Sore But Satisfied

Finally, we've had some good weather in Michigan. With October in my city being it's coldest and 2nd wettest ever, and then with having the flu recently, my yard was entirely hidden under a foot of oak leaves. But yesterday morning after getting an overdue haircut, and with the weather warm and breezy and the sun shining, I set out move them out.

The entire weekend was supposed to be nice, so I didn't intend to do the whole job yesterday, since I knew it was a huge one. And after I started, it was so breezy that I feared if I got all the leaves to the road and the guys who vacuum them up didn 't come by, the next day they just be spread all over again. This happened once before. So I planned to make a big, rather low pile in the middle of the front yard, then move it all to the road on Sunday. But as the day wore on, the wind lightened, and the girls came out and worked on the leaves in the backyard, and after that helped me in the front. The bottom line is that we got the whole job finished and all the leaves sucked up shortly after sunset.

Of course today, rather than having a free day to get other things done, I have a free day to enjoy my very sore body. I spent many hours blowing leaves around with the small electric blower we have, and today my right arm is sore and though still alive, feels like it is at best, "undead" and suitable for a zombie. Still, I love that blower. It is light, and we got it for free as an anniversary gift for working at the Hospital for I think ten years. It does everything I could ask of it. I can vacuum up small messes. I can carry it up on the roof and blow sticks off with it. I can blow light snow off the driveway and walk with it. And it is so light that I can jab it under the bushes and blow leaves out during spring clean up.

This reminds me of something, and that is: "Why do people insist on paying more for bigger and better when small, adequate, and reliable is all they need?" Granted, I feel the seduction from those expensive and pretty tools that have all the power "you'll ever need to get the job done!" But what if it's a job that I only do a couple times a year, and then rarely that big a one? We only got the blower we did because it was one of several available gifts in the list. But because that one proved to be so perfect for what I actually need it for, it taught me to shop prudently and wisely.

UPDATE: I wrote the above on Sunday, then stuff happened and I didn't post it. Stuff is still happening. Stay tuned.