So I was raking

with my kids

and

my boys

were playing best 2 out of 3

to see who would have to drag

the garbage pail of leaves

to the backyard

and the best 2 out of 3

turned into

the best 4 out of 5

then

7 out 8

and

Josephine

and I

kept raking

and then

my neighbor

Rose

yelled to me

from across the street

"Hey, do you know when they are picking up

these bags of leaves?

Mine have been sitting

here for a week. The town has never been this late.

Can you believe that?!"

She kept talking

the boys kept yelling

and Josephine was

raking

and all

I did was nod

pleasantly

because

really

all I had

wanted to do

was get outside

for some

fresh air

quiet

fresh

air.

so

I took

the

trash can

waved

to

Rose

still talking

with

her arms akimbo

and

I

dragged the

pail

to my

backyard

my

quiet backyard

and I dumped

the leaves

into

our compost

and breathed

in

the autumn air

looked

up

into

the blue sky

and

listened

to

my boys

still

playing

best

12 out of 15.