[Joyce Kilmer]
The first time I drag the rake out is downright enjoyable. Almost. Starts out that way, anyhow. Then the bugs start biting, and the miserable &*^%$ gnats start buzzing around my head, and make me feel like Schultz's dirty kid Pigpen. Then comes a pain here and an ache there, followed by a dry mouth, sneezing, and a runny nose. (And that's only five minutes into the job.) Next morning? Darned if the inconsiderate rat bastard leaves aren't ankle-deep all over again.
Know what? If I work hard enough at it, maybe I can forget about the exercise, and learn to ignore the leaves, no matter how deep they get. Like the cat in this picture. And like the cat I'm married to. (Smarticus thinks raking leaves is a monumental waste of time.)
On the other hand, I miss these trees. Palms. The kind we saw when we visited our family in Florida. This picture doesn't begin to do them justice, though. They looked so cool silhouetted against the dark sky and full moon. (And bonus! Nobody has to rake up after them, either.)
And I miss these trees, dripping with Spanish moss. (And okay, dripping with quarter-sized banana spiders, too, but hush... I'm on a roll.) Dramatic looking trees, aren't they? Just loverly...
(Just in case you've never seen a banana spider...)
To tell the truth, I wouldn't mind having to rake up all the leaves in our yard if our trees had the decency to put on a nice technicolor show for us first. Nope, not this year. This year, it's brown... then down. (and down and down and down...) Heck, some of the leaves are committing suicide while they're still green. Then they just lay on the ground, shriveling up into crunchy skeletal remains. No breath-taking color. No slow strip tease of leaves. Just big ol' dumps of brown (and green) leaves. (sigh)
Okay, I'll admit it. It isn't the leaf-raking that's turning me into a kvetching ol' fartessa. And it isn't really the Florida trees... or heat... or bugs... I miss.
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| It's the kids I miss. (Although the kid with the beard came home with me.) |
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| Princess Olivia is a little Southern belle. |
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| Three-month-old Atlas is a real heart-stealer. |
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| He sure stole mine. |
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| And big sister Jordan's. |
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| And grandpa's. |
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| Even big brother Josh thinks it's pretty neat to have another dude around. |
Oh yeah, Don't forget. You know what tomorrow is in the U.S., don't ya?
Don't forget to vote! If you don't vote, you can't kvetch about who wins the election.
Oh, wait! One more thing. Have any of you been experiencing difficulty changing your header picture? I go through all the usual steps, but the old picture is... still there. ( I really *need* to change the header to the yam with the Falcons banner before the team loses all chances of winning a couple more games this season. They (ahem) obviously *need* my support...)
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| Atlas dressed as a football. But don't worry. There were no spiral passes or spiking involved. |
Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other.
We have very few trees & the gardener rakes and/or blows!!
ReplyDeleteA gardener? How cool! If I ever win (oh yeah, gotta play first, right?) the lottery, I want a team of gardeners (gonna take more than ONE!) to turn our yard into a thing of beauty. Lots of flowers. No weeds. No raking. Sounds like heaven.
DeleteWow, that banana spider scared the crap out of me.....but I'll recover.
ReplyDeleteWow (again), I can really relate to this post. Having been raised in Southern California, I had no idea what raking leaves was all about. I sure learned when I moved away. The Ozarks had beautiful leaves and I didn't mind raking them.
BUT - here in the wilds of Texas it's a complete nightmare. ALL of my neighbors have gigantic trees and ALL of their leaves blow directly onto my property. It's like magic - - only black magic. I have to rake my ass off (so to speak) and none of the leaves are mine.
I'll have to write a blog post about this. This comment is getting too long and that's dangerous.
I like all the photos.
Glad to hear I'm not the only one whose enthusiasm for raking leaves isn't off the charts. It'd be even worse if the trees weren't growing in my own yard, though. That totally stinks. (I hope the trees at least provide you with plenty of shade in the summer.)
