Yardwork Update

First, I would like to note that there is no homeowner's association where my folks live. This is good, because--like Heather mentioned with condo associations--they are evil. My neighbors should not be able to control what colour my house is, nor I theirs. For the record, if that's ever a situation I'm placed in, I will happily approve ANY colour. Neon green? Sure! Black? Hey, why not? Polka-dotted? If you can do it, go for it! In general, I own my property, so you can kiss my ass.

I bring this up because the other day I found a large roll of leaf bags (aka giant garbage bags) placed on one of our garbage bins outside. I don't know who placed them there, but I do know it was Thursday or Friday afternoon (can't remember which). This was after I spent three damn days hauling leaves out of the yard (see previous post for number of trees on this property). To provide a timeline for the last week:

• Monday: Spent 24 hours travelling from the UK to Eugene, arriving Monday at 8:30pm.
• Tuesday: Spent the afternoon working on the tons of oak leaves in the backyard.
• Wednesday: Spent much of the day (4-6 hours) in the front yard, raking and mowing leaves not only in the front yard's grass, but also from the porch, driveway, carport, and side yard (including part of the neighbor's yard as a courtesy). Then did more work in the backyard (including stepping in at least one pile of dog poo).
• Thursday: Starting at 8am, spent another 2 hours in the front yard, raking up everything new that fell overnight, and dumping it all in the pickup truck to take to Lane Forest Products ($2.50 to get rid of it all, and they recycling). Walked dog, and then off to Lane Forest. Then it started to rain, so I called it good (and quietly cried when I saw MORE leaves falling...again).

So imagine my irritation when I find this roll of leaf bags on Saturday. I've worked incredibly hard on the yard, as a courtesy to my parents and the neighbors, as well as for myself and my in-laws. There are a variety of possibilities as to why they turned up: it looked like we might not have leaf bags because I was putting them in the truck (that was because I didn't want 10,000 full bags in the carport all winter), someone found them and thought they might be ours, or--and what I think is most likely--someone thinks I need to put more work into the yard.

If someone thinks I need to put my work into lawn maintenance, that's fine. But have the balls to tell me to my face. TALK to me. Don't pull any passive-aggressive bullshit. If you talk to me about it, I'll be nice, and I'll explain where I'm coming from. Chances are, I'll even make an effort to comply with your wishes, at least partially. But sneak around, try to make subtle, annoymous hints? Yeah, I'm not doing any more yard work (at least not in the front) until probably Thursday now. I'd love to get those leaves up sooner, but since I think someone doesn't like how I'm taking care of the yard, they can now deal with it. Or, to quote from Zombieland (a totally kickass movie, by the way), "Nut up or shut up."