December | 2016 | Steve Tilford

Leaves changing and falling from the trees is really what defines fall and signals the coming of winter. (Is it leaves or leafs?) But, I have a pet peeve about fall and leaves.

When I was a kid, our whole neighborhood would pretty much get together and rake our yards on the same weekend. We had huge leaf piles that we’d all jump in. Then we’d burn the leaves in the street gutter and it would be super smokey. Kind of weird now, but that was the way it was back then.

People used to take care of the gutters in front of their houses. Not anymore. At least in Topeka. I live in a pretty good neighborhood in Topeka and most of the street gutters and nearly all the sewer grates are clogged with leaves.

But when many people rake their leaves, most put them into plastic trash bags and have the trashmen pick them up. That is wrong is more than one way.

First of all, I read something about leaves in a dump and it is a high percentage, something like 16% of all volume. I think it said that 125 million tons of leaves are put into landfills in the US. We’re putting stuff into a landfill that would decompose on its own. What is up with that?

We have a couple compost places in our backyard. I can add as many leaves as I want and they are mostly gone by the next spring. It makes super garden additive. If you don’t want to rake the leaves and put them in a compost bin, then just mow them and let them help your yard. Or rake them and put them around your bushes.

Up in Mount Prospect, a Chicago suburb, where Trudi grew up, all you have to do is rake your leaves to the curb and every Monday they come by with a special vacuum truck and the suck them up, shred them and then they take them to the vegetation dump. Every city should do this. Clogging up our storm sewers with leaves is just dumb.

Anyway other than bagging them up and giving the trash guys more work is okay. We have enough problems in our society than filling our trash dumps with vegetation. Someone, maybe our city officials, need to educate us all about what is the right thing to do with leaves. We’re doing it all wrong now.

One of my neighbors driveway.

Another. This is nearly weekly all fall.

Nothing like the storm sewers being clogged. If you have a storm sewer in front of your house you need to keep it clear.

This guy has been coming nightly to the compose pile. I guess he like the fruit peels or something.

This guy has been coming nightly to the compost pile. I guess he likes the fruit peels or something. I’ve been teaching Tucker to not bark in the yard, but he can’t help himself with an opossum.

Last night Sunflower Outdoor and Bike had its annual customer appreciation party. It is usually the first holiday deal of the year around here. At least for me. I was a little apprehensive about going there, thinking that I only have a short amount of time I can keep an energy level up good enough to enjoy a holiday party. But, I did alright.

Downtown Lawrence Kansas around the holidays is great. It is really decorated and pretty. The downtown area is sort of the original downtown from the 1800’s. Many of the building, including Sunflower, have limestone foundations and walls. I like that.

Dan Hughes is the proprietor of Sunflower, so the MC. It is a great shop. If you ever have a chance to go by, you should.

Dan has won the DK 200 more than a handful of times. Anyway, Dan is great and keeps a festive atmosphere. He gives away a ton of stuff and does a raffle that gives away a lot of other stuff too. A guy I ride with from Lawrence, Marcos, young daughter won a Rockshoc Sid 29’er fork. She said that she was giving it to her dad for Christmas, which is sweet.

Everyone there was so nice to me. Wanting to know how I was doing and saying that I looked so much better than they thought I would. I guess that is good, I think.

Anyway, I held up okay. I took a stroll down Mass. St. during the middle to get some fresh air, which really helped.

I slept nearly 8 hours last night, which is a record by miles. I don’t feel that great, but it has to be a good thing.

I have two doctor’s appointments today. This will be the last ones for a couple weeks. I’m sort of tired of the whole routine, even though I understand that it is important. The deal is I’ve learned just about everything I’m going to know about what is the matter with me. And that seeing a doctor isn’t really going to help much in the near term. At least if it stays status quo, which is good.

Okay, tomorrow is the Old-Fashioned Christmas Parade in downtown Lawrence. Over a 100 horse-drawn carriages. I usually ride there, but not this year. But it will be great getting out of the house for sure. Hope you have a good weekend.