Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

Yesterday, as the interminable roar of a leaf blower shattered another peaceful morning, I happened to run across this passage by Rachel Peden in A Farmwife’s Almanac of Country Living, 1961:

“On the theory that example is better than precept, I went out yesterday to rake leaves. This is a job that must be done slowly, in a reflective mood. Also one must first locate the rake. I found it, finally, under the pile of leaves raked up last weekend, so the visiting small cousins would have a place in which to practice standing on their heads. Next, one must lean on the rake handle, admiring the scenery, the magnitude of leaf-fall and one’s own courage, the sunny autumn day, and life in general.”

David Dollenmayer

Edgartown