Thought for the Week
“Long after the surrounding trees have become skeletal figures amid autumnal quilts, the oaks shed their thick bronze leaves and watch indifferently as the wind blows them into neighbors’ yards. The world is like that, forever leaving us to clean up each other’s messes.”
~Healing River
Moving from L.A. to Ohio introduced me to the overly-romanticized reality of raking leaves. The grand finale of autumn colors is truly lovely. But as Yoda might put it, “Too long on the ground, they are, and too short on the trees!”
Still, necessity is the mother of in(ter)vention, and that’s exactly what my friend Bill did when he intervened, and taught me how to “blow and mow,” i.e. blow the leaves onto the lawn and mulch them up using a lawnmower. And so I acquired a blower and a mower and became a Leafmeister, 1st Class — problem solved!
Except that every year, without fail, after I blowed and mowed (blew and mew?) for the “final time,” my neighbor’s Mt. Everest-size oak tree would drop it’s eight million patent leather leaves to the ground, where they would remain … until a late fall wind kicked them up and hurled them into my yard. And so while mid-autumn teaches us the fleeting nature of beauty, I’ve discovered, late-autumn teaches us an even greater lesson…
About patience and forgiveness.
I lol’d at “blew & mew” – perfect. Hahaha
My husband already blew and mew, and is now in the season of dealing with the neighbors’ pinoak leaves. Yes, patience and forgiveness, and helping the neighbor with his.
Good for him, Joy.
Everyday life, brings us many times to practice forgiveness, Mitch. The winds of adversity blew your neighbor’s oak leaves into your yard, another opportunity to let the offense go!
Exactly, Hazel!
Ah man, I’ve been there! I also use a lawnmower to chew up the leaves instead of raking them. And I’ve learned that mowing the leaves in mid-November doesn’t mean I’m done. Because more leaves will show up and I have to do it again in mid-December. But many of those leaves are from the trees on my lawn, not my neighbors’ houses 🙂
Sure glad, except for fires, floods and earthquakes, we have stayed in SoCal for 46 years.
Oh mercy, you DO speak truth, dear brother! Praying to have both in all things with all people. Dang, it’s difficult at times…just being real here! 😅
;>)
Long on the ground and short on the trees is about right!
Years ago, I moved onto a treeless property only to learn that leaves don’t respect property boundaries! I wound up with more on my front lawn than all my tree-laden neighbors combined….
Yep!
We can learn lessons from the most ordinary things.
Mitch, at our little farm I rake the leaves from the maple field with a tow behind raker and use the hand rake aound the house. We get a
dozen lawn tractor trailer loads and spread them over the carrots in the garden.
The extras, I put on the ‘long’ garden (vine plants) and take the JD 2520 with the rear tiller and till them in for tilth. Anything that falls afterwards winds up on the in garden compost pile.
Wow, I don’t know whether that’s advanced agricultural science or a new art form, Norm. Sounds like a bit of both!
…then we cover the pile over the carrots with thick plastic, held down by small pieces of broken cement. Pick carrots all winter long IF you can get the plastic loose from the snow and ice.
Leaves aren’t as fun as they used to be. Growing up, the kids in my neighborhood would rake all the leaves into the ditches and set them on fire. Then we’d jump back and forth over the flames. Burning leaves was a common practice back in the day. 🙂
;>)
Yes Nancy, back in the day in Mpls we would rake them across the sidewalk and boulevard grass and into the cement gutter. Then light them up. The whole neighborhood would be a ‘bit’ smoke filled and my dad loved to do it. After all, he was a city fireman. Who would know better?
Love it! Once we raked a leaf pile too close to our house. One of my brother’s friends lit it. We could have used the services of your dad! We put it out with a hose, but not before it scorched the house.
After living in FL for so long, I forgot how thick and tough oak leaves are–lasting long after their prime. We’re blessed to have a little strip of woods behind the houses on our street. You’ll find a lot of patent-leather leaves blown in there!
I waited for some snow, then cranked up the mower. It’s an experiment. Next spring I’ll know if it was a good idea or not.
Very good article Mitch, I enjoyed reading it. Patience I’ve learned is produced by the faith I have had in our God. And forgiveness, well, this was something that I wasn’t able to do without God’s help and that took time.
When I apply patience with my friends and with others things just seem to go a whole lot smoother.
I think I raked leaves maybe one time in my life and I liked it.
So true, Mitch. No matter how many leaves I leave or don’t leave on our yard, I can be sure when the winter winds blow I’ll be inheriting more courtesy of the neighbor next door. No more raking for me in any instance. Mow ’em until the mowing season is over, and then leave all the leaves be. Good for the lawn anyway (in small portions, of course!).
😂 I enjoyed this.
So did you escape back to L.A.?
I live in an apartment so don’t have to ever rake leaves, thank the Lord. I saw an interesting use of leaves in one of those abandoned mansion videos. They had painted the walls of the huge entrance in black then pasted a montage of real leaves over it. I assume they shellacked it afterwards. I think raking them would be much easier and quicker. So next time you have to rake, just think about those walls and count yourself fortunate that you aren’t a decorator hired to paste leaves on walls. 🙂
Autumn leaves teach us humility and acceptance. I too tried the rake and mow exercise. It was futile with 30 Oak trees on my large lot. I finally accepted that which I cannot change and enjoyed them until spring.
Your thoughts made me chuckle and think! Thank you, Mitch. “You shall love your neighbor… and your neighbor’s leaves!” 😉
Oh yes, we are the oak owners and i hope our neighbors are forgiving! Luckily our lake effect snow covers them up!
Beautiful! I love the last line, “I’ve discovered, late-autumn teaches us an even greater lesson…
About patience and forgiveness.”
Best wishes
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“Blew and mew.” 😂 Beautiful message–patience and forgiveness…
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