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George Cooper wrote a little poem that I really like about October. 

It goes like this: “October gave a party. The leaves by hundreds came — The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples, and leaves of every name. The Sunshine spread a carpet, and everything was grand. Miss Weather led the dancing, Professor Wind the band.”

He called this poem, “October party.” I think year after year that October has that party right in my backyard. 

Even though I no longer have my big maple tree in my yard, I get leaves that I think come by the thousands and seem to land on my deck in my backyard from my neighbor’s trees.

Professor Wind seems to love dancing around and swirling the leaves until they make a carpet of leaves from my driveway into my doorway.

Now, I have heard that other people have this problem, too. However, don’t you just love fall weather? 

As I’m writing this, today is Wednesday, and the weather offered a picture-perfect day.

The sunshine was out. The temperature seemed to be perfection itself, and even though a pandemic was going on, it was not uppermost in my mind for a while, much unlike the gloomy-looking day that Tuesday was. I felt today was what the doctor ordered.

If you are able to get out and drive around or ride with someone to see the changing of the trees at this time of year it has to take your mind off the pandemic if even for a short while.

I remember how I learned more about the different types of trees there were during this time of year. My daddy was very good at teaching me and my siblings how to identify the trees by their leaves. I still have trouble with the beech tree leaf.

In the 4-H club, we used to do projects to identify the different types of leaves. Even today, I still try to identify the leaves that I see fallen on the ground. I think this would make a great project to give your kids today and see how many they can identify. It would be a great project to do with a parent and create some bonding time.

I never realized how much I valued my daddy teaching me leaves until I was older with children of my own.

There have been many poems written about leaves. If I were to write one it would have to be about leaves and life. 

Leaves remind me so much of life and how we start life much like a leaf from a seed planted in our mother’s womb. 

We then turn into a tiny bud inside our mother’s womb. We grow until we are ready to push forward as a sprout or a green leaf. 

We are green to the world, and like a fresh green leaf, many obstacles come our way. 

We as humans depend on mankind to nurture us and help us flourish. A leaf has to depend on nature and sometimes on mankind to be able to grow. It has to be given water and nourished much like a baby needs milk. If it is lucky, it can get to enjoy the sunshine of life. If we are lucky, so do we. 

Once we begin to age, it starts to show on a human and so it does with a leaf. We wither and dry up, the weather can make a difference in our lives sometimes causing us pain through arthritis as we too age. 

Then we are blown away much like the wind does a leaf. 

For many of us, our life has taken us to places we never dreamed we would go, much like a leaf that has traveled from yard to yard. 

Then the leaves are raked up but some leave new seeds for a whole new forest. Some of the humans leave new seeds for new generations. 

However, much like the trees from which the leaves came, there may be pictures of giant oaks and maples where picnics were held or children played and the tree or the child were never forgotten. I have seen where picture after picture has been taken under a beautiful old tree.

It will not be long before our beautiful trees will be bare. Let us enjoy them and life every day.

There is also a certain beauty with a tree with every season of its life. In the winter it is so pretty to see the snow glistening on the trees. We too have a certain beauty in our lives with every season of our life.

Sue Staton is a Clark County native. She is a wife, mother and grandmother.