Dear World,


In my neck of the woods, the past few weeks have been a mixture of humid and windy. Generally, when the wind blows, the trees in my back yard shed leaves like a balding person loses their hair.

With the shedding trees, my back yard turned into a leafy mess.

My mom and I took the rake, the trash bags and the shovel. We got to work!

The rake was shaky, too! The stick wasn’t properly fastened to the base and we couldn’t be bothered with securing it. So every now and then we had to “fix it”.

We rustled up about five to six decent-sized heaps of leaves and downed rotted fruits.

And then, the wind kicked into high gear.

If you want comedy, watch my mom and I put leafy trash into bags when the wind blows. Haha!

We struggled a bit as we watched some heaps lose form because the wind felt the need to displace said heaps. The wind also felt the need to blow leaves from our rake-shovel-bag conveyor belt routine.

We kinda gave up on some of those loose leaves and tackled the ones that stayed in place. In some cases, we were determined enough to recapture some of those displaced leaves and bag them.

Such a fun mess!

The Lesson

I’ve likened those leaves to tasks and responsibilities in my life. The process to scoop, run after and ‘recapture’ leaves has been likened to the steps I take to tackle life.

1. Choosing to rake and bag leaves while it’s windy can be counterproductive and it can also be a character-building experience.

2. Patience while in wind is of utmost importance. The wind doesn’t care what work you’ve put it and it doesn’t care what plans you have in place.

3. When leaves blow away from a heap, you have to decide the importance of going after them or letting them be.

4. No matter how fool-proof your technique is, the wind can sway your efforts. It’s a matter of how you make your technique work for you despite the environment.

5. The tools you use to rake and bag your leafy trash are instrumental. If you use flawed items, your efforts will be affected. You can either fix those tools or you make them work for you.

To Consider

What kind of leaves do you have in your life?

How have you tackled the rake, scoop and bag technique to clear your back yard?

Do you rake even when it’s windy?


Signed with love,
Candice