Chasing the Leaves

Tuesday morning, before work, I was cooking bacon for JP's breakfast when I looked out into the backyard and saw leaves falling like snow.  I was excited, because one of my favorite pasttimes in the fall in trying to catch falling leaves.  It's tough, obviously, because like snowflakes, all leaves are slightly different and, as a result, they fall differently from the trees.  Some fall straight down, but most are caught by the wind and change directions several times before landing on the ground.

As Carley arrived at the house (JP's school was closed for parent-teacher conferences), J.P. and I were in the front yard, staring up into the branches of our stately old maple tree.  Every minute or so, a breeze would ruffle the branches and leaves would begin to fall.  J.P. would squeal with delight, then take off running to catch a falling leaf.  He was having so much fun, I couldn't help but smile as I watched him.

Jude came outside and walked to her car, prepared to head to work.  When she saw how much fun we were having, she set her work stuff down in her car and joined us in the yard to chase leaves.  I went inside and grabbed the video camera so I could capture the moment for posterity.  It was awesome, just watching Jude, J.P. and Carley chasing the falling leaves, laughing the whole time.  Even after Jude left for work, I just sat on the front porch for a few minutes and watched J.P. and Carley.  It was a morning I didn't want to ever end.