The past day or so has been windy, and leaves have been raining from our trees. The back yard glows as if it's lit from within; golden leaves on the ground and the few still hanging from branches create a circle of light that brightens up even this rainy grey day.
Leaf-rakers and leaf-blowers and leaf-mowers are all busy trying to clean up the natural clutter; it's almost as futile as cleaning up after kids. Eventually the yard will be clean again, and so will the house, but in the meantime chaos, in the form of what looks like a mess, reigns.
Sometimes someone will assert that clutter (or a mess) is an indication of creativity, that it means someone is busy creating. I think it might be more accurate to say it's a sign of life, that someone or something has been busy living.
Perhaps those two are the same thing, creativity and life.