Head Or Tails Tuesday - July 14, 2009 - Pile

A PILE of leaves brings back a childhood memory of fall

All of us kids in the neighborhood (and there were many)used our wagons, or bags, or whatever we could find to bring all of our leaves down to a neighbor's house. We would rake them up into PILES, scoop them into whatever device we were using and struggle down the block to his house.

Once all the leaves got there, he would set them ablaze. We would stand around watching the leaves burn. We watched as sparks flew into the air, wondering where they would land. It was like fireworks in October.

After the fire had burned down some the neighbor would go into the house, and come out with hot dogs, buns, and sticks for roasting. He would set all of us up with a stick of our own, no waiting was his motto. Into the fire the wienies would go. We didn't care if they came out blackened to a crisp or just mildly warm. It was the atmosphere that made it so much fun. Of course we didn't know atmosphere at the time.

He always had marshmallows for roasting. Again, blackened or just a light tan. We didn't care.

We always stayed by the fire until a little bit after dark. He would then send us on our way. Some years we got lucky and were able to do this a couple of times before the snow came.

Whenever I smell fall in the air, I remember that special tradition of my childhood. Piles of leaves made it all possible.