I was driving along yesterday, thinking through my shopping strategy, when I saw this frumpy lady raking leaves in her yard. (By the way, this is an observation, not a criticism—who doesn’t look frumpy doing yard work?) She had a wheelbarrow full of leaves and with great effort, she was pushing the wheelbarrow down her sloping lawn toward the road. The edge of her lawn is about 5 or 6 feet above the road, and railroad ties create the wall that hold up her yard. Once she got to the precipice, she carefully tipped the wheelbarrow full of leaves over the edge of her yard and into the weedy strip bordering the road below. Then she began pushing the wheelbarrow back up her lawn to get a new load.
I laughed out loud as I watched this whole process. Not so much that I thought it was funny as I was astonished at the audacity of this lady. She wasn’t dumping the leaves into a vacant, unused field where a compost pile would be unnoticed. No, she was tossing them over the edge of her yard onto a well-traveled road, next door to some homes and parks that have recently been improved and look quite neat and tidy. This would be like me gathering up my leaves and dumping them into my neighbor’s front yard. How rude. I’ve only done that once, but they weren’t my leaves in the first place, and in the second place, it was a really good joke. Anyway, I shook my head and laughed in amazement at this woman, and found myself feeling sorry for the poor blokes that live next to her and thinking how grateful I am that she isn’t my neighbor. On my way back home an hour and a half later, she was still at it, and I laughed again and thought about how much I like my neighbors.
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31 comments:
One, I know you are a couple of blocks away, but I love having you as a neighbor.
Two, you--especially now that you have long outgrown your mullet days,--would never look frumpy raking your leaves. Never!
Three, well, there is no three. It's late and my brain is fried from too many radio infomercials about amazing products such as dual cleanse and liquid sleep that will change my life and cure cancer and probably bring about world peace.
Ha! I pity the fool that is raking leaves this year. I don't have any trees yet that are capable of producing leaves. Okay. I'll admit it, having trees is bitter-sweet; they provide shade in the summer and look so pretty in the Fall when the leaves change colors, but I hate looking frumpy while raking leaves. Some people drive by other people's home to look at Christmas lights. I have people come to watch me look frumpy raking leaves. It doesn't matter what day I pick or time of day I chose to avoid the unsolicited voyeurism on wheels. With cell phones and blogs, everyone seems to find out about the blessed event in a matter of minutes. The traveling great and spacious building. So it’s a tree free yard for me.
I can't tell you how grateful I am that you guys cut down that huge monstrosity of a tree in your front yard. All the leaves seemed to be sucked into my yard and my mom always made me rake them up. Great neighbors you are, indeed.
Of course, now I just mow the leaves up. But the bag always gets full after about one loop around the yard so then the leaves just get chopped up and deposited back on the lawn until next spring.
That monstrosity had the nastiest little seed pod thingies (catkins). They tracked into the house YEAR ROUND! I hated it. I used to vacuum my front sidewalk trying to pick them up before they clung to unsuspecting shoes headed to my door. I will never EVER plant a birch. The new ash tree we planted isn't supposed to make seeds at all. We'll see... But I did notice that its few leaves mysteriously dissappeared from my lawn this fall. I wonder where they blew?
I just thought it was great that you were having a cultural experience of seeing frumpy people doing borderline anti-social things before you go to Wal-Mart.
Before you went to Wal-Mart, that is. I knows how to conjugated verbs.
On behalf of all the frumpy people who shop at Wal-Mart, I'm a little offended.
But is it OK to shop at Wal-Mart frumpily as long as you can resist engaging in borderline anti-social behavior? Just curious.
Thank you, dally, for recognizing the subtle irony in the situation. And for correcting my misspelling of walmarts.
It really is a wonderful thing to go to Wal-Mart and see the diverse sort of folk there. You see everything from quasi-classy to scary. Next to Lagoon, it's one of the best places to go people watching. I had to stifle a giggle when I passed the dude in wranglers with a belt buckle the size of a dinner platter. Never leave home without your ID! (tooled on the back of your belt, of course) Maybe he was frumpy lady's brother's step-son out picking up a new rake.
First let me just say that I am also very grateful that the huge tree is gone. My little brother was wrong. He never ended up raking up those leaves, it was always me who ended up getting the job done. the jerk.
secondly, I see guys in butt tight wranglers and huge belt buckles everyday up here in Idaho. Heck, my bishop even wears cowboy boots to church! Idaho really is a land of the strange.
