Leaf Raking

My yard is being raked as I sit here blogging and drinking tepid coffee. I can hear the steady "reashk, reashk" sound of rakes combing the lawn.

Yard work soothes the soul. Raking leaves is one of my favorite household tasks. You set your own rhythm, change it up when the mood strikes (or the shoulder twangs) and progress is measured by a satisfying orderly cleanliness. Then you dump the leaves into the neighbor's yard.

Why, then, am I not the one out there raking?

The joy of yard work is now, sadly, no match for the misery of allergies. I used to "tough it out" and do it myself. A few hours of sneezing, swollen eyes and wheezing was an easy price to pay for the "did it myself" feeling at the end of the proverbial day (fall clean up is a many-afternoon task). Now, the scale has tipped in the other direction. Just an hour of outdoor clean-up will set off a series of allergy reactions that might last for days.

Doesn't that sound like fun? There are some benefits. I can tell you that "adult swim" on the cartoon channel (after 11pm) is pretty fun sometimes, and a good distraction from midnight eczema flare-ups that feel like a swarm of red ants is feasting on my lower legs. I can't think of anything else in the "pros" column right now.

I am grateful that I can afford to pay someone else to rake the leaves in my yard. And super-duper grateful that the Pedal People will do it!! I love the Pedal People. They use real RAKES, not any kind of obnoxious noisy stinky gross blowers....then they haul away the leaves on their BIKES. I love the Pedal People.
I think later I will dedicate a blog entry to them.

Peace.