The joy of a pile of leaves

I raked leaves in most of the back yard late this afternoon, with 'help' from the boys. They had a lot of fun playing in the piles.

Watching them have such fun made raking a lot of leaves more enjoyable. There were a lot fewer than before we took down the rotting maple (I'd say about 1/3 as many).

They had so much fun sitting in the leaves, getting dirty and damp, not worrying about bugs. There is such joy in that innocence and naivete that we lose as we grow older and think about all the possible icky things (or dangers if we extrapolate).

Having kids is a great reminder that clothes clean and so do we. Enjoying the moment is something I would like to strive to do more. We have a pretty good life and are learning to be satisficers rather than perfectionists, so I think that will help. But one of the best ways I know is to look at the world through the eyes of a child. It's a cliche because it's true.