I know, beks. Little brothers are like that. I feel your pain. But just think...you got to move out first, and I'm sure he envys the cool college big sister's life. And if you don't think there is that much for him to envy, make something up. How will he know?
You're welcome for the sound family relations advice. Let me know if you ever need more!
I, for one, have driven by Lorien's house and actually seen her outside raking leaves. She did NOT look frumpy. After all that wearing of headgear, you'll always look fabulous with your Willy Wonka smile, even if you're outside raking leaves.
"You" meaning Lorien, of course. Pardon my poor grammar. :-)
Give me a break. I distinctly remember an older sister exerting undue influence over me with threats of bodily injury if I wouldn't perform household tasks, apparently so that sister wouldn't have to do them herself. For example, I remember one negotiation when I was probably 4 years old, (making Lorien 15 at the time, I think), held under the kitchen table to determine our respective responsibilities for cleaning the kitty litter box if our parents would let her get a cat. Lorien's "fair" proposal: I do it MTWHF, and she would take care of Sat and Sun. She underestimated my intelligence and bargaining prowess. I counter offered with my proposal of her doing it MTWHF and I would take Sat and Sun. Negotiations broke down at this point and I think we may have traded punches in hopes of settling the agreement that way, but to no avail.
So don't give me this sanctimonious "younger brothers are like that..." junk, insinuating that I was weaseling out of my jobs. Or more importantly, don't insinuate that you didn't weasel out of just as many, or try to "convince" younger siblings, (i.e., me) into doing them for you.
This was funny, I was just reading becks's post, and misread the second paragraph. I didn't notice the word "in" in the sentence, so I found myself thinking, "What is Guy doing in Idaho every day?"
First, I have no recollection whatsoever of that particular negotiation. Second, if you were 4 when we got the cat, then that would have made me 9, thank you very much. Third, if indeed I took Saturday, consider it a favor, because that entailed changing the entire litter--under the leaky plastic liner and all--and cleaning and mopping the entire bathroom.
Do I deny duking it out when negotiations broke down? Heavens no. Do I deny using my 5-year size and smarts advantage to my advantage? Certainly not. And I ask you, dally, would you have done differently if places were traded? I think not. I am learning quickly from the parent end of things that we were not unique in our little dynamics. And just think, all of that was character building and has helped build you into the man you are, you little pen thief.
Hugs n kisses!
-Big sis
Hah! I knew my sibling age math would get a rise out of you.
Well, rest assured that the negotiation occurred under that old formica table with the pleather chairs we had before we got the nicer formica table with wood chairs. Whether you recollect it or not, it happened. You were probably wearing your headgear during negotiations. And I recognize that I probably would have done the same thing. Except I might have just passed on the trickery and gone straight to the punchery.
I'll tell you what was unique about about that dynamic. You had Mom and Dad snookered. How could two people who are smart enough to have doctoral degrees be that oblivious?
And I'm not a pen thief. You should see the amounts of $ I'm spending on those companies. I would have to take upwards of a few thousand pens every few days for the next fifty years to break even. I may be building a stockpile of highlighters on their dime, but I promise I am still WAY behind on the transaction.
I love that concept, just pass on the trickery and go straight to the punchery. The unfortunate thing is that it's so much easier to get away with when you're dealing with your siblings than when you're "negotiating" with your kids. Bummer.
Yeah, parents have to pretty much quit with the punchery. Threats are all that's left. And you have to be very careful how you use them...don't threaten unless it's something you stick with. And what'sl with that whole grounding strategy? Who ever thought of taking these kids who are driving you nuts and NOT allow them to leave your presence? It seems like I was grounded all the time. Dally, did you ever get grounded? I don't know if it would have stuck in your case. And by the way, just so you know, I admire your pen thievery!
Let me tell you about grounded. At one point, while I was off track from school I was grounded to my room for a week. I could only leave my room to eat. And all I did was almost start a wild fire in the Halladay's back yard. And you're always bragging about how you loosened Mom and Dad up...
In hindsight, I suppose it didn't happen that a week earlier I almost did the same thing in our back yard. I can only imagine what they would have done if they found out that I almost set Mike Walker's house on fire.
