Yard Work...Pine Needles

It took my son and I about an hour to collect the fallen pine needles off our lawn. We're going to put down fertilizer and needed the needles gone.

The trees that gave up the needles and pine cones were planted by my parents around 1970 when we first moved to the neighborhood. There were more trees before we built our house, but some sacrifices had to be made to put in both the house and the street leading to the house. When my brother and I were younger (much younger...) we decided to put a Christmas tree in the basement, you know, just for us. We always had a tree upstairs and we wanted one downstairs. The trees were maybe six or seven feet tall at the time. We chose one and cut it down. We might have even used an axe. My mom was upset, I think, but I also think she was slightly amused.

The experience must have influenced my brother because each winter his family gets permits, hike up into the mountains, and kills...ah, I mean, removes several natural trees for their house. They're beautiful, but, oh, the work involved...

Our yard work today meant the needles needed to be raked up and collected. The city will come by in a few weeks and remove them. Most of our neighbors have large tree branches in front of their homes. Our contribution will consist primarily of pine needles.