Yes, I caved in and bought a leaf blower. What? You thought this would be about yesterday’s elections? Nah, I’m over it now. Anyway, back to the dark side. I think burning fossil fuels to move leaves around is stupid. And leaf blowers are noisy and obnoxious. And they’re for people who are too lazy to rake leaves. That is why I made it to age 40 without ever having owned a leaf-blower. Unfortunately, I’ve come to the conclusion that I need one now, after trying several different non-blower methods of leaf removal. Problem number one is that I have a metric crapload of monkey grass beds (and ivy patches, and vinca vine) in my yard, and I have been unable to get the leaves out of these areas using a rake or any other gardening implement in my rather large collection of gardening tools. Problem number two is that most of my back yard is covered in moss. Some people try to get rid of moss, but I think it is beautiful so I try to be nice to it so it will stay. When I rake the mossy areas, I do a lot of damage to the moss. Problem #3 is that there are leaves stuck in some shrubs and I can’t get them out, other than picking them out by hand (which sucks).
So I reluctantly went to Home Depot and bought a stupid leaf blower. I got an electric one, so it will be slightly less obnoxious than the gas-powered kind. And it is significantly lighter weight. Also, I’m too wimpy to be able to pull-start a gas one and I don’t want to have to get PDM every time I want to use it. We got the kind that will chop ‘em and vacuum as well. Now I just need to get a gargantuan extension cord to use with it. Hopefully this thing will fare better than the electric string trimmer I used to have. I burned out the motor on it last February -- while cutting back the monkey grass. That monkey grass is trouble, I tell ya. Anything that has "monkey" as part of its name is bound to give you problems.
4 comments:
I think raking leaves sucks. Which is why I think they invented the leaf blower.
Sigh. Sadly, I completely understand. In my previous incarnation as a married person, I lived in a big ol' Victorian house with many big maples and oaks on the property (like everyone else in the neighborhood). We being the sort-of-hippies that we were, resisted for a few years. But in the end, we were defeated by the overwhelmingness of the leaves.
When I got divorced and bought my own house, I paid someone else to come in with his riding mower and his leaf blower to do all that stuff for me. Now I rent a half of a 2-family house on a tiny yard with no trees (which is sad). But if there were trees, my landlord (who lives next door) would take care of it. He got a snowblower last winter so I don't have to shovel my driveway any more. Yahoo!
I think the whine of the leaf blower is with us for good. The best we can hope for is an alternative fuel.
You see, this is why I live in the city. This is why I'll always live in the city. The leaves are swept up by the city. I don't have a lawn to mow. I don't have trees to trim. I'm free! Free I tell you!
Hey, when you get done at your house, feel free to stop by mine. My neighbor has a leaf blower, and mysteriously, all the leaves end up in my yard. Hmm...
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