Throwback Thursday: Spiritual Lessons from Spring Clean-up!

Above photo: Gracie and I were hard at work in the backyard last year

I’m currently in the middle of my Spring yard cleanup campaign, which involves A LOT of raking. So I thought it would be appropriate to republish this post from March 28, 2022, which has been revised.

Followers of this blog know that every Fall, I whine on and on about my arduous Leaf Collection Campaign. Every November and the first couple of weeks of December, much of my spare time is consumed with collecting all of the leaves that fall from the oak trees in our yard and from those in neighbors’ yards bordering our property (Argh!). This last campaign, I hauled 50 tarpfulls of leaves to the curb, which was lower compared to my usual 60.

Anyway, I had 3 months to convalesce and now I’m in the middle of the Spring Clean-up Campaign. That entails:

1. Collecting all of the large branches and twigs that fell throughout the Winter.
2. Picking up all of our dog’s droppings from the last 3 months.
3. Raking the lawn thoroughly with a metal rake to remove small twigs, acorns, dead grass, “snow mold,” and all leaves leftover from the Fall.
4. Using a metal rake to carefully remove all of the leaves that accumulated in the ivy and pachysandra patches in the yard.

I’ve completed steps #1 and #2 and I’m methodically still working on #3 and #4. Our lawn is about 1/2 acre and raking the entire area is a lot of work for a senior citizen. So far, I’ve brought 9 very full paper lawn bags to the curb. I collected most of the leaves in the ivy and pachysandra last Fall so there’s not a lot to collect this Spring.

The good thing about Spring Clean-up is I get to be outside and breath lots of fresh air after being cooped up inside for three months. I also get to listen to good sermons via my iPhone and earbuds while I’m working.

A spiritual lesson often comes to mind when I’m raking in the Spring. As I drag the metal rake over the grass, it removes unwanted objects, but it’s also stressful on the grass. I’m not one who credits plants with having feelings, but if they did those grass blades would be letting out a big “Ouch!” every time I dragged that metal rake over them. While the raking is stressful to the grass, in the big picture it’s very helpful as I’m removing dead grass (dethatching) and exposing more of the soil to air and moisture for a healthier lawn.

The Bible says that God has us go through difficulties and trials to refine us to be more like Jesus Christ. We often accumulate bad habits and attitudes in our lives that need a good cleaning out. When the negative attachments are removed, our spiritual walk with the Lord becomes sweeter and healthier.

The Lord’s discipline may be uncomfortable and even painful in the short term, but in the big picture we will praise the Lord for His wise and perfect care.

⁴ In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵ And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
    nor be weary when reproved by him.
⁶ For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
    and chastises every son whom he receives.”

⁷ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸ If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹ Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰ For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. ¹¹ For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. – Hebrews 12:4-11

2023 Postscript: I caught COVID after I finished raking the backyard. I think I pushed myself too hard with the raking. So, for the past week I’ve been resting and recuperating. I still need to do the sides and front.

2022 Leaf Campaign Comes to an End

The 2022 Leaf Campaign kicked off back on October 26th. At the time that I posted my first update on November 6th I had dragged a total of 25 tarps of leaves to the curb. Let’s summarize my progress since then:

• November 7 – 7 tarpfulls
• November 8 – 3 tarps
• November 9 – 4 tarps
• November 10 – 2 tarps
• November 11 – 2 tarps
• November 12 – 4 tarps
• November 14 – 2 tarps
• November 15 – 1 tarp – The last three days of the campaign included carefully extracting the leaves from the pachysandra patches alongside the house and from the front garden using my metal leaf rake and by hand. It’s grueling and painstaking work.

So, in addition to the 25 tarpfulls I hauled to the curb previously, I hauled another 25 tarps from Nov. 7 to Nov. 15 for a total of 50 tarps this campaign. Phew! I’m happy to announce that the 2022 Leaf Campaign is officially over! Some observations:

It was a short campaign. The leaves began falling a bit early this year and the trees were totally bare by November 14th. The last stubborn leaves of the season typically hang on to the oaks until the last week of November into the first week of December. I’m guessing some of this premature leaf-fall is due to changing climate patterns.

It was a dry campaign. There wasn’t much rain nor was there any snow to compete with this year. Dry leaves meant more leaves per tarp. Dragging dry leaves on dry ground is the optimal. The snow thankfully held off until the evening of November 15th, just hours after the campaign was completed.

