No lazy afternoons while leaves are falling

The words I had not heard in months, maybe years, came back to me this afternoon: "Lazy day, Sunday afternoon, got to put your feet up, watch TV ... ." They were from a song by the Moody Blues, a favorite musical group from my college years. Sunday afternoons truly could be lazy in those days, but this afternoon was anything but lazy for me.

After three days of rain and winds, my yard was carpeted in a fresh coat of fallen leaves. I spent a couple of hours blowing and raking leaves and didn't come near finishing the job. I'll be back at it, perhaps tomorrow, in the hope of getting ahead of the leaves' rate of fall. The rain and wind, which a few miles away sparked a deadly tornado, ripped most of the leaves from the trees in my neighborhood.

This afternoon's symphony was Leaf Blowers in F Sharp. The drone of the blowers, some seen and some only heard, choreographed the dance of the homeowners who were out on a brisk Sunday afternoon to push the layers of leaves into mounds and piles. While the leaf blowers roared, some people chose to clear the leaves away with rakes, a slower, quieter method that also requires greater muscle power and provides a bit of aerobic exercise. I was one who used both a blower (a slightly quieter and less powerful electric model) and a rake.

Leaf-raking time is as much a part of fall as leaf-peeping, the search for exquisite vistas for viewing colorful autumn leaves. In places like college campuses, where shade trees are plentiful and lawns are broad, leaf season requires considerable labor and specialized machines. One tradition of this season is missing. Fire regulations and city laws forbid the burning of leaves, which produces an intoxicating aroma that once was as indicative of fall as the scent of daffodils was a sign of spring. Only on rare occasions can one catch a whiff of burning leaves, and that, too often, is the result of a dangerous brush fire.

For most homeowners, this season requires blowing or raking leaves and dragging them to the curb for pickup, where they will become mulch somewhere. Until the leaves stop falling, there will be no "lazy" Sunday afernoons.