Good bye Lawn Rakes, Hello Snow Shovels

Among the last yard-related chores I completed yesterday was one more round of raking---oak leaves, to be specific. 

I love oak trees but not in the late fall.

These majestic hard woods are among the most stubborn of the leaf trees cuz oak leaves just will not leave in their entirety before the snow flies.

Now that the snow has flown, the leaves have blown---all over the fresh, white blanket we awakened to this morning. 

Our world here in Selle and surrounding areas has turned mostly black-and-white after one of the more brilliant of autumn color shows most folks can ever remember.

The oak leaves are certainly not black; they have their own brand of brown, with a slight tint of red.

But since we'll be living in a lot of black-and-white for the next few months, I decided to tinker with the picture this morning.

Somebody on Facebook said they measured 4.5 inches at their house, which I believe is just a few miles from us.  

So, I'll go with that amount, especially after shoveling a path from the barn to the house. 

We are pretty much ready for winter.  I brought in the first wood yesterday morning and started the first fire in the stove. 

Yesterday afternoon's schedule included a flurry of activity, putting away the second lawnmower, raking more leaves, putting away gas cans and a utility trailer I've been using behind one of the lawnmowers.

One item I forgot, however, was to bring out a shovel from the storage shed and prop it next to the garage door.

So, dressed in snow pants and boots, I walked through fresh snow to the barn, knowing this would be a busy morning.

The other winter essential that had not yet received attention was for Bill to put the blade behind the tractor. 

Consequently, I knew shovel duty would be in effect until that happened.

So, I've shoveled out three box stalls and cleared out a path back to the house.

Bill is now out putting the blade on the Kubota.  I'm hoping he saves some plowing for me, and that's likely cuz he's working again today.  

When it's over, the "retiree" will have worked a 5-day week this week, and today will be topped off by a trip to Post Falls for a Society of American Foresters meeting.

Not a lot has changed since Bill's decision to retire, which, by the way, is totally official today.  He's been on "vacation" since Sept. 30. 

So, this official retiree is doing what a lot of official retirees tend to do these days:  working at another job.  In Bill's case, he just plain loves being a forester, so this assignment is frosting on the cake for him.

In my case, I just loved writing stories about people and the things they do, so I have enjoyed my post-retirement activities too. 

And, today, if there's snow left to plow, I'll enjoy that too.  People around here don't get tired of plowing snow until about mid-January, so it will be a while before the complaining starts.

In the meantime, I wish there were a way I could suck up all those oak leaves from atop the snow, but I don't think that's gonna happen.  

Anyway, I'm figuring they'll be hidden four or five inches underneath a new blanket of white stuff by the weekend.

And, we'll be ready for the additional dumps. 

From now on, there will be a shovel next to the garage door, and I can shovel my way to the barn.  And, the tractor can be backed out of the storage shed, ready to plow. 

Welcome to winter.