Last week I decided to wage a battle that has not been waged in many, many years: the yard. I remember fondly to the days when I was younger and helped my grandmother rake the leaves that her many oak trees left behind as the seasons changed from summer to fall. I got to play in the piles of leaves that she raked and I got to push the wheelbarrow around as she loaded the leaves and other yard debris. And I remember that it was fun. I totally won those battles. I was the rockstar of yardwork.
Flashforward to today: now I understand why I thought raking leaves was so much fun - I actually didn't rake the leaves and didn't get frustrated that the little leaves seemed to multiply no matter how many times I raked. I didn't know that raking the yard leads to blisters on your hands (even if you are wearing gloves) and leaves you with a sore lower back the next day.
In my ignorance of what was to lay before me in this battle, I went out in full force with my rakes, contractor trash bags, and wheelbarrow. I was fully armed and prepared for whatever those leaves had for me. I tried to wait until I was sure all the leaves had been blown of the trees. We had just had a big storm that blew most of the leaves off of the tree, so my yard was fully covered. And I do mean fully. I have pictures to prove it.
I started raking...and raking...and raking. I waged my battle for a good hour before it got too dark to work anymore. Less than 10% of the yard was completely clear of leaves and I had four or five massive piles of fat golden yellow sycamore tree leaves in my yard. These weren't the little oak tree leaves that I helped my grandmother with years ago. It was then I understood the nature of the battle I was fighting.
I enlisted another soldier in my army: my boyfriend. This past weekend both of us were out in my yard raking...and raking...and raking. And we stuffed bag after bag of leaves and hauled them in their trashbags down to the road. All in all - 7 bags! Huge 40-something gallon bags! Boyfriend had to tote them because they were nearly as big as I am.
And so by the end of that day, the yard was clear and I believed this battle to be over. But no. Mr. Hickory Tree has been clinging on for dear life to its leaves and since the weekend little hickory tree leaves have scattered once more across my entire yard. Needless to say, I had some very unpleasant words spoken aloud.
The first battle in my own personal Yard War has been won. I'm strategically planning the second battle. It may involve a leaf blower, industrial dump truck, or fire (just kidding on the last two - I couldn't fit a dump truck in my yard if I tried and burning is illegal in my town, but it was nice to think about).
The Yard War continues...