P.S., I am NOT stealing pens. I haven't taken any criminal classes yet, so I can't give you the legal explanation of why it's not theft. But stand by, that class is coming up next semester.
You know, come to think of it Dallas, you would have fit in with Guy's family pretty well. Did you ever punch holes in any walls or roll any cars or anything? I think I moved out before your most adventuresome years.
My brothers are now to the age where when our family gets together they talk about all the crazy stupid things they did when they were younger. My parents were oblivious to everything. Now I sort of wish I was crazier when I was in junior high and high school. What was I thinking!? Being an obedient child is overrated.
I punched the wall once, but not hard enough to put a hole in it. I think I hit a stud, so I'm glad I didn't hit it that hard. Never rolled a car either. But I have been in a Toyota Camry and a Nissan Sentra that were taken on roads that most Jeeps don't belong on. I did most of my really stupid stuff when I had snuck out of the house. I really liked that room with the window to the car port. Except for that stupid chow of the Grules. Luckily it barked so much that nobody thought it was barking at anything, when it was barking at me emerging from my window.
I have a really, really funny story about something I did at Justin's house in the condos after they had moved and the new buyers were renovating it (I didn't know that at the time). But it's not blog fare, and that's saying something for this blog. Ask me about it when I'm home in December.
Secret stories of things we did when we were young (OK, I know, you two will be forever "Young") and foolish--don't get me started. Perspective changes, however, when your babies become teenagers and you just hope and pray they aren't stupid enough to try any of the following at home:
a) take off on the back of some guy's motorcycle down a gravel road, doing about 90+mph, while wearing only cutoffs and a tank top--not even shoes. STU-PED!
b) spend the night at your girlfriend's house without mentioning to you parents that her parents aren't home. Take off to find some action in the city where your friend's car breaks down and you end up walking to her drug-doin' brother's house for help--at 2am in the middle of party full of other drug doing adults you don't even know but definitely shouldn't trust. STU-PED!
c) there's more, but this is a family blog. Truly I don't deserve to have lived through some of my crazy stunts and I sure hope I don't have to live through some of the things my kids could cook up if they tried hard enough.
Fortunately the world isn't any more dangerous and hasn't changed all that much between now and just a few short years ago when we were all teenagers, right? --Wait. Lo, were we ever teenagers at the same time? Probably not. Wait, we were when you got married.
I actually never wound up spending any time around lots of drug doing scary adults until my mission, so you've got me one-upped there.
Re: "Lo, were we ever teenagers at the same time? Probably not. Wait, we were when you got married."
Nicely played dally. I'm still on the side of big sis, but I can appreciate a subtle but direct hit when I see one. You're just lucky that since she is older and more mature, she will probably just let that one go. But watch your back...
beks, yes, being an obedient child IS overrated--and apparently unappreciated by younger siblings. Did my brother thank me for the room with the window into the carport? Nope. But the folks built it for me, and obviously trust wasn't an issue, and I truly NEVER snuck out through it. I suppose I was just a very mature teenager.
Compulsive: I think that the only time Lorien is disposed to let one go is after eating Mexican. She's about as likely to let something like that slide as I am. I'm sure there will be a boquet of punchery waiting for me when I come home in a few weeks.
Lo, thanks for the window. I had lots of fun sneaking out of it. And a "very mature teenager?" Come now, it wasn't that long ago that you were a teenager. (As I bite my tongue to avoid the obvious window for an age jab) You can't really believe that there is such a thing. I worked with the little devils for 6 years, and I am skeptical that there is such a thing. And if there is, I pity him/her b/c s/he's wasting the only years of life when it's excusable to be a meat-headed little twit. You gotta capitalize on those year, man.
Hey Lo,
Just wanted you to know it's not the same much fun in the land of blog without your witty posts. Miss you,
Compulsive
Hi, Lorien. Since the cookie party was cancelled, I think you should write a new post tonight. (How's that for logic?)
alright already. I've got one I'll put up soon...
Up here in Missoula, that's what we do with our leaves.
That's how they get cleaned up. I mean that's the actual way we're s'posed to do it.
We rake the leaves out into the edges of our streets, and the street cleaners come vacuum them up, and take them someplace to make compost.
Maybe your lady is from a town like mine, and she believed that she was doing right.
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