What was once a beautiful sight . . .
. . . becomes a mess and a chore.
SWMBO and I spent yesterday morning raking and gathering the leaves from our red maple tree.
They are beautiful when freshly fallen.
But all that raking and bagging I could do without.
We filled five large bags and it did make a difference.
But the wind has come up and we know we'll have more work to do before the season ends.
There are other trees of a different variety and they all shed their leaves on their own schedule.
When I was a kid we used to enjoy raking and piling the leaves in the street just off the curb and then burning them.
The smoky fires left a smell in the air that lingers in my mind as a memory of a simpler era.
We're not allowed to burn leaves now so they fill bags which in turn fill dumpsters which in their turn are hauled away by the garbage trucks.
And the wind blows and the leaves fall and the transitions continue.
I hear ya. I am not a fan of leaf raking either.
ReplyDelete,
I noticed your yard was naked when I walked last night. I missed all that red on the ground. I have an odd tree in the backyard that turns purple and drops all the leaves at once. In a nice ring around the trunk.
ReplyDeleteI also remember my dad raking all the leaves to the curb and lighting them on fire. Turned all of us street kids into pyromaniacs at an early age. We roasted potatoes and apples in aluminum foil in the blaze. Ah, those were the days.
No sympathy from up north. We've now collected over 80 bags of cottonwood, elm and locust leaves and there's still more work to be done. The apple trees have not shed a leaf yet but they're next. It was 80 here yesterday but its starting to snow in the mile high city.....long overdue
ReplyDeletetim
The old burning disposal method was the best, except for your health and the environment, but when you don't know any better who cares
ReplyDeleteI don't miss having a yard and raking leaves. It's nice watching someone else do it.
ReplyDeleteA nice photo essay. I remember those days. Autumn does invoke nostalgia. We driver over the Santa Lucia range into Paso and see beautiful autumn leaves and can even kick through them in the park as people wear caps, mufflers, jackets. Then we drive back to the coast. BTW, all of the raking and bagging must work up an appetite for one of SWMBO's scrumptious creations.
ReplyDeleteI live in the country and the trees are called woods and nobody rakes leaves. They blow and eventually rot and become part of the soil. But while driving through town today, I smelled burning leaves. If only the temperature hadn't been 78 degrees, I might have enjoyed the progression of the seasons. We are expecting near-record highs today, with a cold snap moving in tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous fall colours!
ReplyDeleteWe're lucky that we don't have trees in our yard (well, we have the maple that we let grow from a seed - it has about 50 leaves total - ha!).
ReplyDeleteIt's good for health, it's good for composting, it's good for the eyes and for the mind... what are you complaining about?
ReplyDeleteI have to go steal more for the compost tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteCome on down!!!
ReplyDelete