Since my childhood, here’s been this big ol’ hedge at the back of our yard. In my dad’s day, it was kept nice and tidy. They’d grown up pretty tall, when we first moved in here, and Kevin trimmed them back to a sensible size. But we’ve left them to grow tall again in the past few years. They’re growing up into the utility wires, and they really do need to be trimmed back to a safer size.
But here’s what’s happened now. For the first time in decades, I can see the houses behind us. I can also see the houses across the street from the houses behind us. I knew the house behind us had a very tall storage shed. But, I’d never seen the shed in the back yard of the house next door to that house.
Now, there’s been this epic leaf drop. These hedges shed leaves, a little bit at a time, every now and then, but they are never completely bare. I’ve never seen the like of this massive leaf drop.
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- Now you can more clearly see the front of the house that’s across the street from the house behind us.
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- And here’s the house on the other side, with the shed I’ve never seen before. The large tree to the right of our shed is a pecan tree, which lost its leaves back in November.
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- I start raking up leaves.
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- The tree to the left of our shed is a crape myrtle, which shed its leaves back in October. And between the tree and the shed, the very large pile of leaves that have fallen from the hedges, raked into the long pile.
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- And on the left, under the pecan tree,
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- and beyond, leaves from the hedges on the right side of our shed.
When I look at the lowest minimum temperatures in Waco, I see:
-5 on January 31, 1949 (no hedges in the backyard, actually, no backyard, just prairie)
-4 on December 23, 1989 (hedges are here; we weren’t living in this house, but my parents still were, and on Dec. 23, 1989, we would surely been at the house, at some point)
-1 a tie January 18, 1930, and Ta-Dah, February 16, 2021 (David says that the problem was that the temperature stayed so low for such a long time, instead of being a brief time of the low temperature)
A well-respected Texas horticulturist suggests that everyone wait to see what comes back, leafs out, begins to bloom, before determining what ought to be replaced. I’m really hoping for the rebound.
These are great, heavy plastic, yard bins. The amount of leaves or sticks or yard waste they can hold makes it easy for me to carry, or pull (with the attached handles), from one place in the yard to another. These bins are the first load of the hedges’ leaves, on their way to the large green bins that will be emptied Monday after next on trash day.
I’ve filled them several times and emptied them into the green bins. Then, I spent time putting big black bags in a large garden bin, filling those black bags with more and more and more leaves, and setting them behind our little shed, where, over time, I’ll empty them into the green bins. I could be seeing the trees (and hopefully those hedges) leafing out, just about the time I’ve finally gotten rid of all the fallen leaves.
Meanwhile, at Target, they’ve started putting out the springtime gardening stuff. There’s always some potting soil and insect spray, but now they’ve enlarged the area. There are all kinds of tools (and I already have most of them). But, I saw these little bitty scissors, which were labeled “Herb Snips.” They are really sharp and are dishwasher safe. I bought them. They are so cute. Then, on Monday, I was putting together dinner for David, which included roasted potatoes. “These potatoes need some parsley,” I said. And I took those little snips, which really are nice and sharp, to the herb garden, and snipped some parsley leaves. They worked great. Then I took then into the house, snipped parsley on the potatoes, and put the snips in the dishwasher.
He spreads snow like a white fleece, he scatters frost like ashes,
He broadcasts hail like birdseed—who can survive his winter?
Then he gives the command and it all melts; he breathes on winter—suddenly it’s spring!
Psalm 147:16-18 (The Message Translation)
I’m looking forward to it!