Day 2: Leaf Collection

We are celebrating 5 years of home ownership this fall.  Five years ago, we were but lowly renters, sharing a duplex with Debbie and her sometimes-live-in boyfriend, Dave.  Five years ago, we were brand-new parents, with a sweet baby crammed into a second bedroom that also served as an office, with a twin bed where I often found myself sleeping for those 2-3 hour stretches in the first months of parenthood.  We searched online for months, finally narrowing it down to four choices, which we then toured with our realtor.  The first house was frightening, with nasty floors and trash bags in the corners from the previous tenants, but it had an amazing yard and was close to work.  The next house had a first floor laundry and a spacious basement, but nothing else that appealed to us.  The third house was a real contender, located in a quiet neighborhood, with a lovely kitchen and dining area where we could host our friends and family, and 3 decent bedrooms, not to mention a good yard and close proximity to an elementary school with a playground.  We were impressed.  But the last house...the one that didn't look great in the online photos...that was the one we fell in love with at first sight.  The spacious yard.  The attached garage.  The adorable living room.  The four tiny bedrooms.  The clean basement.  The quiet neighborhood, also within walking distance of an elementary school.  And the price.  Significantly cheaper than the third house!  We made the offer, we signed the papers, we moved in.  And then autumn began.

Suddenly, our spacious yard filled with fallen leaves.  I went out every few days, laying my baby on a blanket on the cool grass, and raked and piled and loaded up trash bags.  When I had the yard mostly clear, I looked around in pride.  Then I looked up.  Why hadn't we noticed how many trees lined our property?  What had seemed so important that we overlooked that?!  The new carpet?  The 2 toilets?  The wood-burning fireplace?  And so I spent my first fall laboring in our yard to clear the leaves.  The temperatures dropped, the rain fell, and the leaves began to stick together and weigh more than my quick-growing kid!  When I pointed out our situation to my husband, he informed me that he hadn't wanted to live in a house with such a big yard to care for in the first place.  I don't remember him voicing this concern when we were lovingly moving all our possessions into our new home, or taking walks around our new neighborhood with James lovingly tucked in his stroller.  But when it came time to dispose of the leaves, I was alone. 

I found out that in our area, leaves must be collected and then driven to a "yard waste" location, where the township then makes them disappear.  I kept a running tally that first year, and I filled 85 trash bags with leaves from our yard.  By the time the snow began to fall, I was so sick of leaves that I left the ones that blew into our bushes and flower beds and under the porch.  I just couldn't do anymore.  But when the snow thawed in the spring, and I once again returned outside with my now walking 1 year old, I discovered that the leaves hadn't vanished with the ice and cold.  There they were, dead, wet, and still tangled in the bushes.  The next year, my parents saw fit to give me their old leaf-blower, which turned out to be a huge blessing, since I was now pregnant with my second child, taking care of the ever-growing 1 year old, and back to work part-time.  I struggled more, however, with taking care of our yard full of leaves.  All winter, I could look out the window and see the piles of leaves under the snow.  That spring, I realized that the leaf piles had killed the grass underneath, so now I had frozen leaves to dispose of and patchy grass in my yard.  This trend continued, with my husband mostly refusing to take part in the leaf collection, and the snow falling too soon each December, and in my exasperation I would give up.

Each fall, I tell myself it will be different.  THIS YEAR, I will get all the leaves before it snows!  THIS YEAR, I will not get burned out until all the leaves are gone!  Last year was the worst, with all my early fall resolution disappearing when I sprained my ankle in late October and couldn't walk right until the new year.  My dad took pity on us, and came by one day with his truck, and together, he, my husband, and my two little boys loaded up as much as they could, leaving the rest in the dead area of the yard between the two maple trees.  The leaves have begun their descent again, and today I went out to gather them up.  This year, the three year old was actually helping me, wielding his Little Tikes rake, and tossing leaves into the bin just like mommy.  Maybe this year really will be different.  Maybe this year, Winston and I can handle these leaves together, and enjoy some hot chocolate with satisfaction as the snow begins to fall on our leafless yard.  Maybe.