It was a “lighter” campaign. Last year, I recorded 70 tarpfulls largely because of the very wet conditions. Wet leaves mean less leaves per tarp. But I usually average around 60 tarpfulls per year. Why only 50 tarps this year? 1) As I mentioned, the unusually dry conditions allowed me to haul more leaves in less trips. 2) This past summer’s gypsy moth caterpillar infestation reduced the amount of leaf mass. 3) Two of the smaller oaks in our backyard had died and were leafless. Both trees were removed on October 3rd.

It was a focused campaign. I retired from L3Harris on October 31st, which meant that I could focus exclusively on the leaves after that date.

Overall, it was a great campaign. I’m usually physically worn-down and threatening to sell this “leaf-trap” and buy a condo at the conclusion of a campaign, but this year I’m in good shape. The conditions mentioned above helped out a lot. As usual, I’m very grateful for my Husqvarna 350BT 50cc backpack leafblower. Once again, the blower played a major role in the campaign as it has every year since 2016. Retiring can be a jarring change for some. The leaf campaign provided a “soft landing” transition from the grind of employment to leisurely retirement. I climbed up on the roof twice during the campaign to clear the leaves out of the gutters with an electric blower. That’s a risky proposition, especially as I get older. I’ll need to investigate possible options, including the installation of leaf guards on the gutters.

Above: My massive, snow-covered leaf pile on November 16th AM – just a few hours before it was removed by our town’s highway department.

Above: That’s our town’s highway crew removing my humongous leaf pile on November 16th PM. Check out the towering oaks in the background.

2022 Leaf Campaign Well Underway!

As you can see from the photo above, a large percentage of the leaves from the oak trees in our backyard have already fallen and the 2022 Leaf Campaign is well underway. For the benefit of newer readers, I’ll start off with a brief history of my annual leaf campaigns.

In 2004, my wife and I were considering buying a new house or condo. My wife and her real-estate-agent sister came across our current house and fell in love with it. I liked the house as well. One of the “attractions” was the many oak trees on the property as well as the neighbors’ tall oaks that leaned over the backyard creating a leafy canopy. It was like living in the woods. We bought the house and moved in on October 31, 2004. The next day I woke up to the calamitous sight of the backyard totally covered in leaves. I went outside and began raking and dragging numerous tarpfulls of leaves to the frontyard curb where the town picks them up. After many hours of raking and hauling, I was sorely fatigued and drenched with sweat. Our new next-door-neighbor shouted wryly across the lots, “Welcome to the neighborhood!” Gulp. What had I been thinking? Trees are beautiful in the summertime, but falling leaves have to be dealt with in the fall. Well, I resigned myself to the task and removing the leaves became an annual, six-week-long military campaign that results in 60-70 tarp loads being collected and hauled from the backyard to the front curb. Nope, that’s not a typo, folks. I collect 60-70 tarpfulls of leaves each campaign. Several neighbors used powerful leafblowers to corral their oak leaves, but I was no sissy and raked our leaves for 12 years. But in 2016, I finally had to concede that raking was becoming too difficult for my aging body and I bought a gas-powered, Husqvarna 350BT 50cc backpack leafblower. Wow! What a difference. I should have bought a leafblower the day after we initially moved in.

Okay, enough with the history. The leaves began falling early this year and I was ready to tackle them. Here’s what I’ve accumulated in the first 11 days:

• October 26 – 3 tarpfulls
• October 27 – 3 tarps
• November 1 – 5 tarps
• November 2 – 4 tarps
• November 4 – 6 tarps
• November 5 – 4 tarps. Yesterday was an “Indian summer” day in ROC with a high of 77⁰F and cloudy skies, i.e., t-shirt weather in November! I started leafblowing the entire lawn at 11:30AM and finished at 12:30PM. I then proceeded to rake the two big leaf piles I had accumulated in the backyard onto my tarp and then dragged the tarp to the curb, making 4 trips. I was finished at 1:30PM.

So, since the start of the leaf campaign on October 26, I’ve hauled a total of 25 tarps of leaves to the curb.