DeleteLuckily I don't have to rake as that is done by the owner... my leaves had the decency to change colors though... lots of red/oranges/golds :)
ReplyDeleteWell, good for you! You get to enjoy the show without having to do the clean-up.
DeleteI don't mind raking the first time, or sometimes the second, but then I begin to feel like Lady Macbeth - who knew trees had so many leaves on them ...
ReplyDeleteAnd I have grandsons old enough to believe the function of a heap of leaves is to play in them. Which I understand, and is fun the first time ... and maybe the second ...
HA! I'm glad I'm not the only one whose enthusiasm quickly wanes after the first or second time raking those seemingly endless leaves.
DeleteOur grandchildren all live out of state, so I've never experienced them jumping into leaf piles, but I sure do remember our kids doing it. Funny, but when we made THEM rake the leaves, they weren't so keen on jumping into the piles...
After you've gone through all the steps, do you scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on "save"? It's an easy enough thing to forget.
ReplyDeleteI don't rake leaves, out here there's just not enough of them, but I have a tip for you. Wait until all the leaves are down, then rake. Once. Done. Or just leave them, they'll mulch down and feed the soil.
Yeah, I do the save at the bottom, and then again, the "save installation" at the top. I don't THINK I'm doing anything differently than what I was doing before, but I'll have to play with it some more, I guess.
DeleteIf we didn't have so many huge trees, each dropping a ton of leaves, I might get away with the one and done routine, but there's SO MANY of them, I think it'd be overwhelming to try to tackle them all at once. Of course, I suppose I could spread the task out over several days... or a week. It's only in my own mind that I have to do it all in a single day. Keeping them swept off the porch, steps, and driveways, and letting them rot in place in the yard is becoming increasingly more appealing.
We don't rake leaves unless it's for fun. My daughter will sometimes rake a big pile, and then she and the dog play in it. (Our dog loves leaf piles.) But eventually the lawn boy comes by and chews them up with his mower and that's that.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures of your grandkids!
Wow, raking leaves for fun... what a concept! The fun wears off for me after the first couple hours, but I do remember all the silly shenanigans our boys went through when they were allegedly "raking." Took them forever just to do the front yard, and the trees were much smaller then. One Saturday after breakfast, my hubby told them they weren't gonna eat again until they raked the entire front yard. Since prior to that, they'd stretched the job out for days, this mama was a wee bit concerned that they were being threatened with missing a meal. No need. The little procrastinators were done well before lunchtime. All they needed was a little incentive.
DeleteThanks!
Love the colors, but hate them on the ground underfoot. Hubby uses the lawn mower. Spiders and bananas my new not so favorite thing!
ReplyDeleteUsing the lawn mower is starting to sound more like a viable option all the time... if all those darned leaves don't choke it to death. HA! Bananas are okay, but those spiders are something else. BIG. They're pretty, though, and their webs are quite impressive. (As long as I don't walk into them.)
DeleteOooooh..can't resist babies...or cats. Deal with leaves? We use the mower and bag them. Our leaves did the same thing this year...just sort of withered and fell. There wasn't much colour at all. Usually they are all down before Halloween but this year they are hanging on. Dang global warming.
ReplyDeleteOur leaves usually hang on until the end of the year, so I've got a lot more raking to look forward to. (Or a lot more "ignoring" to do.)
DeleteI will rake what i think is a manageable amount of leaves, but after 10 minutes they usually become unmanageable for my shoulders and back. Hubby likes the leaf blower but the noise drives me crazy. The past two years we have mostly left the leaves to the neighbor's teenage boys, who, for a reasonable fee, mulch those ever falling leaves out of sight.
ReplyDeleteYour family tree is lovely, Susan, with the addition of more and more leaves. Well done!
That's the problem. My body knows what's manageable, but I'm too stubborn to pay it any mind, because I just want to get the darned job done. (Even if it needs to be done all over again the next day.) Maybe it's time I consider looking for some neighborhood kid power, too.
DeleteThanks! Hey, I don't have anything to do with all those new leaves sprouting on the family tree. Must be something in that Florida and Alabama water...
