Genus grossus

So, at the very end of last fall/beginning of last winter, our town did one more “leaf pickup.” Our house seems to be at the prime spot in town for leaves. Keep in mind, we have two little trees. One has no leaves (arbor vida) and the other has about 9 leaves (it’s a baby). However, we host a lovely vacation getaway for everyone else’s leaves.

At least the leaves think so.

People will rake, pile up their leaves, and 1 hour later after a few trucks have driven by and the wind has blown a bit, the leaves are magically piled against our house, better known to the leaves as their Grand Hotel. While I’m touched to be living on a plot of land that attracts the leaves so, it does get a bit annoying in the fall.

On the day of the last leaf pickup last year, my husband was unfortunately in the hospital for kidney stones (ouch!). :( So, the leaves got to stay for longer than they had hoped! Hooray for the leaves, boo hoo for us. Then, winter descended and blanketed the leaves in safety (known to us humans as “snow”) for a few months. I suppose we became “Extended Stay America” for the leaves.

When the snow finally began to melt, my husband had other troubles to worry about, including a wife with a new baby, three other kids, school full time, work full time, web admin for two sites, computer side work, church, ……. So the leaves have sat in sun and rain and just really loved their stay at our house.

Today I decided that I was feeling good enough to try to do something nice for my husband. He’s worried so much about these leaves overstaying their welcome. I decided today to be brave and become a “bouncer” for the leaves. After all, they haven’t even paid us rent. Time to go!

I will spare you the details of what lies under such a lot of leaves after such a lovely stay at our home. But needless to say, it isn’t pretty!

I think I have discovered new life forms today.

If I were a biologist, I would probably catalog them and name them for you. I think I need to contact some of the biologists over in Indonesia and tell them to get over here because that Jabba the Hut frog with no lungs has got nothing on what was growing under my leaves.