AUTUMN LEAVES

There's a shit load of leaves in the backyard all thanks to the 18 oak trees in and around it. And the leaves on the ground are not even this year's crop! They're left overs from last year and fell only to be neglected when I was working five to six days a week 100 miles from home.

Now that I'm home for good I chip away at the slug of leaves that remain on the ground, two green barrels at a time.

The City of Cow Town has a recycling system: Put green waste into a sixty plus gallon waste cart that's provided. The City then turns what's picked up into compost that's sold to landscape contractors or to homeowners. Pretty cool.

Every Saturday or Sunday I load up our two sixty gallon carts that are unloaded by the City early Monday morning.

It feels as if I'm fighting a losing battle. When it seems that I'm making headway more leaves fall to the ground. It's that time of year.

Keeping up with 18 oak trees is time consuming but what the hell, it's good exercise hauling leaf buckets up the hill to the green cart.

Halfway up the hill with my load of leaves I start thinking that those 18 trees would might mighty fine firewood.....then I remember the role each that of those trees have, albeit small, in the ecosystem of Cow Town.

Better keep those puppies where they are and help them to be healthy.