What to do with Leaves

I'm confused. Some of my neighbors do some pretty wierd things with the autumn leaves on their property. We have lots of old trees in our neighborhood and as a result there are a lot of fallen leaves this time of year. Of course, this can be a bit of a danger to two wheeled vehicles. Danger Will Robinson!

Some of our neighbors do nothing and the leaves accumulate on their lawns and blow around the neighborhood as the wind blows.

Others, painstakingly rake up the leaves, put them in large trash sacks and set them at the curb for the trash haulers to pick up. To them, apparently leaves are a menace that need to be gotten rid of.

Still others employ the use of leaf blowers, the high tech device that blows anything and everything. They get out there and blow leaves around and rid their yard of the unsightly (their opinion) leaves that have accumulated. I do not own a leaf blower, but I do have an attachment for my 400hp, 16 gallon Craftsman Shop Vac that allows me to blow rather than suck. I have used it to blow leaves out of the garage, but not in the yard.

Some neighbors either rake or blow their leaves out of their yards and let them reside in the gutters in front of their homes. I do not think this is more attractive. And what do they think will happen to the leaves? I think they are just liable to blow back into their yard or into another neighbor's yard. Maybe they think that it will now be somebody else's problem.

At my house, we mow them down and turn the leaves into mulch. We may do this 3 or 4 times during the season. In my opinion there is not a better food for the grass. To me it is just nature's way of recycling organic materials. I am not opposed to leaves and do not consider them a threat, unless I am riding and come across a pile of wet leaves as I ride.

Then there is the neighbor right next to me. He owns a riding lawn mower. I don't have anything against riding lawn mowers, but I seriously question why he has to have one, other than a feeling of power and maybe laziness. His lawn is no bigger than mine, and I can do my whole yard in less than an hour, including the trimming.

He also has a leaf blower. Reminds me of Tim Allen on the old "Home Improvement" show.

More Power!

He actually gets his blower out and blows the leaves into the street in front of his house. Then he gets on his riding lawn mower and mows them down while they are in the street. He makes numerous passes to insure the only remainder is a fine degree of leaf dust to be absorbed by the asphalt of the street. Am I missing the logic here? And finally in remembrance of a certain BMW K-75 rider who just recently posted his own obituary. Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed