Burning Leaves

As the beauty of fall (we say that despite the overwhelming depression we feel that summer is over) envelopes us, we curmudgeons are all agreed - where the hell is the smell of burning leaves? That was the core of fall - it surrounded high school football games, Halloween and sustained us on into Thanksgiving.

Today? Nada. Loud town vacuum trucks poking along the roadside at a snails pace mucking up traffic. Back in the day, leaf piles would shrink roads just like heavy snowstorms plowed to the sides still do. But the namby-pamby tree hugger crowd whined about pollution and such and in one fell swoop eradicated an incredibly indelible association with fall and youth.

And, Lord knows, curmudgeons can always use a dose of youth.