dreaming@echonyc.com

since rain is forecast for tonight and tomorrow, and we might get snow on wednesday, i figured it was time to get myself in gear and blow the leaves out of the back yard.

now, a careful person with a rake would have done a much, much better job than i did with the blower. but then a careful person with no arms, one leg, and a pair of tweezers clamped between her jaws would have done a better job than i'd have done with a rake — so let's just call it even. the grass is still pocked with leaves here and there, but at least now the grass is visible.

to show the contrast, here's a picture of how it looked when i was halfway finished. (click on the teeny picture, just like i've taught you. that's right! good! you can also click here for another view.)

our resident woodpecker scolded me relentlessly as i worked. he was so loud that i could hear him above the roar of the blower. he might have been indignant about the noise, but since the suet feeder was empty, i'm guessing that's what he was complaining about. seems to me that woodpeckers are supposed to, you know, peck trees in search of snacks. figures we'd have the lazy-ass kind who prefers to set up shop on the feeder for easy pickins.

as i worked, i saw a pale green globe about the size of a golf ball nestled in the grass. it had a citrus-looking skin. being me, i poked it ungently with the nozzle of the blower. the globe instantly burst, emitting a dark cloud of dust containing god knows what kind of spores. approximately nine hundred billion of them are currently setting up shop in my lungs. i always knew yardwork was bad for my health.