Rakes and Leaf Blowers
Every autumn I get out my trusty rake and begin to clean up the falling leaves. At first the leaves fall slowly and I only need to rake once a week, but as the weather turns chilly and the sun goes farther south, I rake every day or so. Raking is a therapeutic exercise for me. It is a gathering in of all the beauty that adorned the trees during the spring and summer. It is also a harvesting of nutrients for the next year as I bundle the leaf piles into the yard waste bins for pick up or pour them onto the fenced leaf mulch pile at the back of the yard. As I rake, I listen to the sounds of fall: calling birds migrating south, rustling squirrels as they hurry to bury their winter stores, singing crickets—who stop when I move too close to their hiding places. I also notice quiet presences: the glistening spider webs draped across leafy bushes, the new fall grass gaining traction in the cooler weather after the hot summer drought, and the autumn blooms that have waited all year for their last minute showy arrival. Yes, raking is work, but it is also quintessential autumnal enjoyment.
But then the neighbors’ gardeners arrive in their rumbling trucks. They pull up, extract their noisy yard machines from the truck bed, run about the yard with their big lawnmowers, and then haul out the leaf blowers to “clean up” before they drive away. Have you ever noticed what most leaf blowers do? They blow extra leaves, grass clippings, and dust away from the yard where they are working and out into the public street, down into the county drainage ditch or over into another neighbor’s yard. Why? Why do they think it is ok to blow the excess away for somebody else to clean up? Why can’t they just take care of their own leaves instead of blowing them away so somebody else has to?
Here is where I stop and attest to the knowledge that many homeowners and gardeners do use leaf blowers to gather leaves. They either do not want to or can not rake all of their leaves with a rake. Yes, I understand. Leaf blowers do have a purpose.
However, this is not what I see week in and week out while I move about my neighborhood. On one occasion, I was arriving home and the neighbors’ gardener was blowing all of their yard debris onto my driveway. The gardener looked up, gave me a sheepish grin, and then turned the blower the other direction. Mind you, he did not clean up the mess he had already made of my driveway, he just didn’t finish blowing everything else my way.
I do not think that the gardeners in our neighborhood are out to mess up the world. I do not think that our neighbors are knowingly sending their mess our way. I trust we are all still looking out for each other. I just think that somewhere along the way the idea of getting the job done took a turn and became getting the job to look like it is done.
Do we do this in our personal lives as well? Am I like a rake or a leaf blower? When I have troubles or needs or times of growth do I gather up and gather in information, healing, and strength? Or do I dump all of my problems on someone else? Do not confuse this with asking for help and guidance. It is good to ask for help, it is kind to offer support. But when times are tough or we are having a bad day, do we take it out on the slow driver on the highway by honking and speeding around her? Are we grumpy to the gentleman in the check out line who may be a bit slow because of his lack of English skills? Do we accuse our children of being too noisy or troublesome when maybe we are the ones who need a time out?
Lady Liberty is like a rake. She gathers in the tired, the poor, and the downtrodden. She does not blame them for being wretched refuse. She doesn’t not send them away for somebody else to care for. She lifts her lamp to show the way.
Do we lift our lamp? Do we gather in? Or do we blow our troubles and blame? When money is short, do we work to figure out what we can do to work harder or to get help? Or do we blame the immigrants for taking our jobs? When an uptick in crime scares us, do we try to understand why some people can’t see a legal way to live their lives? Or do we decide that immigrants are the problem and we just need to blow them back to where they came from? When a child needs extra help in school do we work with the teacher and at home to help her? Or do we complain that too many resources are being wasted on helping newcomers adapt and learn?
Good questions to ask ourselves. Good ideas to ponder. And the next time you see a leaf blower, remember, maybe a rake might be a better choice: for the leaves in your yard and also for a guide to a kinder more Lady Liberty-like life.