And just like that, Sunday’s snowfall disappeared leaving me a yard full of leaves that needed raking. I’d like to tell you that I jumped at the task with the energy and efficiency of a racing engine, but I didn’t. I got to it, but I did a little procrastinating first.

The task of raking leaves is the sign that we have fully embraced Autumn and know winter is coming. It is no wonder that in the absence of kids jumping into a leaf pile, it is a melancholy undertaking, more akin to meditation and contemplation than success and completion. The air was cold, my work gloves offered the barest of protection, but I reveled in the fact that the feeling of winter was not yet upon us. We still had time.

My Perfect Moment was not an inspirational idea born out of meditation, but rather the spotting of a rose that had somehow managed to bloom and retain its colour and vitality. It spoke to me. It is not winter yet.