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.
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Robbie the Robot doesn't have eyes, but you can still see the lecherous look on his face.
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky and unlucky when it comes to leaves. The city in which I live drives around and vacuums up our leaves(lucky)and turns them into mulch along with tree limbs and Christmas trees, but I must first rake the leaves to the curb (unlucky) which takes up the better part of a day that I could be doing something else, such as exploring unknown roads on two wheels. GAW
jim3485:
ReplyDeleteI never could figure out why it was better to be blowing all those leaves around either. Much better to rake them up and dispose of them. Here, then just leave them on the street where they go to mush/disintegrate and eventually float away which makes for dangerous riding. I don't have a riding lawnmower either.
bob
bobskoot: wet coast scootin
Dear CPA3485 (Jimbo):
ReplyDeleteI have some kind of a shop-vac that I got at Home Depot (on one of the rare occasions I bought anything there) where the motor on the top detaches and becomes a handheld leaf blower. I only bother with the driveway, getting layers of damp or loose leaves blown over to the woodpile, where the lawn people will collect and remove them when they do both front and back yards.
The trees here are such that the gardeners will fill one of two trailer-loads of leaves and still have to come back one more time. I have reached a point in my life where leaf collection is a fleeting pleasure.
"Lost In Space" was one of my favorite series in the early days of television (with cheesey sets and aliens in rubber suits), if only to see how Jonathon Harris (DR. Smith) would screw over the Robinson family. It's nice to see action figures with hooters.
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Jack • reep • Toad
Twisted Roads
I hate to admit but I can remember watching Lost in Space after school. Do you really have a 400hp shop vac? I have got to get me one of those!
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely correct. That wet leaf mush can be bad for riders. Timely warning.
Jim, I'm with you - I mulch them with the mower. I'll even blow them onto the grass so my son can get them with the mower. I just can't seem to keep up with them though.
ReplyDelete