BTW, I was having a lot of trouble with my computer, and especially, Blogger for over a month. There was something wrong with my Internet Explorer. My son switched me to Chrome and that enabled me to use Blogger again on my computer and to change my header picture. I have read comments from others who had similar problems and switched to a Chrome. I have also used Blogger Help to post a different problem and someone wrote back to me within an hour.
ReplyDeleteI switched to Chrome a long time ago, and you're right: it plays much more compatibly with Blogger than IE ever did. Thanks for the idea about Blogger Help. If I can't figure it out on my own, I've give them a shout.
DeleteNo trees for me
ReplyDeleteBut I'd let the wind do it for free
With such a big family tree
Sure you are a busy bee
No trees for you?
DeleteThat would never do.
Not for me;
I groove on sha-dy.
I love Atlas' football costume. Cute! All the pics are adorable and it's no wonder you miss them.
ReplyDeleteI voted this morning and honestly this ballot pic you have here said it all.
Atlas even had a hat to complete the outfit, but I didn't see any pictures with him wearing it.
DeleteYeah, me too. All we can do is hold our noses with one hand and touch the screen with the other.
No leaves to rake here and I have a gardener who rakes my gravel though.
ReplyDeleteLove all the photos and that is a very darling football.
cheers, parsnip
No leaves! Hmmm, I reckon that means not much natural shade from that brutal Arizona sun, too. Sounds kinda like a good news/ bad news scenario to me.
DeleteYeah, he makes an adorable football. The way he's growing, I guess he'll have to be a linebacker next year.
I love those drippy moss trees. We don't get enough leaves to rake, we can mow them all up. But growing up we had leaves piled thigh high. I'm an expert leaf raker/shoveler.
ReplyDeleteMe, too. Spanish moss can make any tree look dramatic.
DeleteACK! You don't get "enough" leaves??? Want some of MINE? You can rake here to your heart's content, and then you can come back in a few months to shovel the pollen...
I let the leaves fall. Sometimes the skinny one will mow them. And don't get me started about leaf blowers. Brain blowers. Noisy, smelly things...
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about those bloomin' leaf blowers. What a crummy way to ruin the serenity of a perfectly good morning.
DeleteI think I should add yada yada to some of my poems. It works. I have one tree that loses its leaves about the time January rolls around. I don't really want to rake the leaves, but if I don't, then Hot Young Anthony from next door comes over to do it and I feel guilty. Even when I try to clean them up, Hot Young Anthony usually sneaks over to finish up. Ah, the angst.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
You dirty birdie. If you feel too "guilty", send Hot Young Anthony up this-a-way. LOTS of leaves for him to enjoy up here.
DeleteWe left 60 years in Indiana to move to Florida, and it may as well be another continent. I thought I'd miss the changing seasons. I thought I'd miss winter. I don't. lol
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't miss cold weather, (not that we have much of that in Georgia) but the heat in Florida would get to me after a while. When we were down there... in OCTOBER, for heaven's sake... there were record-breaking high temperatures. The relentless sunshine is kinda nice, but ninety plus degree weather with high humidity ... in October... is a bit much. Then again, that's why God invented air conditioning...
DeleteThat cat in the last picture has the right idea!:-) Actually, we have very few leaves here, just some from the mulberry tree that my husband gladly rakes and adds to the compost heap. The neighbor has mulching blades for his mower, plus a blocking panel that keeps the leaves from being blown out the way the grass is blown when being mowed. He has a number of trees that shed leaves, but he doesn't rake them.
ReplyDeleteAhhh, a mulberry tree. That reminds me of when I was a little girl, and we had a couple of them in our yard. I don't remember raking their leave, but I do remember the double whammy from the berries. First one came from the birds who ate the berries, and then "decorated" the sheets hanging on the line. Second one came from my brother and me, who ran around the yard in our bare feet. If we didn't wash before we went to bed, WE stained the sheets. White sheets, of course. (Were there any other kind in those days?) My poor mother.
