Leaf blowers: another jeremiad
At first I thought these were some sort of non lethal rounds that could be used on the homeowners behind the leaf blowing.
Imagine my disappointment.
I suppose I get to look forward to leaf blower MOL threads every week now, too.
DaveSchmidt said:
I suppose I get look forward to leaf blower MOL threads every week now, too.
Hasta la victoria siempre, comrade.
Moammar said:
Hasta la victoria siempre, comrade.
El silencio es un argumento llevado a cabo por otros medios.
But I jest.
Having worked from home full time from 1998 thru 2014, I am adamantly opposed to the noise of leaf blowers. Once you have collected them all and doused them with flammable liquids, I will bring the matches.
There is nothing worse than having 3 going next door on one side and 2 on the other side.
I'm more concerned with our environment destroying "everything is garbage" attitude than I am about the noise, though I don't love the noise. Leaves are not garbage. A lot them can be left on the grass.
https://www.consumerreports.org/lawn-care/for-the-greenest-yard-leave-the-leaves-behind/
Ah, we had 24 hours without the blowing of leaves. And now we're blowing again. Blowing so, so hard.
Are leaf blowers really faster? I've been listening to the two man crew blowing our neighbor's leaves (mostly into our yard) and it has been going on for almost an hour. Our backyard is the same size and I can rake out most of the leaves in the same amount of time by myself.
Interestingly, the same neighbor has repeatedly yelled at the guy in the yard behind our houses for blowing leaves into both our backyards. I wish she was as vigilant about the work she is paying for.
We did have one bright spot where a different neighbor came out of his house to give a stern talking to (in his awesome Scottish accent) to his grounds crew. He chastised them for blowing leaves into his neighbors' yards. The one advantage of people being home is that some folks actually pay attention to what their landscapers are doing. I wish more people watched what was going on.
Honestly, I wonder if most people are partially deaf. I can't hold a conversation, listen to the radio, or watch TV while there is such cacophony outside. Why would you pay money to surround your home with noise for an hour a week?
My father not only hated the noise, but didn't understand why people didn't have their children helping out instead. In pre-COVID times he didn't understand why people paid others to do work that their kids could easily do. Now, sending the kids outside to rake would be the perfect antidote for too much screen time while classes are online.
Meh, don’t make the kids rake the leaves. Just leave them there. Lots of insects need that layer of leaves to make it through the winter. In the spring we just mow over them and they mulch easily.
ETA: My husband used to be one of those people where every single leaf had to be removed. He has since changed his stance.
They must be stopped. They must be extirpated from our village. I envision a tower of confiscated leaf blowers in Memorial Park, aflame like the Texas A&M bonfires of yore. Leaf blower enthusiasts (no, no not the hapless lawn guys) should be paraded through the streets in dunce caps in a cultural revolution of our own. Pristine, leafless lawns should become a faux pas on the level of public defecation, or Stephen Miller's existence.
Crush the leaf blowers with large, treaded vehicles. Beat them into plowshares. Silence the incessant drone of the two-cycle engine, a threnody for the planet and for our sanity.
The leaves were here before us and they will be here when we are dust. Surrender to them.
I do not like leaf blowers.