The Last Leaves of Autumn

The last of the leaves on my backyard trees have fallen.  They rest on the ground, yellow and tan damp from a November rain.  I had raked the yard a couple of times and then my yard guys finished for me several weeks ago.  When they raked there will still some leaves in the trees.  Those leaves have now fallen; the trees are pretty much bare.  The current smattering of leaves does not completely cover the lawn, only partially.  There is grass showing through.  It puts me in a quandary.  Do I allow this last batch of fallen leaves to remain on the ground until spring, or do I rake up wet, heavy leaves into clumpy piles and shovel them into bags?

 I am apt to leave them until spring.  Probably not a good idea but it fits into the “Why Do Today What You Can Put off Until Tomorrow” school of thought.

 There is something forlorn looking in the last of the fallen leaves, lying wet on the ground.  They don’t have the cheerful, wonderful, colorful look of the previous batches of fallen leaves.  The trees themselves, now completely bare, are exposed for all to see, I can see broken limbs and nubs of limbs that were once covered with leaves hiding the imperfections of nature.  I can see empty birds nest including a big hawks nest.  No baby birds protected by parents are in these nests.   Bare trees always make me feel a little lonely.

 A few days ago it was almost dusk when I looked down in to the back yard.  Sitting on the lawn were two deer.  Usually when I have deer in the back yard, they are walking or grazing.  These two were sitting and seemingly relaxing; perhaps after a day of foraging for autumn food.  I walked outside on the patio with my camera.   They looked up at me when they heard me call to them but they were not frightened by my presence, probably realizing I was too old to get to them quickly.  So I took their picture as they continued to sit.  They looked at me a few times and then they turned their heads away.