Me 7, Leaves 0

Okay, once again, it is time to gripe about the superabundance of leaves that seem to wind up in my front yard this time of year. I live on the east side of the street, which means only half the leaves are mine to begin with. Think the neighbor comes over and helps me rake up his half? Think again. He could at least give me some room in his yard waste bin, but, oh, no. So I spent a happy hour today raking up 7 huge piles of them on the lawn, while the lazy bums down the street ran their infernal leaf blower in my ears like an angry hornet on steroids. Then I dragged my bin over, flipped up the lid, and oh, no! It was full from earlier rakings this week. Well, the truth is, those bins are bottomless. You just have to punch down each new heap and magically, you have a whole half a bin to work with again. I bet myself that I could get all the piles on the lawn into that sucker. Did a whole bunch of leaf punching. And, TADA! I succeeded. Of course, there are a few piles along the street and by the side of the driveway still. At least this was not a windy day, which would mean the lawn would be strewn again even before I was through picking them up. And I am remembering thecool shade in the summer, and the warm sun in the winter once the leaves are gone. It's just that the landlord told me they all drop off over one weekend, you rake, and they are through. And, idiot that I am, I believed him. In reality, I spend 6 or 7 weeks raking and stuffing the trash bin. Hell, it's great exercise, right?