put the rakes out by my big tree. I'd relish the chaos, take secret peeks out my front window waiting for kids to run up, dive in, and enjoy.