I grew up in sunny Florida, where palm trees and live oaks don't lose their leaves.
After I moved to the D.C. area, I lived in rented housing until this year.
So... I have never raked a yard clear of leaves. Until yesterday. We have a huge oak tree out front and its three smaller counsins in back, and they protest the advent of winter by dropping all their leaves in a rust-colored blanket many inches thick.
That's not even counting the neighbor's disorderly maple trees.
My back hurts, my arms hurt, my neck hurts, and I'm not even done. I just moved everything into a bunch of medium-sized piles because I didn't have the strength to get it to the curb.
If I don't finish Wednesday morning, I'll be gone for Thanksgiving and those leaves will sit in their piles - or more likely, get strewn about by the wind - until December has locked itself in.
I think next year I'm getting a leaf blower.
Posted by wasylik at November 25, 2002 07:59 PM | TrackBack