A Good Idaho Neighbor Should Bag the Leaves When They Fall

Leaves have their agenda.  One of the guys at work told us about the poplar trees on one side of his drive to work.  On the other side, there are no poplars.  On Tuesday, all the downed leaves were on the empty side.  The wind was blowing something fierce and carried them across the street.  If you don’t bag them after raking them (if you even rake) then you’re going to see them scattered.  After all, the wind blows in Idaho!

When I was a boy, there was an older man in my hometown, and a later generation would’ve branded him a slacker.  Autumn came and he raked up his leaves and left them in a pile on his neighbor’s lawn.  Then he went to the diner for a burger and coffee.  I was at a booth with my dad when the angry neighbor arrived, and quite publicly accused the slacker of leaving behind the leaves.  “Maybe they just blew there,” was what the older fellow said.

Then the language got vulgar and there was shouting.  Then the slacker said he was going to tell management and walked into the kitchen.  A few minutes later it became apparent he ducked out the back door.  Well done conflict avoidance!

I don’t know how it ever got resolved, but I didn’t hear about any arrests, so I assume it got sorted out.

Of course, here in Idaho, you can wait a few hours for the wind to shift.  Then it becomes someone else’s problem.  For a few more hours.

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