My neighbor passed away recently, and the last thing he sent me was this article, saying:
Nelson,
Just like you said, Leave the Leaves.
Say hi to the baby.
I don't normally share the New York Times, but this one is special to me.
One thing I learned from the article is that leaves are useful to wildlife all year round, there's no time of year where you can destroy or remove them without hurting creatures living in them.