As I mentioned earlier, I normally collect 60-70 tarpfulls in a season, but there may be less this year because of the gypsy moth caterpillar infestation we had this past summer. I’m estimating that I’m around 41.6% complete with the leaf campaign, but time will tell. The nice weather certainly won’t last. Leaf removal has been facilitated to this point by the dry conditions (easier to drag dry leaves on dry ground).

I officially retired from L3Harris on October 31st, so this year’s leaf campaign won’t be impeded by a work schedule. After arduous leaf campaigns in the past, I’ve threatened to sell this leaf-trap and purchase a condo, but I’ve since reconsidered. Working on the leaves is an opportunity to get out of the henhouse for some exercise and fresh air. The Husqvarna backpack leafblower has been a HUGE help, but I will need to consider buying a small tractor mower with a leaf collection attachment at some point.

Above: That’s me loading up the last of the 4 tarps
yesterday

Above: Time for the town highway dept. to pick up this growing monster

Above: Leaves don’t stand a chance against the powerful Husqvarna 350BT 50cc backpack leafblower. Professional grade blower engines get up into the 70-80cc range and are double the price.

Timber! Part 2

Two posts in one day? It doesn’t happen often, but circumstances had me typing out this second post early this morning.

Back on September 5th, I published a post about one of the oak trees on our lot that was dead and had come crashing down with a huge THUD! See here. The good news was there was no damage to our house. We needed to have that tree removed and also needed to have three other dead or dying trees on the property cut down before they also fell and did serious damage. Well, our next door neighbor “knew a guy” who removed trees. Mike assessed the situation and gave us a very reasonable quote of $2000. We got a second quote from a commercial tree removal service that came in at $4000. We called Mike and gave him the go ahead and he’s planning on getting the work done next week. Sweet.

However, yesterday I pulled into the driveway after a trip to the local comic book shop and saw my wife standing in the garage still in her pajamas with a very worried look on her face. She said she had just heard another huge THUD, this time coming from the garage. I quickly scanned the garage, but saw nothing out of place. Well, as soon as I walked out the back door I knew what was up. Argh!!! The riser on the garage roof was bent way over at a 45^o degree angle (see photo above) resulting in the electrical power lines strung from the house to the transformer in the corner of the lot sagging badly. What happened??? A big dead limb (see photo below) from a neighbor’s oak tree leaning over our property, had broken off and came crashing down on our power lines, pulling over our riser. Thankfully, we still had power.

So the misery of removing the four dead trees has now been compounded by this damage to the riser. So I ask again, whose idea was it to buy a house in a wooded lot? Ach. We’re now in the process of getting estimates to repair the riser. The very same riser was pulled over three years ago when a different neighbor’s dead oak fell on the shared power lines. The repair cost then was $1500, so I’m expecting at least $2000.

This riser fiasco happened at the same time Hurricane Ian was/is pummeling Florida. Compared to that catastrophe, our damage is just a miniscule blip on the radar.

We live in a fallen world where these natural catastrophes, big and small, come suddenly and often without much warning. Climate change seems to be precipitating and accelerating these natural disasters. There’s more and more of them and they seem to be getting more severe. A “historic” or “generational” climate/weather event seems to be happening in this country monthly. I pray for the folks in Florida, that they recover from this calamity. It’s going to be a long road of rebuilding for millions of residents, many of them elderly and not in the best of health. I pray that many in their despair come to trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior by faith alone. Sin and its consequences is mankind’s biggest calamity.

Above: The offending dead limb from a neighbor’s tree.

Timber!

On Tuesday, August 30th, I was making preparations for my wife’s birthday party celebration when we both heard a ground-shaking THUD. That’s a sound we’ve come to know quite well in our heavily-treed neighborhood. Well, one of the oak trees situated on the corner of our lot had come crashing down. Thankfully, it fell far short of the house and also missed the power lines.

I can’t say I was surprised by the event. Maybe two years ago (or was it three?), that particular oak and another one close-by began shedding bark, a clear sign they were dying. I’m guessing they were victims of the gypsy moth caterpillars that I wrote about previously (see here). We also have two pine trees on the property that are dying a slow death due to pine weevil infestation. I procrastinated about removing the 4 trees, because the cost is so astronomically expensive. But this was a wake-up call. I surely don’t need another tree crashing on the roof. Some of you may recall when a large limb from a neighbor’s tree came crashing down onto our roof in March 2017, doing substantial damage (see here). I’m getting a couple of estimates pronto and we’ll go from there. Whose idea was it to buy a house in this neighborhood, anyway?

