The recent weather escapades left my half acre with about four inches of leaves covering a big part of it. Today was going to be Leaves Day. That's the day every fall my husband and I team up, rake the leaves into piles all over the yard, then rake each pile onto a huge tarp and drag it to the hedgerow to deposit the leaves. People think we're just making a huge hill of leaves, but my husband insists he's making topsoil. About 10 years ago I scoffed at this, but this summer we unearthed beautiful black dirt and redid our entire garden. Guess he is making dirt after all.
While sitting with my morning coffee I glanced out my backdoor and there she was. She was sitting in a pile of leaves beside my patio, smiling right at me. The Leaf Fairy was visiting ME this year. I became giddy with excitement. I really thought she was going to blink her eyes and the leaves would be gone, leaving the day free for something a bit more fun. I was wrong. She just pointed the way to the rakes in the shed, smiled one last time, and bade me farewell. Looks like a long day ahead of us.
Wouldn't it be nice to have a leaf fairy though? And a vacuuming fairy. And a laundry fairy. And a fairy that knows her way around the grocery store. Yes, fairies would be nice – real ones, that know exactly what they are doing. But, alas, we know there's no such thing, so we mere mortals carry on with our mundane tasks.
Fast forward 7 hours. We are now done with Leaves Day. Our yard is clean, vacuumed and picture perfect. We worked together in tandem, half the time on opposite ends of the property, the other half together. The morning spent in solitary raking and rearranging of leaves not only gave me a tremendous workout, but brought peace of mind. As I raked and thought and raked and thought, I began processing hard things that need accepting. Then, the afternoon spent working beside my husband, gave us the chance to talk and process together. Important things happened in our yard today that had nothing to do with leaves. Now the day is over. Wine and dinner are about to be served. Sleep tonight will be relaxed and deeper than its been in weeks.
And so, as another day goes by, now I know why there is no Leaf Fairy…or…maybe…nah, and…I have written.
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