"Helping" Dad Rake Leaves in Maryland

By Todd Cannon

As I remember it there were a lot of trees in the yard of the Maryland house.  The Fall that we were there when Karl was 4 and I was 3 I remember Karl and I "helping" Dad rake the leaves up.  Dad would rake leaves into a big pile then he would bury one of us in the leaves and say things like "Where is Todd/Karl? I don't see him anywhere. Maybe he went back inside with Mommy."  Then the one in the leaves would pop out of the leaves  and shout "Here I am!"  Dad would rake the scattered leaves into a pile again and we took turns doing this over and over.  I never remember the leaves actually getting bagged or burned or whatever it was that Dad would eventually do with them.  Probably because it happened after Karl and I really did go "back inside with Mommy."

Years later thinking back on this memory it occurred to me that this was not the most productive way for Dad to get the leaves raked up.  I have always been grateful that Dad took the time to do this with us.  I tried to do the same thing with Kristopher and Kayla when I raked the leaves at our house.  They did not see the appeal. Maybe because all we had were a few fruit trees with smaller leaves and it was hard to get a pile big enough to bury someone in.

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