PILE OF LEAVES

My son Alex and I were walking through our neighborhood when I couldn’t help but notice all the piles of leaves at the curbside.

“It’s so weird that you never see kids jumping in leaves anymore.”

“That’s probably because everyone’s worried about mold and ticks.” Alex said as he kicked an acorn further up the sidewalk in front of us.

“It’s just sad that we have to worry about everything all the time.” I let out a small sigh. “I remember when I was a kid how much fun it was to jump in a pile of leaves we’d have raked together in the driveway right before my Dad would light them on fire.”

Alex looked over at me with a confused look on his face. “You’d light piles of leaves on fire?”

“Sure.” I nodded. “Everyone did.” I had to laugh. “That was before the days that everything had to be safe. We didn’t wear seat belts. There was no such thing as a car seat, you got thrown in the back of the station wagon and learned to hold on when your parents drove around a corner too fast. None of us even knew what a bike helmet was.” I sighed. “Back in the good old days when you could drop a match into a pile of leaves and no one gave it a second thought.”

“It doesn’t sound like the safest thing to do.” Alex countered.

“It probably wasn’t.” I shrugged my shoulders. “But my Dad was a fireman so he always had a garden hose ready.”

“But wasn’t it illegal to do that?” He asked as we rounded a corner and began walking up hill.

“Nope.” I could feel the burn in the back of my legs as the road go steeper. “Not when I was a kid! It was perfectly legal!”

We both got quiet as we walked up the rest of the hill. As we were passing another pile of leaves I stepped off the curb and kicked at the pile of leaves that came up to my knees. “Do you know how bad I want to just lean back and drop into these leaves?”

“How bad?” Alex looked up and down the street to see if anyone was watching.

“Not that bad.” I laughed as I stepped back up the curb to continue our walk. “I guess having a couple of tick borne illnesses helps change your mind on that.”

We were getting closer to home when I stopped to check the hem of my pants.

“You’re afraid you got a tick on you!” Alex laughed.

“I thought I saw something.” I said as I brushed a piece of leaf off my pant leg.

We started walking again but I had gotten quiet.

As we turned the corner on our street I could see our house up ahead. Alex could hear my sigh of relief.

Alex pulled the house key out of his pocket. “I bet you can’t wait to get inside so you can check yourself for ticks.”

“Oh, I’m not just checking for ticks I’m jumping right into the shower to make sure if one is on me it’s going down the drain!” I laughed.

Alex unlocked the door, pushed it open and stepped aside. “After you.”

“Don’t have to ask me twice.” I said as I went in and headed right for my bathroom. “You know,” I called over my shoulder. “I feel sorry for kids these days. They have way more stuff to worry about than when I was a kid!”