Tis the time of year to get back outside and start cleaning and prepping the yard for the summer! I love working in the yard and right now is perfect, it’s not too hot yet, but warm enough to enjoy the sun. I decided to start in the front yard and use my blower/sucker to remove all the old leaves from under the bushes and trees. I do like my blower/sucker because it also mulches. It’s a smaller machine which is perfect for me to handle and it has a big strap I can put over my shoulder so I can carry it easily. In order to use the mulch option you must have it in suck mode. So, there I am, in full suck mode in my front yard.

We live in a dry climate and we haven’t received much moisture this year, so as you can expect there is a lot of dust that gets kicked up. So, I’m out in the front, sucker on high and it is loud! I didn’t realize how many leaves were actually out there and I filled my first bag fairly quickly. I dumped the bag’s mulched contents in my compost pile and went back at it for round two.

After removing the top layer with my first trip, this second time around seems much dustier! And it’s so loud, you really can’t pay attention or focus on anything but directing the nozzle into the compacted ground. Also, this second bag isn’t filling up as fast as the first, which is weird. Then I looked up for a second and there is dust everywhere! What is going on? I thought. Then I looked down and I am covered in dust! I paused for a moment and was overwhelmed with the feeling of being a total jackass. You know, when all of a sudden everything comes together and you know exactly what’s wrong.

I turned the sucker back on pointed the nozzle to the ground, watched some leaves get sucked up and then shoot straight out the back of the bag in tiny little pieces! I forgot to zip the bag back up after I dumped my first load! Although, the damage was already done, and I had been out there for almost an hour, of course I looked around to see if anyone had seen me. I’ll never know, but one thing I do know now is spring sucks!