JOURNAL

To me, yesterday was a perfect autumn day, made even more perfect by the few hours I spent with my grandson, Noah. The colors of the leaves were a bit past their peak, but there was still enough gold and red in the trees to make the day spectacular – and a wild pre-Halloween wind made it even more special. Noah and I often looked up at the tall trees in his yard as they flashed their remaining colors in the wind. There seemed to be a low crying sound all around us as the wind rushed through the branches. I drove up early in the morning to have breakfast with Jaimie, Jess, and Noah, and it was an even more wonderful drive than usual. The bright trees were swaying along the roads as I passed, and the wind was swirling leaves in a riotous display. There was a wildness all around me that seemed perfectly fitting for this spooky season. We enjoyed a hearty breakfast of bagel sandwiches (one of Noah’s favorites), and then we went out into the blowing yard and raked some leaves. Noah was bundled up tightly so that only his red cheeks and shining eyes could be seen, and he worked energetically beside us in the nippy air. We three men made a strong team as we piled the leaves on a tarp and then heaved them over a stone wall into the woods.