Rake- rake- rake!

Many times this time of year I look outside and wonder whatever happened to that trusty ol' rake of mine.

Just recently, the arrival of cold temperatures, strong winds, and heavy rain dumped most of the leaves on the lawns and flower beds beckoning to us in our warm homes to come outside and commune with nature one more time.

"I don't want to!  You can't make me!!"  (You would like to think I said that as a kid... but I know lots of us adult rakers are thinking the same thing.)  Well, there were those years growing up I recall doing some raking, but I think that was limited to our front yard.  Another time I didn't want to rake was at our rental home in Pierre, South Dakota - we were moving to an apartment in the fall and the landlord would not give us the deposit back unless the leaves were raked and bagged.


Leaves, it seems to be me - should be left on the ground.  They are good for composting and I don't mind running them over with a lawn mower to chop them to bits.  There might be a few low spots of the lawn where they collect and get matted and moldy that should be picked up.  A couple sweeps of a rake handles that.

Yet, the fastidious folks who take rake in hand after a long day at work to carefully collect each leaf, place it in color coded piles, and then place them in bags...  well, I don't know, I guess I best tip my hat to them.  I'm glad it's not me.

Around here, most cities will come around and pick up leaves raked into the curb for transport to the city compost piles.  That at least leaves the paper or plastic bags out of the work load, but it's still a lot of work.

What confuses me further (and what I tried unsuccessfully to tell our landlord) is that the same process will need to be repeated in the spring.  Where did these "new" leaves come from?  If they were raked in the fall - did they escape from the landfill?  These are the serious questions we should be trying to answer people!

The best times with leaves in autumn was placing them in rows that became floor plans for homes and businesses.  I don't know how old I was (must have been pretty young), but that was a great time to play outside.

Even better, after raking all the leaves up for the day... grab a cold drink (or a hot one) and lay back in the leaves... look up at the blue sky with clouds dancing past... a smile on your face for a few minutes of peace before leaves start to fall... again!