DeleteCute kids and precious little baby! I don't rake - we have a live oak tree. It sheds some of it's leaves in Feb-Mar and the wind blows away what the mower doesn't pick up...because we're cutting grass by then. I love to play with leaves like that cat :)
ReplyDeleteWow, it keeps its leaves that long? It must not stay nekkid for long. Wait! You said it sheds "some", so maybe it doesn't even get nekkid at all... huh!
DeleteHere in Texas we have a big live oak tree and it sheds in the spring and these are teensy leaves - very much a pain. I grew up in PA back in the olden days when we burned the leaves (gasp). Yep, I probably have black lung disease from weekends of smokefilled haze. But the color display was awesome before they came down. I think it keeps my 82 year old dad healthy - he rakes nonstop this time of year (and now bags and pays for a pickup)
ReplyDeleteHow about that? That's what Carol just said. I didn't know live oaks shed in the spring. (By that time, what's the point?)
DeleteI remember the wonderful long ago smell of burning leaves. Nobody around here does that any more, because our city actually sends a truck around the neighborhood every couple weeks to vacuum up the leaves! How cool is that? All we have to do is rake the leaves to the curb.
Wow! Good for your dad!
That little baby boy is a grandparents dream. All the kids look sweet and kissable.
ReplyDeleteI love any color leaves. Makes pure black gold in in compost boxes. This year there was a lot of red in my yard. Just emptied the compost boxes and have a huge pile of luscious dirt for the gardens in the spring. But I have to wheelbarrow it to the source. Yipes
He sure is. His daddy's dream, too.
DeleteNo compost box here. (Shame on me!) Our neighbor piles leaves and grass clippings all along his fence, but I guess he's just trying to make his own mountain, because he doesn't do any gardening. Oh well. Quite a few snakes call the "mountain" home.
Brown and down is such a bummer!! I was happy that in MN the leaves held strong this year and showed us beautiful, bright colors. Happy November!
ReplyDeleteTRACY!!!! SO good to hear from you again.
DeleteI'm glad you got your technicolor show this year. Knowing you, you've probably taken some gorgeous photos. Happy November to you, too!
Oh, Sus! Thank you so much for posting these pics! I was so happy to see Smarticus with the kids on his lap but then scrolled down and saw you with the littlest little one. This was such a sweet journey.
ReplyDeleteAnd I completely understand what it's like to miss vegetation. That makes deep, good sense to my heart.
I'm glad you liked the pictures. Kinda like looking into our family album.
DeleteDon't get me started on vegetation... and dirt. Did ya know it's possible to miss DIRT? The deep black soil of Maryland, so rich and peaty it smells like life. Here, we have mostly clay and granite.
I still remember when I used to climb up on trees. It was something my children started doing a few years ago, my daughter in particular. I love trees here in Britain. Not that I didn't like them in Cuba, butt he change of seasons affords me a rather peculiar privilege: that of bearing witness to the cycle of death and rebirth of plants. Lovely post and photos. Many thanks.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.
Ah yes, some trees are just MEANT to be climbed, don't you think? My tree-climbing days are long gone, but I sure climbed my share as a young girl. We even had a clunky tree house, complete with a Tarzan swing.
DeleteYou're right; the change of seasons is a ongoing example of the natural order of life and death.
Greetings back atcha from Georgia.
Love all the pictures!
ReplyDeleteLeaves? I'm in the land of palm trees. Mowing the lawn is about all I do, and pretending it's a workout is what gets me through it.
Thanks!
DeleteYou sure are. I LOVE palm trees. No matter how many times I've seen them, I still love the way they look. So exotic and graceful. You still enjoy them? (Well, yeah... you don't have to rake any leaves! DUH!)
SUSAN ~
ReplyDelete>>... Do you rake leaves, or do you let nature... or possibly a lawn mower... take care of them for you?
What are "leaves"?
I live in Phoenix where there is nothing but Palms, Saguaro, Dust, and Heat. I have to leave to see leaves.
