These are so beautiful, it’s a shame to rake them up.

John hauls them into the back yard where we used them to mulch all the rhododendron beds each year.

Roxie and I always marvel anew at just how big big-leaf maple leaves are.

And my precious little gingko.  I talk to all my trees, but this one gets a special thank you for never forgetting to turn yellow and remembering, when springtime comes around, that its leaves are supposed to be that amazing fan shape.

Gingkos are very slow growing, and I had to get one small enough to haul home in the Subaru, so I will not live to see this one grow up.  Strange to think, if I were to die today, people would say, “She had a good, long life.”  And that’s true.  Nevertheless, even when I’m not here to remind it, this beautiful tree will remember to make fan-shaped leaves and to turn yellow every October.