Dang it!

Mid-morning yesterday I finally took a coffee break, and meandered outside to peruse my back yard.  The sidewalk was covered with leaves still stuck to the concrete, they made quite a mosaic of ash and alder mostly, in icky shades of yellow, brown and very tired green.  As the little boy in the nanny commercial says disgusting.  I had wanted
to sweep them up, but sadly, my broom simply swished over the top of them plastering them tighter to the sidewalk.

I'd given up worrying about spider webs thinking the wind gusts and heavy rain had destroyed them and sent the spiders where ever it is spiders go this time of year.  So, I was taken by surprise when I walked through a web strung across the walkway from my potted birch to indigo bush.  I ruined it pretty badly, I could see the outline where my head had pushed through it.  I felt terrible, from the looks of the remains it must have been a thing of beauty because tiny dots of dew still clung to the part that  remained.

Anyway, I walked the yard, checked the chickens, and broke up a few twigs I found on the ground that I apparently missed from my weekend clean-up. I put them into the back yard bin I use for recycling, then headed back to the house to get back to work.

A while later Zorro started barking and pacing, wanting to go out.  Since I didn't have time to go out front with him I put him in the back.

As I opened the door I noticed a slight breeze had come up, and was greeted with a wonderful autumn surprise.  As Zorro scampered down the walk I caught sight of something marvelous.  There, with their stems caught in the remains of a strand of web, were two perfect, bright yellow, spade shaped birch leaves.  Each complementing the other, they were performing a magnificent ballet.  They twisted and turned in the breeze, sometimes at dizzying speed, sometimes gently. Then, as quickly as the dance began, it would cease, and the leaves would hang in stillness, waiting for the next act to begin.

I was mesmerized.  I could not stop watching.  Even after Zorro returned to the house, I could not tear myself away from this scene.  I was fascinated that the strand of web was so strong that it could support the weight of the leaves for so long.  Add to that, the fact the breeze was pretty strong at times made the scene even more miraculous.  How does nature do these things?  Why is it that most times we don't even bother to take the time to see them?  It was amazing.

Eventually I had to get back to my project, and last time I checked the leaves had apparently fallen to the ground.  In the afternoon my gardener came and with his gas powered blower cleared all the sidewalks...good bye leaves.  Well, shoot...I should have taken a picture of my ballet.  Dang it!