The time for a change

I really love early autumn, when the leaves have started falling but the coldest weather hasn't arrived yet. When a cool, sunny morning invigorates you, an extra morning jolt.

It's the change in colors that I think I like most -- when the greens of the trees and the lawns get replaced with reds and yellows and browns. It's a change in the garden that I have nothing to do with (other than choosing the climate in which to garden), and I can just sit back and watch it happen.

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Sure, there are extra tasks in the autumn, raking the fallen leaves being the most obvious and universal -- my neighbor is being very methodical about it this year (see photo above)!

The sugar maple is looking especially good this year...

...and I love the few days when the colors appear both above my head and below my feet:

I have to admit that the job of leaf cleanup is one that I don't dread (unlike mowing), and in fact, actually enjoy it. Such a good workout!

It's a good thing too, because the trees here are not on the same schedule. The ash is the first to drop its leaves...

...with the maple a week or more later. So I need to rake twice most years.

At least it's usually dry most years. I did have to rake in the rain a couple of times, and although wet leaves are significantly heavier than dry ones (I haul the leaves to the back on tarps), they break down so much more quickly in the compost pile.

So the garden changes, and we adapt.

(I have to admit now that summer is over. The leaves don't lie.)

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