LEAVES OR BLOOMS

It doesn't mean you don't love both seasons. But it seems to me, more people love to see the leaves turn than when new buds sprout.

Granted, this sheer coverage of Autumn's display outshines the Spring kaleidoscope, but it still surprises me. I guess kids (and at least one dog) love to play in the leaves. After sitting inside on a beautiful sunny Summer day, kids will put down their Wii guitars and head out to play in the not so fresh air. Ruined by neighbors' burning of leaves, limbs, and logs long lain lingering untouched but soaked and wet and soupy. Thus the bad air.

And you can't play with blooms. Oh later in the Summer when dandelions offer their umbrella seeds to be spread by blowing by little kids. So, I guess Round Two also goes to Autumn. No matter how many dandelions, you can't rake them and jump on them.

Blooms offer no chance to make kid money either. Grass mowing later, but leaves offer the opportunity to rake, sack, and/or burn. Lots of neighbors are eager for that kind of kid help. Plus, you can never guess what you might unearth when you reach into a pile of yellow leaves packed by rain earlier in the week. A spider, and they're always bigger after Summer, a leach or two, maybe a snail, if you're lucky a snake. The possibilities are endless. Blooms may reveal a bee, but they're no fun.

So the jury returns its verdict. Fall is funner. But Spring has Summer to follow.