The one good thing out of all of this is there’s less leaves to collect in November. We started out with 14 deciduous trees when we moved in 18 years ago, but we’ll be down to 7 after this operation is over. However, about 10 of the neighbors’ tall oaks lean over our property.

These expiring trees remind me that death is all around us in this fallen world. Praise God for the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ!

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. – Psalm 23:4

Getting rid of the grime

Our house has a nice, curvy-shaped cement patio in the backyard where we often sit from May until September. Over the 18 years that we’ve lived at the house, the patio cement has slowly darkened from air, rain, and snow soot. It happened so gradually that I hardly even noticed. My oldest sister was coming up from Arizona to visit for several days recently and as part of the pre-visit scurrying, my wife asked me to rent a pressure washer to clean up the patio.

I had never used a pressure washer before. I drove to one of the local Home Depots that rents out tools and equipment and picked up a gas-powered pressure washer. It was fairly easy to hook-up and start and I was blasting the grime off of the patio cement in no time. The pressure washer did a fantastic job! What a difference! See the before and after photos above. After I was finished, I wrestled the heavy pressure washer back into the trunk of our small VW Jetta, securing it once again with lots of nylon twine, and returned it to Home Depot and gladly paid the $60 charge.

Like other aspects of house and yard work that I’ve written about in the past, cleaning the patio cement brought to mind a spiritual lesson. We may accumulate sinful attitudes, habits, and behaviors in our lives. We need to regularly evaluate our Christian walk in light of God’s Word and repent and confess our sins to the Lord. Scripture has a cleansing effect. I think of Ephesians 5:26 which speaks of “the washing of water with the word.” Although we are born-again through the Savior, Jesus Christ, we still retain our sin nature. We need to be in God’s Word daily so that the Holy Spirit will reveal to us where we’re getting spiritually “grimy” so we can repent and go to God to confess.

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. – 1 John 1:5-10

The Attack of the Gypsy Moth Caterpillars!

We moved into our house here in the suburbs of Rochester, New York way back in 2004. Wow! It certainly doesn’t seem that long ago. Our backyard has a lot of oak trees as many of you well know from my whiny annual “leaf campaign” posts each Fall. In addition to our own oaks, many of our adjoining neighbors’ oaks lean over our property. To say we’re inundated with leaves in the Fall would be a tremendous understatement. When we first looked at the property, we saw the trees as a very appealing asset. My opinion changed 180^o immediately after we moved in and the leaves began to fall.

Most of the homes in our tract also have oak trees and we noticed many of the trees had dark rings painted around their trunks. After we moved in, we asked a neighbor what was up with the rings and they said it was a chemical paint that discouraged gypsy moth caterpillars (photo above) from climbing the trunks and proceeding to the branches to eat the leaves. Bands of plastic are also used (photo below). Years passed and we never had a problem with the caterpillars until last year. This year is even worse. When I look up at the leaves on the trees, I see they’ve been ravaged by the insects. Our backyard and even the street that winds through our neighborhood are littered with small scraps of leaves leftover from the insatious caterpillar eating machines. I’ve determined gypsy moth caterpillars aren’t too bright because many scale the house, thinking it’s a tree, only to get stranded on the roof eaves and die.

In regards to gypsy moth caterpillar infestation, Wikipedia states, “If a tree loses more than 50% of its leaves for more than two years in a row, it will certainly be weakened and may not survive.” I’m all for less leaves to clean up in the Fall, but dead trees cost a lot of $$$ to remove. We already have two oaks that have died and need to come down.

This gypsy moth caterpillar infestation brings to mind the locust plague mentioned in Exodus 10:1-18. Of course, our insect problem is nothing compared to what the defiant Egyptians had to deal with. I also think about how calamities come into our lives that we have no control over. For me, there was being laid-off by Kodak after working there for 43 years, the frustratingly-long job search and the daunting challenges at my new company, my wife’s ongoing disability problems, the pandemic, helping my sister with advancing dementia to relocate to a Florida seniors’ facility, and now we’re all headed into a recession with a rise in prices and interest rates and steep drops in our 401Ks, partially caused by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

We like to think we have a great deal of control over our lives with our digital planners and calendars, but it’s a mirage. Calamities come into our lives often very suddenly and unexpectedly in this fallen world. There’s also the inevitable decline of our health and energy as we age. How grateful I am for my Rock, my strong Foundation, Jesus Christ. Many believers have endured far greater challenges than my troubles, where it was all they could do just to “hang on” and trust in God (when it is actually He Who hangs on to us – John 10:29).

