By DAVID EPPS
Pastor

Fall is here once again. The temperature is starting to drop, and there is a refreshing crispness to the air. The nights are getting cooler, and the leaves are starting to change color.

Many are just waiting, trying to time it just right for that trip to the north Georgia mountains. Moms and dads will leave the kids with relatives and escape to the mountains for a romantic getaway. They'll enjoy the peace and serenity that only getting back in touch with nature can bring.

If they're lucky and time it just right, the colors of the changing leaves will be at their peak. Many a picture will be taken and enjoyed for years to come.

Me? I'm staying right here. I'm waiting also. I'll be watching the leaves change on the old oak tree out back. But, I'm watching for a different reason. I'm watching and waiting for them to fall. Yes, after they hit the ground is when I'll get back in touch with nature and have my fun.

Growing up, the house we lived in sat on top of a hill with a back yard that sloped down and bottomed out at the edge of a swamp. The only tree in the back yard was The Great Oak, which sat at the leading edge of the swamp. The Great Oak was the tree we had built our fort in the summer before ­ a tree fort that no girls were allowed in. It was also the tree that The Sister crashed into when she broke her ankle playing the Giant-Tractor-Tire-Ride game.

The Great Oak Tree was simply that great. The tree got its name 'cause it was the biggest tree in our yard. It was the biggest tree any of us had ever seen - anywhere. All of us boys (Big Brother James, Older Brother Richard, Twin Brother Mark and me) together could barely reach our arms around it. Its huge branches stretched halfway cross the swamp, and halfway across our back yard.

Just before Halloween, Dad would bring out the rakes and have all of us rake up the leaves into a big pile. Seems it always was on a Saturday, right after we had broken something in the house and made Mom mad. But we didn't care, we like raking leaveswell, kinda.

After Mom calmed down, she and Dad would load the last of the summer seasons crop of vegetables into the green station wagon with wood panels. When they headed to the Georgia Farmer's Market to trade, we headed to the back yard left behind to finish raking up the leaves from the Great Oak Tree.

We spread out over the yard, raking leaves for the next hour. We didn't stop 'til we raked every leaf into a huge pile at the base of the Great Oak Tree. That's when the fun began.

At first, we would take turns running down the hill and diving into the pile of leaves. But soon, it became a free-for-all and every kid for himself. From his living room window, Neighbor Thomas saw what was going on, and ran out to join us; unfortunately for me, he brought Down-the- Street Bully Brad with him.

Our town was a small southern town where everyone knew everyone. And like most small towns, someone had to be the town bully, and in ours that would be Down-the-Street-Bully Brad. I knew Brad was still mad at me for last week's Jell-O incident at school, so I hid in the pile of leaves when I saw him walking across the yard.

About that time, Big Brother James said, "I got a great idea. Why don't we pile up the leaves under the tree fort and jump out? It's only ten feet. Nobody's gonna get hurt." Every time Big Brother James says "no one's gonna get hurt," someone does. This time I hoped it would be Down-the-Street Bully Brad. As luck would have it, such was not the case.

While everyone was arguing about whether it was a good idea to be jumping out of the tree fort onto the huge pile of leaves, Down-the-Street-Bully Brad got closer and closer. Just as he got within kicking distance of where I was hiding in the leaves, Big Brother James said those magic words, "Y'all ain't chicken are ya?"

With that, I jumped up out of the leaves and yelled, "I ain't chicken!" and scampered up the rope ladder to the top of the fort, scaring Down-the-Street Bully Brad in the process. Startled, Down-the-Street Bully-Brad fell backwards over the Giant Tractor Tire and right into the swamp! When Brad got up out of the water, everyone was laughing at him, but he didn't seem to care. He was too busy looking for me.

When Brad started to climb the rope ladder, I knew there was only one thing to do, so I started to throw everything I could at him. Unfortunately for me, jumbo marshmallows, stale as they were, didn't seem to slow his progress much. As he neared the top of the rope ladder, my only chance for escape was to jump out the window onto the huge pile of leaves below. As Brad climbed in, I leaped out the window and landed on the nice soft rock that was under the huge pile of leaves.

Dad came around the corner to the sounds of screaming most of it coming from me. He told Down-the-Street-Bully Brad to go home, Neighbor Thomas to help my brothers rake up the leaves and took me to the hospital to get stitched up, but I didn't care. I was safe from Down-the-Street-Bully Brad for another day.

The Boy won't understand when I ask him to invite a couple of his friends over next week for a Halloween party in our back yard. He won't understand why, when they arrive, I will hand each one a brand new leaf rake or why I'll tell them to make one huge pile of leaves at the bottom of the hill under the old oak tree. But, when they finish raking all the leaves, I think they'll understand what to do next. They should be fairly safe and have lots of fun. I checked for rocks, I pulled up the rope ladder to the tree fort, and I'm fairly sure Down-the-Street-Bully Brad is nowhere around.

[Rick Ryckeley is employed by the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services. He can be reached at saferick@bellsouth.net.]

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