A Pile of Leaves

The trees at our cottage are large, plentiful, and full of leaves. That is, until the fall. So one weekend each November we have to clean up and transport millions of of leaves.

The drill goes like this:

• Rake the leaves into random piles
• Load the leaves into the trailer
• Pack the leaves into the trailer so we can fit more in
• Drive a full load into the leaf pile in the woods
• Unload the trailer
• Repeat

It is actually a very fun time even though it is a lot of work. Since I was about 10 I took the job of tractor driver and haven't been kicked out yet.

The younger kids are the "stompers," which is a very significant job. Their attention span only lasts a couple hours, and then the adults have to take over the stomping.

By the time the tractor is full we've piled in a tremendous amount of leaves. It takes some work to break them up and dump them out.

My dad has made great progress in the last few weeks and can put full weight on his previously broken leg.