As Our Life Goes On

As I approached home after shopping today I noticed white smoke billowing into the air and across the road. I hoped it was leaves burning even though that is prohibited by law. The pungent smell entered my nostrils and pleasant memories flooded my mind. I really like that smell.  I grew up in Kent, Ohio which is also is known as the tree city. Wolcott Avenue did not have curbs or storm sewers at that time. It still does not have these amenities. The falling leaves were abundant on the Norway Maple lined street. We would rake the leaves into large piles on the devil's strip or into the ditch. After playing in the piles for a while we would wait until it was dark. I don't remember why it had to be dark before we set the large piles on fire. Most people in Kent burned their leaves in much the same manner. We would stand by with rakes to rake the burning leaves into smaller piles as they burned. Kent had a layer of the sweet smelling smoke hanging over it each evening

Leaves of red and gold Litter the ground falling fast Beautiful a while ~Caroline

We're not in the habit of staying up late. We like to get up early to enjoy as much of the daylight as possible.  Our legs seemed leaden as we arose this morning after a late night party at our house. We decided that going for a ride in the country would be a good idea. The colors in the trees and foliage are not yet at peak and it seemed that the colors right around our own house were much more developed than those in Northern Portage County.  When we were getting ready to leave our destination we were amazed to see a mature American Bald Eagle fly very closely over us. It had been a while since we had seen one of these beautiful birds. It soared through the clear blue skies over and around us for a short while and then disappeared. It was a special sighting.