Fall is my favorite season

Black Tea in the Afternoon

I sipped hot tea while I stood at the living room windows and admired the industriousness of my neighbors.
There they were, with rakes and black plastic bags, corralling that riot of yellow, orange, red, and brown into slowly shifting piles.
I thought about how I should grab my rake and lend them a hand.

It's not really cold enough yet to sip hot tea throughout the day but I don't adjust well.
I'm fairly convinced it should be cold outside, and so my feet freeze even if it's moderately warm.
Sighing in resignation of this, I put down my tea and dug my rake out of the garage.
I raked and piled, shifted and herded, until most of the color disappeared into my bag.
I worked down a bit from the rest of the crew, until the very end.
And then, as we stood around making small talk, I had to turn my back to the wind.
Polite chatter filled the air as the temperature made itself felt, the rain began to fall, the wind blowing through the trees.

So I sipped hot tea while I stood at the living room windows, watching the trees rain a riot of color onto the sidewalk.
I smiled to myself when the street was obscured again.