That infant "football" costume is an instant classic. Ooh! I would have to try to resist every impulse to see how many yards I can still throw a baby and retain good form.
As for the voting... I think I'm finally done with it for good (unless the ancient Ron Paul ever ran for something again).
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
Palms and cacti would be kinda cool, but the dust and Arizona heat, I could do without.
DeleteIf you ever throw a baby, better make it a "short" pass.
Tsk, tsk, tsk. Done with voting already? Don't like settling, huh?
Leaves with no color? Blaaah. No leaf problem for me this year but in the front yard is a huge magnolia that drops hundreds, nay, thousands of cones into the yard and onto my car. Try raking those frigging things. You'll never complain again.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I know. A real rip-off. Okay, your magnolia cones are pretty bad, but I'll see your cones and raise ya three sweet gums and a couple oaks. Gumballs (AKA nature's spiked weapons) and acorns everywhere!
DeleteAww look at the baby!!
ReplyDeleteI rake and use the blower. And it takes all day. Then the next day it's like I never did a thing. I wait a few days and do it again. A third time will do it for the year.
The neighbors have fancy mowers with leaf bags, their yards always look great. We have a rider but not a bag/box for leaves, and so I rake/blow. It's a big deal, lol I like the blower though because too much raking tears my hands up w/blisters, even w/the big gloves.
I'm not a fan of the blower, so I stick with the rake. My hubby uses the blower, though, to get the leaves off the roof.
DeleteAs for blisters. I put preventive band aids on the areas that are likely to blister, and that little extra padding under the gloves usually does the trick.
Dear Susan,
ReplyDeleteraking up leaves is hard business - as I know from Hamburg, where we had one huge beech in the front park of the house (no typo - I mean park, not part) - and it stood on a slope, and I filled about 13 big, big sacks with them - couldn't let them rot on the lawn. Here in Berlin the Stadtwerke do a huge job with all those alleys (Berlin is the town with most trees in Germany). And colourful: this autumn was too short, too warm - it happened so quick: beautiful vine-leaves one day - next day they lied on the ground.
You have beautiful grandchildren!
DeleteFor me, the best thing about raking is admiring how much better the yard looks when I'm done. (For a few minutes, anyway.)
DeleteThanks!
Hi Susan .. I might take the bearded one home too?! Such lovely photos - having a new littlie in the family is always fun .. hope once the leaf raking is over you can get back to Florida for more grandparenty visits.....
ReplyDeleteLove the photos .. our leaves are still on - one tree came down, but the leaves are there - they worry me slightly .. that tree will squash my car, and possibly say hello through the window - but I rent .. so I take the rough with the smooth - and fall over instead!
Raking leaves I do remember is hard work and never ending, but enjoyable - well not for the bugs .. and I did see a mozzie here this a.m. - it's still so warm ..
Cheers and hope you can still stand after the raking!! Happy autumnal times .. Hilary
Good choice. The bearded one is potty trained and very handy around the house... (But sorry, you'll have to find your own. HA!)
DeleteThat's the thing. In spite of all the raking I've been doing, there's still a TON of leaves left on the trees. Oh well, I need the exercise, I need the exercise, I need the exercise...
Cheers! And a very happy autumn to you, too. Or since I'm in Georgia, I should say, "Happy Fall, Y'all."
Aww, such beautiful kids & babies. I'm sure it was so hard to leave them...oooh, no pun intended w/ the "leave."
ReplyDeleteSo...I saw your review of Divine Temptation. :) I love every word of it and want you to know that it was a lovely breadcrumb for me right when I needed it. Thank you, and I'm happy you enjoyed it.
Thanks. HA! Yeah, it's always hard to "leave" the grands.
DeleteI'm glad you liked the review. I'm so sorry I didn't write it sooner. I read your book right after Janie featured you... and it... on her blog. (I THOUGHT I reviewed it back then, but evidently, I thought wrong!) Oh well. A second reading was even more enjoyable. Happy to toss you some crumbs, kiddo, and I'd be happy to throw some more your way whenever you need 'em.
