This is not the crisp Autumn air I was looking for...

I raked my driveway today. Oh, yes, I realize in this age of technology that the preferred method of leaf removal on driveways is the "leaf blower". Trouble is, after eight straight days of near-constant rain, leaves don't fly. So there they have collected, day after day, sticking to the ground wherever they might fall, until only small specks of ashalt were detectable by eye. For several days I have had inklings of concern as I turned up the hill... can tires slip on wet leaves?

Raking was only marginally effective. I can see a majority of pavement now, but it's not obvious that I have cleared it off recently. Some are stuck quite firmly to the ground. I was not about to get picky about it; wet leaves are heavy and require some effort to move along. The street is lined with trees, and as I got closer to the bottom of the driveway, the layer of covering slowly thickened. With more leaves there was also more water collected, and some areas had enough of a stream, once I started moving it, to help me move things along. By the time I got to the street, nature's carpet was waterlogged to the point of mush... I was reminded of the dregs at the bottom of a bowl of cornflakes.