Do you love autumn? Like to see leaves turning yellow, red and orange? Enjoy raking leaves with your kids? Maybe walking through the piles?

Well, do we have a fun project for you.

On Sunday, Oct. 27, from 9 a.m. to noon at Rotary Park on Mercer Island (corner of 44th and 88th, just north of the MI Library and across from St. Monica’s), you can help create a “Leaf Labyrinth” and design “Landscape Art” with leaves.

Seriously. See the photo for an example. The Rotary Club of Mercer Island (RCMI), in collaboration with the Mercer Island Visual Arts League (MIVAL), the MI High School Interact Club and the help of the MI Parks and Natural Resources Department, will gather to do something really fun and special. This may be a “first ever” event on MI. (For more examples, click here).

We’ll rake leaves into rows, patterns, designs and whatever strikes your fancy and we’re inviting the public to come help us. Here are a few questions you might ask:

Why in the heck are you doing this?

In the past, our Rotary Club has done regular “clean ups” at Rotary Park, but that just meant we raked the leaves and piled them up to compost. This time, we’re going to be more creative. In these times of bad news around the world, we all need to have more fun. “Landscape Art” is one way to do that.

Is this a family-friendly event?

Absolutely! Kids are welcome, especially strong teens (who may need volunteer project credit). Little kiddos can help make the designs or walk/run through the labyrinth. We’ll provide snacks, pastries, doughnuts, coffee, water and maybe apple cider. Halloween candy is optional. If you want to bring a carved pumpkin to help decorate the site, please do. You can take it over to Mercerdale Park afterward for the city’s popular “Pumpkin Walk” that evening.

What about garden tools?

The city will provide rakes, gloves and wheelbarrows – or you can bring your own. But please mark your tools with ribbons or tape to make sure you get them back.

Who will design the leaf patterns?

We’ll do a “Leaf Labyrinth” in the center of the park, next to the Rotary Peace Pole. Anne Hritzay of MIVAL will lay out a template. As she says: “If we spread the leaves all over, it’s like a giant canvas. We’ll make the labyrinth a really ‘WOW!’ thing.” She adds that walking through the labyrinth near the Rotary Peace Pole is a chance “to ponder the possibility of peace in the world.”

But other leafy designs will be up to YOU. If your family or a group of friends want to do concentric circles of leaves around trees, or a snaky spiral along a path, just do it! Be creative! We want to bring out the artists inside everyone.

What if the leaves blow away in the wind?

They might, but so what? This isn’t permanent art or sculpture, but a kind of “pop up” project that won’t last forever. Our hope is that the designs stay for at least a week so people can come to see them and walk around the park.

What if it rains?

Again, so what? We Northwesterners are used to that, and a bit of drizzle will help hold the leaves in place so they don’t blow away. Just wear hats, rain jackets and waterproof boots or shoes.

What about the Seahawks game that day?

We’ll finish by noon so you can still be home for lunch in time to watch the game. Go Hawks!

Is there a deeper purpose in all this?

Maybe. You decide. Some say that the “land art” movement “helps in developing the relationship between humans and nature while enabling landscape, art, nature and architecture to coalesce.”

Nikola Faller, who specializes in making “charming, fleeting sculptures out of fallen leaves,” is our inspiration. “The paths, patterns, forms and words are drawn with a rake instead of a pencil, but the effect is the same, showcasing the power of art in just about any medium,” says his website.

Another well-known leaf artist, Andy Goldsworthy, uses leaves in different ways to create stunning results. His creations “are ephemeral and transient, subject to the forces of nature such as wind, rain, and time itself. This impermanence adds a profound layer of meaning to his art, reflecting the cyclical nature of life, change, and the passage of time.”

Come help. Get a new leaf on life.

John Hamer is a longtime Mercer Island resident and former Seattle Times editorial writer/columnist who doesn’t own a leaf blower. He used to practice “aerobic raking” until he threw his back out, so now he just urges other people to wield the rakes.