there was a giant pile of leaves in front of a house
Nice story, PW. It reminded me of something that happened with me in my first autumn as a homeowner. I had moved into my home as a 34-year-old bachelor in September 1977 and quickly discovered that the neighborhood had a large number of children in the 7-12 age group.
One Saturday morning one of the girls showed up at my door and told me that two teams of kids were having a contest down the street to see who could collect the largest pile of leaves. My fenced back yard was full of leaves, and without thinking it through, I granted permission for the kids to carry them away. Five or six of them showed up with rakes, brooms and bags and proceeded to do a pretty good job of clearing out my leaves and disappearing out my back gate toward the street.
A little later in the morning, from my back yard I heard the joyous sound of kids having a good time nearby. Peeking over the fence, I discovered the destination of my leaves -- a huge mound in my neighbor's back yard. I figured I was in trouble with the parents, but when I later encountered the mom, she laughed and said she had to stand over the kids with a whip until they had transferred all the leaves to garbage bags.
Being a photographer, I took a number of pictures during the whole incident, and the various parents found them amusing many years later. And I've lived here happily ever after, but with all the kids now grown up and gone.
AI
