Taking a peek from the kitchen window, an eager three-year old girl watches her Dad and older brother working in the backyard. With the final, late autumn rush of fallen leaves completed, they are raking up the annual harvest.
Bursting with excitement, Lydia enjoys the pile of colorful leaves growing wider and deeper. She asks her Mom, “May I go out in the backyard to play?”
In the meantime, Dad and brother have moved to the front yard to clean up the few remaining leaves hiding under some bushes. The enormous leaf pile is waiting for a little princess to share her imagination.
With permission granted, Mom makes sure her precious daughter is wearing a jacket. There is a subtle crispness to the autumn afternoon’s air. The jacket’s collage of color will make a pretty complement to the orange, red, yellow, and rust colors of the leaves.
Dashing out the back door, Lydia sprints as fast as her three-year old legs will allow. Upon reaching the mountain of leaves, she dives right into the middle. Quickly, she begins swimming, and her helicopter arms swish the leaves away.
Sitting in her newly formed crater, she feels like a captain of a ship. Surrounded by a protective ring of color, she looks to be quite in charge.
Suddenly, she is joined by her older sister. Now Lydia can enjoy her autumn paradise even more. The two girls, several years apart in age, create their own universe in the backyard.
Swimming and thrashing about, the leaves begin to scatter. What could make this even more fun?
Mom arrives with her answer, as she jumps right into the middle of the playful scene. Now the trio of ladies has fully taken over the once mountainous pile of leaves. With each animated action, the depth of the pile shrinks as it scatters wider and wider.
Eventually the laughter and fun invite Dad and brother. As they approach the backyard to see what’s up, they stop and smile. True, their hard work has been strewn about, but family fun like this only comes along once a year.
They both join in with the others. Leaves are being thrown in the air, and bits and pieces cling to hair and clothes. In the middle of it all, smiles an innocent-looking three-year old. Her precious expression says it all, “Can we do this tomorrow?”
Big Sky Buckeye 
Adorable! It brought me back to that pile of leaves our children enjoyed in our front yard in San Mateo, CA. They were about that same age!
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Jan, thanks for your kind words. Little children just love playing in piles of leaves. The picture at the end of the story is one taken about a year ago of my youngest granddaughter.
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A lovely story!🌟
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Susan, thanks for sharing. Anytime I can write something about family, it is a pleasurable experience. The photo at the end of the story is my youngest granddaughter.
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That sounds like so much fun!
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I wish I could share in the fun. Thanks for reading and sharing.
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So cute
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Susie, thanks for reading and sharing. I wish I could join in such fun. My granddaughter is in the photo at the end of the story.
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That’s what I love the best.
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Richard, your granddaughter is a cutie! I can imagine she has grown a lot since then! Family fun is always so precious! Oh yo be a kid again! 😁
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*oh to be a kid again! 🍁🍃🍂
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Renee, thanks for sharing your kind words. She’s definitely a heart stealer.
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Aww! Love this, Mr. B! Yep. I remember doing exactly the same as a little princess with the leaves from the giant Poplar tree. So sweet your granddaughter. Thank you for sharing such joy and laughter. I still to this day enjoy raking leaves and making piles.
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Nina, your words are so kind of you to share. The photo inspired me to craft this story. Blessings to you with your education and training.
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this shot absolutely captures her sheer joy and sense of fun that started it all … I was so relieved when dad and bro joined in!
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There was only one way to end the story . . . with the entire family thrashing around in the leaves. My granddaughter is indeed precious (photo was taken a year ago when she was about 2 1/2 years old).
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she sounds like a bundle of fun and obviously a great influence on her entire family … amazing for one so young 🙂
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How precious!!
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Thanks Jim. The “star” of the story is indeed precious.
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💚💚💚👍💚💚💚
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Brings back a lot of memories😊 Thank you!
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Thanks Stu. I am pleased this story encouraged some memories.
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