Are ye the ghosts of fallen leaves, O flakes of snow, for which, through naked trees, the winds a-mourning go?

The three big white oaks and the two big green ashes in the back yard create a lot of leaf litter. Piles and piles of it, and as the back yard is enclosed on all sides by shrubbery or evergreens, the piles pile up. Past years it has been a fun ritual to rake evrything in to huge piles and then load up the trailer (Sue stomping) to deliver multiiple loads to the city compost site. This year, us being one arm short, we hired help, and mission accomplished. Now, everything is ready for snow (as long is it comes before the ice freezes).

A beautiful 65 degrees today, so talk of winter seems premature. I find myself constantly wondering if we will actually have winter this year, and will it be harsh like the past two, or not, and when it will start, if it does? Bri reminded me that last year we were iceboating on Lac LaBelle over Thanksgiving.