This is me earlier this afternoon.Usually the neighbors across the road and to the left blow all their leaves across the road and into the empty lot next to our yard. I've watched them do this, and also I see them pull their mower right upto the lot and take off their bag of cuttings and dump it into the woods.
I haven't had the heart (or the nerve, I guess) to tell them the lot is ours.
Funny, really.
Well, as I had ciggie breaks on our back porch this fine day, I noticed the lady across the road blowing leaves all morning. I immediately thought of them going to our empty lot.
Later, I stepped outside again and smelled smoke. I saw that they'd aquired a burn barrel, which is what we've used for a couple of years now.
On closer scrutiny, however, I realised the heaping pile of leaves were in close proximity to the burn barrel.
Not only that, I was dismayed to see small flames sparking up outside of the barrel, getting bigger and brighter. And the neighbor was no where to be seen.
Never mind leaving a burning barrel unattended, which is against the law, I could hear the steady whine of the leaf blower moving further away in their back yard.
I put my cigarrette out and ran down the steps, turning on the hose and filling the wheelbarrow with water. (Luckily I'm lazy and haven't put it away after a week or so.) Also, as I was filling the barrow, I noticed a lady walking her dog and
skirting around the flames, giving it a
wide berth ! (How inconvenient for poor Fluffy !) Here I am, in my UGG mule slippers, running across our bumpy, mossy lawn, sloshing water everywhere, I must have looked a sight !
As I get to the barrel, I see a small bush behind it, merrily a-blaze, and, looking around for Moses, not seeing him anywhere, got the wheelbarrow right in there and tipped the water on the fire, dousing everything.
I leave the smoldering leaves and bush and go looking for the owner. I follow the sound of the leaf blower around the back of the house. I'm yelling, whistling, getting within 5 feet of the lady, and she still doen't know I'm there.
I literally had to step right in front of her, causing her surprise. I'm glad I didn't give the old bird a heart-attack, but I certainly had my heart rate going !
I showed her what had happened, advised her to move the leaves away and put the barrel on her gravel drive. She explained that she didn't want the gravel turning black. ( Hmm, that could have been her house, and the entire neighborhood, little blackened shells.)
They have an small empty lot right next to the burn barrel, which is full of deadfall and branches, great for kindling ! If that had gone up, they's have been screwed. Jay told me it was a good thing I was out there and noticed it all.
Anyway, she thanked me for being a good neighbor,and we introduced ourselves, as we hadn't spoken before, then I sodded off back across the street where my half finished ciggie awaited me.
