Rake me up before it snow-snows

Mid-Michigan was supposed to get hit with 2-4 inches of snow and freezing rain last night and, in preparation, I needed to get the last of the fallen leaves (which, I must say, took their sweet time falling) raked and bagged.

It was about 20 degrees when I began raking at eight o’clock Saturday morning and I have some observations to share about the whole experience.

First of all, being me and already cold, I was properly attired in long underwear, jeans, thermal sweater, turtleneck, hooded sweatshirt and insulated vest as well as two pairs of gloves, knit cap and wool socks. Even with all that it was a chilly start to the morning. The good news is once I started wrestling with the frozen ground to give up its goodies I got warm enough to peel off a couple of layers (and work up a pretty good [and less than attractive] sweat).

Since it was below freezing, there was a good deal of frost covering the leaves. In some ways, having the ground be frozen was actually kind of nice because it was like sweeping the newly-fallen leaves from nature’s hardened floor. But, of course, as the ground was frozen so were some of the leaves that had been sitting there a while and that made the job a bit more difficult.

When raking in sub-freezing weather, it’s important to treat your rake with care. Plastic becomes brittle in cold temperatures and if you become overzealous with the rake (as I did) you’ll end up braking a couple of its teeth off. The good news is that ACO Hardware — an establishment that has let me down repeatedly in the past — had rakes on sale and I was able to get a new one when I had to make a bag run. Despite all the raking done by the Superfriends, I ended up with twelve bags of leaves and debris.

As everyone knows, I need music. I drive to it. Dance to it (badly and in the comfort of my kitchen). Clean to it. Code to it. Sometimes, like Xander, I like the quiet but, for the most part, I need musical accompaniment to whatever I’m doing. Raking first thing in the morning demanded the use of my iPod. Though I was a bit worried about the cold temperature’s affect on the iPod, I was more frustrated by its affect on the earbuds. Or, really, my ears. As my ears got cold the earbuds refused to stay in place. So I’d be raking along, enjoying Drowning Pool or Rob Zombie (motivational yard work music), and then have one — if not both — of the earbuds fall out. Grrr. Argh. Then, obviously, I’d have to take off my gloves to readjust them only to have a repeat performance shortly thereafter.

The tempermental earbuds, broken rake and cold weather all contributed to a mounting frustration I was feeling as I rushed to finish raking so that I could make it to the chiropractor’s office before they closed at noon. And, naturally, I wanted enough time to shower before going to the chiropractor as I was, I’m sure, pretty gross from the morning’s endeavors. Much like the trigger for turning mild-mannered Bruce Banner into the Hulk, frustration leads to anger and I turn into into my father. Don’t get me wrong. My father is a wonderful man. I couldn’t really ask for a better dad but he does have a temper and it was his gift — the kind that keeps on giving — to me. So, much to my poor neighbor’s discomfort, I’m sure, there was much cussing and grumbling and, perhaps, a bit of yelling toward the end of my raking extravaganza. The verbal abuse dealt the yard waste bags, leaves, rake, earth and whoever else was in hearing distance was probably uncalled for and I do apologize.

The good news is that, despite the many cons of raking in sub-freezing temperatures, I was able to finish my raking and make it to the chiropractor. A challenge to be sure but that made the feeling of accomplishment all the better.