Now THAT'S Civilized...

All my experiance as a homeowner has been from the past 12 years of living in coastal Virginia, living in the tiny city-suburbs of Newport News. Having moved to a small village in central Ohio to a comparatively large quasi-country lot (surrounded by corn & cows) has been quite a learning experiance for me. With a little over a year under my belt as a home-owner here, I can't seem to help but approach every issue with the nievity of a city-slicker. But I am learning... I have slowly been learning to appreciate the value of the tools I see all my neighbors using regularly. :-) Last summer was the summer I fell in love with my lawn-tractor (no joke) and I soon after quickly learned the importance of a good snow-blower.



My backyard alone is about an acre that transitions into woods. The trees are beautiful. That scene alone is one of the reasons we bought the house here. As a home owner, I have made my peace with the unavoidable reality of yardwork (a chore which I have loathed my whole life). Last year I raked all the leaves the old-fashioned way... with a rake... and it turned out to be one of the seven labours of hercules. When I finished raking all the leaves last year, I was exhausted but proud. This year... I got exhausted just looking at them and because I've been extra bust at work (actually read- insert any ol' excuse here), I've haven't gotten to them as I should. ;-) ... the leaves that is...

So I decided to look around and see what other people were doing. ...I talked with the guy who I had had work on my beloved tractor this summer and he said..., "You need a leaf blower! That's what all the professional landscapers use." Now, I had had a cheap, electric leaf-blower from the home depot that I had bought a few years ago and was rather unimpressed, but after a short bit of time mulling it over in my mind I went over to his store and he let me "test-out" a few different contractor grade, gas-powered models out in his back yard. ...I had so much fun blowing the heck out of everything. This thing was awesome. I decided not to mess around. I got the Stihl BR-550 and went home and blew every leaf into tomorrow. Most fun I've had in a long time. In my best Ferris Bueller voice, I'd just like to end this blog by saying:
"...It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."

Chicca-Chicca! :-)

Comments

Anonymous said…
Twice... we bought houses in the winter/spring when the trees looked so beautiful and unintimidating. Then... when the leaves fell... UGH! So this time, be intentionally found a house with no trees. I'm such a naturalistic pagan! But it was nice watching neighbors rake leaves.
November 18, 2008 at 9:39 AM
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