Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Zillions

1987

"This is a nice house. Too bad there aren't any trees."

"Don't worry. We'll get some."

1995

"Those sticks are pretty pathetic. We should have started sooner. And with a lot more."

"At least there are a few pine trees to provide a little green."

1999

"The Stewarts sold their house in one day! And for their asking price! I think we should do the same and go find a house on a wooded lot!"

"Great idea!"

Seventeen houses later...

"How anyone could ask that kind of money for a house the color of baby poo (or puce or magenta stripes or pock-marked brick) in need of thousands (or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands) of renovation is beyond me. All that money, and no trees."

2000

"Naperville's housing market is depressing."

"How many have you checked out?"

"I've lost count. I guess it's not meant to be."

2001

"Such a great house! We're going to love living here. All these trees!"

2012


"Whose idea was it to move to a lot with trees anyway?"

(Since you are dying to know, the technique to get them to the street is via sheet travois.)


(Rake into pile, flip pile onto sheet, drag sheet to road. Repeat until you are numb. Or there is a windstorm that carries them into your neighbor's yard.)

The leaves love us so much around here that they have made themselves indelible on the driveway and sidewalk.


I'm contemplating a third story condo in retirement.

You?

Naperville Now participates each week at Mrs. Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday. You can read what other Alphabetarians are writing here.

26 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow! You sure have a lot of trees!

Rocky Mountain Woman said...

Hah! There are times when the third story condo DOES sound like a good idea!!

BFL said...

I'm with you -- ready for a condo. I frequently ask myself who planned all these garden areas that demand attention. Reminded it was me, I sigh in resignation, knowing the fall chores will morph into spring chores -- and some never will get done.

Midwestern City Girl said...

I rent, so I don't have to worry about leaves, but I'm kind of sad that the trees are mostly bare now.

Esther Joy said...

We are quite lucky not to have too many leaves. The wind seems to blow them all away before we have to rake or mulch them. Of course, we used to have a lot more leaves before the 2009 ice storm which destroyed a lot of our trees...

Maureen Wyatt said...

Te he he. Who wanted the stupid trees? I spent all last Sunday mulching leaves. My new neighbour just said to me that she thought she should get at her leaves. Why bother? Last Monday hers all blew over to me! ~ Maureen

Anonymous said...

When we lived in Arkansas, my leaf removal system was a stiff wind, too. Now that we're in Texas with pine trees, that won't work. Had a crew of three here most of the day raking up the pine needles! We could move to New Mexico or Arizona where people have rocks and cactus instead of trees and grass. Hmmmmmmmmm.

Cuzzin Carolyn

Jim said...

Zillion is one of my favorite not-a-word words. I use it a lot when talking about our national debt and other things. Yes, tree leaves in the fall by the zillions too.

I am glad we don't have many trees with leaves that shed in the winter. Our oak and the holley stay green all year round. The cypress tree doesn't have real leaves.
..

Johanna said...

Our leaves fall in the Spring and make just as big a mess! We get pine straw in the Fall. For every season....

Aritha V. said...

Wow! I love trees :-)

http://showmeastorie.blogspot.nl/

carol l mckenna said...

Great photos and fun post ~ love the leaves sticking to your driveway ~ ( A Creative Harbor) ^_^

Leovi said...

Yes, I like the leaves deliciously estendidas like a blanket, I love those pictures, especially the last.

SarahBeth said...

Fun post! But what happens to all those leaves piled in the street? Looks like everybody's doing it!

EG CameraGirl said...

My husband mows through all our leaves every other day till they are done falling. They make super mulch and are great when ground up for lawns and gardens. :)

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's a lot of leaves! I hate raking our yard but at least we don't have that many leaves!

Annesphamily said...

I still have leaves to rake! You really love trees! Good post!

~✽Mumsy✽~ said...

I only have a few trees, but the leaves are now covered everywhere!

storybeader said...

What a pretty street! Guess you need more pine trees on your property so you don't have to rake so much {:-Deb

Kathy and Freddy said...

It IS a pretty street, isn't it?
And no more ideas about a third story condo, ya hear????

Sharon said...

Shut up and rake, Missy.

Anonymous said...

Just goes to show, we always want what we have not got! That's life. Also we want different things at different times of our lives, sorry I am getting serious and carried away....

Unknown said...

Z best Z-post! Treez lover here. The photos are gorgeous and I agree with Leovi the last one is beautiful...it could be used as texture in photoshop, too.

All Z best,
Scudds

sandra tylerr said...

lol. leaves love us too. Especially since Sandy who blew many of them down before their time.

Pride In Photos Beauty said...

Yes, you are a great story teller and have a wonderful memory for dates!!! We moved to Florida 8 years ago, and my husband still talks about how lucky he is he doesn't have to rake every year☺
Laurie

Betshy said...

I'm with you! Down with raking!! Condo living, here we come!!

Jenny said...

I love z trees! We don't have many big ones here, but I love the ones that are around!

I love when we find a little pile of leaves for our Grandlittles to jump in!

Thanks for linking.

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