86'n It

It's pretty hard to get any other work done when you are busy filling 33 bags full of leaves.

Our city recently suspended its vacuum leaf collection service, which leaves us to do the bagging ourselves. The vacuum collection was not a perfect system (the trucks broke down often allowing all the leaves to clog the storm water gutters), but bagging sucks. Franca loved it though. She would help fill bags for little while before being distracted by the neighbor cat or a good stick.

I am convinced though that the only reason leaves change colors so brilliantly in the fall is so that you won't be too annoyed at dealing with them after they turn brown and coat your lawn in with a snake-hiding, bad-neighbor-dog-poo-concealing carpet.

Yah. My actual first raking motion of the year yielded a 16" long garter snake. As Franca would say: Sssss! Not Nice! No Touch! before she hunches over to get a better look, good stick in hand for poking.

Like mother, like daughter.