Ahhh, leaves! "Autumn Leaves" was one of my mother's favorite piano pieces. Hmm, let's see, growing up we had Live oaks, yipes, pointy leaves that irritate, but far enough away from the house we didn't rake them . . . but better leaves from various leaves later than the scrub pine at my mother's house later. But have I raked leaves with a rake? OMG, yes! Don't have a blower but eye them in Home Depot for when we move to NC. Live in a condo now . . . no raking leaves . . . but if I ever live in a condo again, lock me up!
ReplyDeleteOh but Atlas is a gorgeous baby! And so alert for his tender months. Love how he holds his head up. Yep, I can understand why part of your heart is in Florida.
Hmmmm, "Autumn Leaves" is a wonderful song. Too bad it didn't occur to me to include a recording of it on this post. It would have been the perfect choice.
DeleteGotcha! I grew up in a massive community of row homes, so I don't think I'd want to move into a condo, either. I'd rather rake leaves and gum balls than give up our elbow room and privacy.
Thanks! With all those big sisters and brothers around, he's GOTTA be on the alert so he doesn't miss anything. Plus, what with the weight of the world being on his little shoulders and all...
What a gorgeous family! Atlas is one handsome little guy, and his outfit is awesome. Brings a whole new meaning "football uniform."
ReplyDeleteI'm not a yardwork gal and haven't raked a leaf since I left Northern California eighteen years ago. The task has always fallen to someone else. However, I have swept many a porch leaf. Does that count?
Honestly, I love leaves on and off trees as long as they're dry. If they're wet, or worse, icy, I have a habit of slipping and giving them an unintentional and very personal introduction to my backside.
As for leaf blowers, I can't stand them. I've seen men—and it always seems to be men for some reason—chase a single leaf around for fifteen minutes on an otherwise clear driveway with one of those noise polluting monstrosities. Yes, I've been known to pick up a piece of debris my vacuum can't reach and instead of putting it in the trash, I throw it back down where I can vacuum it up. What's your point? ;)
VR Barkowski
Wow, no leaf-raking for eighteen years?! Lucky you. For a few years, we used "kid power", but once they were all out on their own, since nobody else was waiting in line for the privilege of taking the job over, it reset to the default mode. Me. However, I'm pleased to say, I haven't had to use a snow shovel in forty-two years...
DeleteHA! I've seen men doggedly pursue a single leaf with a blower before, too. Too funny, especially when more leaves continue to rain on the ground all around them.
Well, then, I reckon I'mm make like a tree now and... leave.
I'mm???? Oops. Should be I'll... (DUH! Shoulda proof-read!)
DeleteI voted! *iz proud*
ReplyDeleteCute blog you've got here. Thanks for stopping by my place and for trying one of my books! I greatly appreciate it. I hope you persevere in the battle of the leaves.
Good for you!
DeleteThanks. My pleasure. I promise to write a review after I read it.
Ah, but there is little choice but to persevere in the battle of the leaves. If not me, then who...? (Damn it.)
The first time I drag the rake out is downright enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way about windy days. Many autumns, if I am lucky, most of the leaves from my trees end up several houses down the street.
HA! It'd be nice if all the leaves would simply get "gone with the wind," but with Murphy's Law being such a big part of my life, everybody else's leaves would probably blow into OUR yard.
DeleteCute pictures! And I think you've killed my interest in seeing those Spanish moss trees--no thank you banana spiders... :) We've had the rake out lots this year, and now the snow shovel (bleh). On to the eternal Montana winter.
ReplyDeleteThanks! But, Meradeth... where's your scientific curiosity? Those spiders are reeeeeally neat-looking, and completely harmless.
DeleteGiven a choice between the rake and the snow shovel, I'll stick with the rake. I wouldn't mind visiting snow for a brief while, but I don't want to LIVE with it, OR shovel it. Yep, raking ain't all that bad, after all.
