So, one day a few years ago I was walking across campus early in the Fall Semester. One of the maintenance guys was in the quad raking leaves. Now, the quad had quite a few trees in it, so raking leaves was a pretty monumental job, and he was out there on his own tackling it.

I stopped, said hello to him, and went on to say something about what an arduous, thankless job raking the leave was. I looked around at all the trees, and said something about how many leaves were still up there, and how interminable it must feel to him.

He smiled at me, looked up at the same trees and leaves and said, “Oh no, Miss. That there is job security.”

It’s all how you see it. I’ve never looked at raking in quite the same way.

That brief conversation helped to nudge me to see more of life and the world around me as a gift – if only I have the eyes for seeing!