Living in the woods sucks
20 lb. backpack blower and me
It’s that time of year again. Autumn. Those bastard leaves are falling from the trees, all day and all night. And they will continue to fall for the next 2 months.
If you have never had the pleasure of living in the woods, allow me to fill you in. Leaves will be in your yard roughly 8 out of the 12 months of the year.
How can that be?? You ask. Well, they start to fall in late August in our neck of the woods. (get it…neck of the woods, living in the woods, LOL)
The leaves will fall from late August through November. Most of them will be down by late November. But… they linger! There will be fresh piles on the ground, just waiting for the wind to pick them up and let them dance across your freshly blown off yard. AND THIS WILL CONTINUE ALL WINTER!!!!!! And not just winter. This will continue into late March.
“In like a lion, and out like a lamb, the whole time blowing leaves like they are next to a fan!”
I own a really nice Stihl backpack blower. Well, it is a nice model, but poorly maintained. My husband doesn’t seem to believe in maintaining tools and equipment, but that’s a different story, for a different day.
The Stihl backpack blower weighs roughly 20lbs. I much prefer the backpack blower, over a hand held blower because a hand held can be very hard on your wrist. The backpack blower has the weight being carried on your back and just a lightweight nozzle that you swing around, blowing the leaves.
20 lbs on your shoulders and back can get tiring. I have a degenerative disc in my neck and the weight of the back pack blower causes significant pain after a few days.
I end up making a “leaf wall” in our woods, every year. It creates a nice division between the cleared portion of the woods, and the section of the woods where I said, “fuck it, that’s good enough.”
On windy days, the leaf wall will launch leaves across the entire cleared section. So, the next day, I will go down and blow them back into the wall formation. Only to have them flutter about again on the next windy day. Once the April showers come, the weight of the water and the natural decomposition process helps weigh them down enough, that the wind doesn’t have as much of an impact.
Speaking of decomposition. April kicks of molds, fungus and other mildewy loveliness! Spring brings increased temps and extra moisture. Add that to the decomposing organic material and ta-da! MOLDS AND FUNGUS. FUCK!!! Break out the Zyrtec.
Take it from me. Trees are over rated. Go live in a meadow or a beach somewhere. You’ll be glad you did.