I was wondering where all the fall color was. Everybody told me autumn was so pretty in Georgia. I was kind of disappointed with all the brown. Good to know it's not always like this. Love the pictures of the little guy!
ReplyDeleteIt's been pretty dismal so far, hasn't it? The best place to see color around here is in the north Georgia mountains. Even when it's drab in the flatlands, there's usually some eye-popping color up there.
DeleteHi Susan,
ReplyDeleteAll those photos and the very essence of domestic bliss, methinks. Lovely photos, all of them.
Of course, I'm not going to start going into pun overdrive. It would be ridiculous to note what a treemendous post this was. Cedar trees? Yes I do! Fir sure, I do. I know, the oak's on me. Do palm trees really have palms? I shall hand that thought over to you. Susan, seriously, you do the most excellent of posts. I pine for your posts.
Gary :)
HA! And I pine for your punny comments. Most excellent, dear sir.
ReplyDeleteoh, How I yearn to be that kitty in the leaves :) Great pics with the younglings, Suze!
ReplyDeleteIt'd be nice to be as carefree and full of fun as that kitty, but the leaves are full of... bugs. So I'll leave crawling though them to the cat. Bugs gnaw on me more than enough without me delivering myself to their proverbial doorstep. HA!
DeleteIn the '60s, when Willie was my English teacher, we enjoyed the following exchange:
ReplyDelete"Can anyone tell me what James Joyce wrote besides 'Ulysses'?"
"'Trees'."
"No Geo., 'Trees' is a poem by Joyce Kilmer."
"Never heard of her."
HA! Even though I have a feeling you used poetic license, so to speak, to make that up, I still love it.
DeleteHi! Sorry for the lateness -- I missed your blog post in my blogger reader. But I totally understand your leaf-revulsion. Well, maybe not really leaf-revulsion, it's more like a raking-revulsion.
ReplyDeleteI don't rake. I'm fortunate to not have too many trees in and around my yard (although the neighbor's oaks can be a pain when the wind blows just right), but my solution is simply to mow 'n' mulch.
Use the God-given miracle of gasoline-powered, whirling-blades of awesomeness and you can turn all them leaves into confetti-sized fertilizer and the problem's solved.
;)
And awesome grand-kid pictures!
Late? There's no such thing as "late" in the blogosphere.
DeleteMy hubby's in the mow and mulch camp, too, and when I get too sick and tired of wielding a rake, I'll let him have at it.
Thanks. The pics are okay, but the kids are definitely awesome.
These are lovely pictures. Thank you for sharing them:-)
ReplyDeleteMadison
Thanks, Madison. I'm glad you enjoyed them.
DeleteI do rake leaves the old fashioned way - but sometimes the job doesn't get done til the next spring...
ReplyDeleteHA! Sounds like a pretty good compromise. Let 'em feed the lawn a little while, and then clear 'em away.
DeleteI used to love playing tackle football in the leaves with my big brother and his friends many moons ago! I think I tried playing with my kids when they were little, but they had more fun without me. Your grandchildren are absolutely adorable, and it's no wonder how much you miss them! I love that Baby Atlas was dressed as a football!
ReplyDeleteJulie
Tackle football, huh? You musta been a tough kid. When boys and girls played together in our neighborhood, we either played touch or flag. When the touch got a little too... uh, "touchie"... we knew it was time for us to stop playing football together.
DeleteHi Susan,
ReplyDeleteVisiting from Geo's blog. Your comment there cracked me up, funny Lady:-)
Hi-ya. Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment. I will now return the favor...
DeleteTrees have a kind of wisdom that enchants me.
ReplyDeleteI can spend hours contemplating a tree. There is wisdom embedded in its branches. There are messages that come through them.
Poems are not trees but the messages of a tree can be entwined with a poem.
I don't know about wisdom, but they certainly embody strength, beauty, and resilience. Some of them are so beautiful, they about take my breath away. Even a dead barren tree can be incredibly atmospheric and soul-stirring. I love that last sentence of your comment.It has a certain poetry of its own.
Delete