I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. – Psalm 18:1-3

Above: Some neighbors wrap plastic bands around their oak trees in an effort to prevent Gypsy Moth caterpillars from climbing the trunks.

Spiritual Lessons from Spring Clean-up!

Above photo: Gracie and I are hard at work in the backyard

Followers of this blog know that every Fall, I whine on and on about my arduous Leaf Collection Campaign. Every November and the first couple of weeks of December, much of my spare time is consumed with collecting all of the leaves that fall from the oak trees in our yard and from those in neighbors’ yards bordering our property (Argh!). This last campaign, I hauled 70 tarpfulls of leaves to the curb. Nope, that’s not a typo. 7-0 tarpfulls.

Anyway, I had 3 months to convalesce and now I’m in the middle of the Spring Clean-up Campaign. That entails:

1. Collecting all of the large branches and twigs that fell throughout the Winter.
2. Picking up all of our dog’s droppings from the last 3 months.
3. Raking the lawn thoroughly with a metal rake to remove small twigs, acorns, dead grass, “snow mold,” and all leaves leftover from the Fall.
4. Using a metal rake to carefully remove all of the leaves that accumulated in the ivy and pachysandra patches in the yard.

I’ve completed steps #1 and #2 and I’m methodically still working on #3 and #4. Our lawn is about 1/2 acre and raking the entire area is a lot of work for a senior citizen. I’ve brought 11 very full paper lawn bags to the curb so far. The large amount of leaves in the ivy and pachysandra will require hauling tarpfulls to the curb.

The good thing about Spring Clean-up is I get to be outside and breath lots of fresh air after being cooped up inside for three months. I also get to listen to good sermons via my iPhone and earbuds while I’m working.

A spiritual lesson often comes to mind when I’m raking in the Spring. As I drag the metal rake over the grass, it removes unwanted objects, but it’s also stressful on the grass. I’m not one who credits plants with having feelings, but if they did those grass blades would be letting out a big “Ouch!” every time I dragged that metal rake over them. While the raking is stressful to the grass, in the big picture it’s very helpful as I’m removing dead grass (dethatching) and exposing more of the soil to air and moisture for a healthier lawn.

The Bible says that God has us go through difficulties and trials to refine us to be more like Jesus Christ. We often accumulate bad habits and temptations in our lives that need a good cleaning out. When the negative attachments are removed, our spiritual walk with the Lord becomes sweeter and healthier.

The Lord’s discipline may be uncomfortable and even painful in the short term, but in the big picture we will praise the Lord for His wise and perfect care.

⁴ In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵ And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
    nor be weary when reproved by him.
⁶ For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
    and chastises every son whom he receives.”

⁷ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸ If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹ Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰ For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. ¹¹ For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. – Hebrews 12:4-11

Postscript: No raking today! A thin blanket of snow is covering all of the lawns here in Rochester.

2021 Leaf Campaign – Week #6

After five weeks into the 2021 Leaf Campaign, I had dragged a total of 63 tarpfulls of leaves to the curb. But there were some defiant leaves still clinging to the oak trees. How would I make out in week #6?

The weatherman had forecasted a very windy day for Monday with wind gusts expected to reach 60 mph. I was both pleased and disappointed to hear that because, while the wind would knock off the remaining leaves from the trees, it would also blow the neighbors’ leaves into our yard. I took Monday off from the leaf campaign due to the approaching chaos, a welcomed break after an exhausting work weekend. As predicted, strong winds rolled into Rochester in the afternoon, and as I anticipated, all but a few of the remaining leaves were knocked off the trees (Yay! See photo above) and many of the neighbors’ leaves blew into our yard (Boo!).

