Some Late Leaf Gathering

The day after Christmas was cool, but sunny. I decided it would be a perfect day to get the leaves raked in the backyard. We had a pretty good snow right after Thanksgiving and the leaves were late in falling this year, so I didn't have a chance to get it done before then. 

It felt good to get out there and rake, to scrape the surface of the earth and get a whiff of wet dirt. 

I also got the ladder out to clean the gutters, and suddenly had some helpers. Ethan had never climbed a ladder before so he was very cautious. Then Sam came out (the fireman) and climbed right up on the roof. Ethan soon followed. They were up there surveying the neighborhood for quite a while. Having some "man time", I suppose.

Here are a few of the giant bags of leaves I raked. Is it just me, or do they seem to have personalities?