Fall leaves can be fun, even for adults

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By TAMMY MALGESINI

Inside my shoes

Published on October 14, 2015 6:24PM

Growing up. I often was excused from home and garden tasks.

I conveniently used the excuse of my allergies and asthma to get out of doing things I didn’t enjoy. However, as I’ve gotten older I’ve learned that fall leaves can be fun.

So, before you get set to rake ’em and bag ’em, have some fun with the colorful and crisp leaves that are blowing across your lawn like a snowdrift.

A number of years ago, Suzanne Tosten and I felt bad for Terri Dorran because she didn’t have any trees in her yard. Terri was missing out on the joys that fall leaves ultimately bring.

Dressed incognito for a Halloween party as Wayne and Garth of Saturday Night Live, Suzy and I set out to enrich Terri’s life with a blessing of leaves. Oh sure, we could have gone across the street to the park and raked and gathered leaves, but that would have taken too much effort. Instead, we went to then Hermiston Mayor Frank Harkenrider’s house and removed several of his large decorative lawn leaf bags.

Back at Terri’s house we emptied the bags, creating a blizzard of leaves. It was awesome fun.

Terri’s son, Mitch, was thrilled with the colorful blanket in their front lawn.

“Look mom, look at all the leaves,” he exclaimed with the innocence of youth. “They must have blown over from the park.”

Of course, we couldn’t just steal Harkie’s leaves and call it good. So, a few nights later, we collected the leaves from Terri’s place. Then, on the way to Harkie’s house, we had another bright idea — let’s collect additional lawn leaf bags and set them up in a football formation. (Note: I’m sure the statute of limitations has passed regarding the theft of said leaves, but just in case I want to remind you about something called creative license).

Anyway, along with the three bags we had snagged from Harkie’s lawn earlier, we gathered an additional eight bags between Hermiston and Highland avenues. Back at Harkie’s place, we set up a basic T formation.

With my husband’s gimpy foot and fall in full swing with the leaves starting to fill our yard, I’m likely going to be the one raking and bagging this year. By the way, can someone tell me where Mayor Dave Drotzmann lives? (Also, for your information, many area cities provide its residents with a card or coupon to dispose of yard debris, including fall leaves, free of charge at local landfills. Contact your city hall for details).

Tammy Malgesini is the community editor. Her column, Inside my Shoes, includes general musings about life and runs every other week in the Hermiston Herald. Contact her at tmalgesini@eastoregonian.com or 541-564-4539.