The wind was gone when I woke up Tuesday morning, but there was a large amount of leaves scattered on the ground in the front and back yards. At 9:30AM, I strapped on my boots and fired up my Husqvarna 350BT backpack leafblower for the final assault. In the backyard, I corralled the leaves into two large piles, while in the front yard I blew the leaves into the existing mammoth leaf pile at the curb. I then got out my rake and tarp and began the process of raking the leaves onto the tarp and dragging them to the curb. Five weeks of leaf work had taken its toll. I was physically exhausted. But I wasn’t going to quit with victory in sight, so I pressed forward. The positive was that the leaves were very dry for a change and I was able to rake huge amounts onto the tarp. At 1:30PM, I put away the rake and folded up the tarp. The tally for the day was 7 very large tarpfulls of leaves taken to the curb. Phew! I was a physically-drained zombie the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Hurrah! The 2021 Leaf Campaign is over! There’s still some leaves in the ivy and pachysandra patches that I may get to if there’s a mild spell, but for all intents and purposes the campaign is over. The grand total? Drumroll please. This year I dragged a total of 70 tarpfulls to the curb. Why 10 more tarpfulls this year than my usual 60? Wet conditions predominated this year, making the leaves heavier and resulting in more trips.

I’m still thrilled by the great assistance provided by my Husqvarna 350BT backpack leafblower, which I bought just prior to the 2016 Leaf Campaign. I can’t believe I raked the leaves for twelve years prior to buying the leafblower. However, dragging tarps to the curb is a younger man’s job. I sensed I was overreaching my declining physical limits while dragging tarps to the curb this year. Acquiring a riding mower with leaf collection capabilities is a must prior to the 2022 Leaf Campaign.

Thanks for following along with me the last six weeks. All I want to do for the next month is sit on the couch and blog and read books. Huh? What’s that, dear? The to-do list? Ach!

Postscript: I wrote the above on Thursday. High winds subsequently blew into Rochester Saturday afternoon and evening with gusts in the mid-70s mph, a more powerful windstorm than Monday’s. I’m waiting for daylight to assess the leaf situation. I know I will have to leafblow at least the backyard again because of leaves that blew into our yard from the yards of neighbors who are less attentive and considerate about their leaves. I complain about having to do more leafwork, but I know Saturday’s severe windstorms and tornadoes were the cause of devastation and death in the South-Central USA.

Above photo taken last week: The neighbor next door, a man ten years younger than myself, has the same amount of leaves as me, but doesn’t remove them. His leaves swirl and blow into the adjoining yards throughout the long, windy Winter. In the Spring, he hires a crew to remove the much-diminished leaves that remain.

2021 Leaf Campaign – Week #5

After 4 weeks into the 2021 Leaf Campaign, I had dragged a total of 54 tarps of leaves to the curb. In my last update, I had speculated that only 10% to 15% of the leaves remained on the oaks. That estimate was definitely on the low side. How did I fare in week #5?

Monday was a wash-out. A thin coating of snow prevented me from working on the leaves. But I wasn’t upset. I truly needed a break after a particularly exhausting work-weekend.

By Tuesday mid-afternoon, most of the snow had melted, so I fired up my Husqvarna 350BT backpack leafblower and collected the fallen leaves in the backyard, hauling 4 tarps to the curb.

On Wednesday, I climbed the extension ladder to the roof and blew the leaves out of the gutters. I also raked up 1 tarpfull of leaves that had collected near the front entranceway. The leaves that swirl through the neighborhood routinely collect in the “coves” of the front entranceway and garage.

Thursday was a breezy day and the leaves were coming down from the trees at a good clip. I fired up my backpack leafblower and collected the leaves in the backyard, including those that had accumulated in the ivy patch in the corner of the lot. I ended up dragging 4 more tarpfulls to the curb. A few hours after I finished, it looked like I hadn’t done a thing because of the leaves that continued to fall and others that swirled into our yard from the neighbors. The gutters were completely filled again.

Week #5 saw 9 more tarpfulls hauled to the curb, making 63 total for the campaign. I’m going to end up with significantly more than my usual 60 tarpfulls because of the wet conditions this year. Thursday afternoon there were still some leaves left on the trees as you can see from the photo above. It’s pitch dark when I do my weekend work commutes, so I’m waiting for daylight this morning to see what I’m up against. The weatherman is forecasting rain today and very high winds, so there’s going to be a serious amount of leafswirl in the neighborhood. No surrender! The campaign continues into week #6!