Behold, the Leaf Blower cometh, sowing the wind, and reaping the whirlwind.
**********
In your silent reverie it comes. The distant roar encroaches, closer, closer. You hear it before you see it. You smell the fumes of its foul breath before you feel its vibration. No explanation necessary: the Leaf Blower is here.
The ear-splitting whine of the two-cycle engine shatters the day’s quiet enjoyment. You can’t think, and your tongue utters expletives that would curl grandma’s blue hair.
You close all doors, windows, retreat to your prayer closet, take the matter up with a higher authority. You’re displeased with the former silent answers, like, “Patience is a virtue,” or, “Do it yourself.” You hope for better results today.
Reactions vary. Some curse, some rent their garments, some wish for the return of rakes and others flee the scene. Whichever, but look closer: There’s some good in just about everything.
I’m on the porch, reading. My yard team arrives. One mows, another blows. Both grass and leaves cower in fear of the impending destruction. The grass gets shorn, the leaves scatter in advance of the 250 mph, hurricane-force winds of the blower. Birds, insects and small creatures flee the wrath caused by the tornadic centrifugal force bearing down upon them. I escape inside.
Eric is the Leaf Blower. He wears a cap pulled tight on his head. Large, blue noise-reduction cups cover his ears. The blower is strapped to his back. If he’s not careful it can whirl him around like a ballerina doing a clumsy pirouette. Once he pointed it over the pool. The waters parted like the Red Sea.
The Leaf Blower reminds me of the 1950’s television and movie serials, ‘Rocket Man.’ They were before Technicolor, when good against evil always showed up in black and white. Like Rocket Man, the Leaf Blower always shows up and cleans up our messes.
Rocket Man was an average-looking guy dreaming about a career in space exploration. Alas, he was mostly earth-bound. When evil emerged, he hopped behind a rock and strapped on a jet pack. With a running start and a jump, he zoomed airborne to the squeals of us sitting in the front row during Saturday matinees.
Now I’m thinking, what would entice someone to build a career of blowing leaves into piles every day? Poverty? Insanity? What goes through the mind of someone in such a seemingly mindless occupation? Curiosity demands answers. So I go out and ask Eric.
He idles the blower to a dull roar when I approach. The leaves relax with the sudden reduction in the decibel level. Birds start chirping again. Nature exhales a sigh of relief.
“Eric, I’ve been meaning to ask you, what’s it like to spend your days with that leaf blower?”
He gives me a quizzical look and switches the blower off. Suddenly, the air’s ambient silence is stunning.
“Never thought much about it, I guess,” he says.
The question must have touched a nerve. He tilts his head while his eyes scan the skies for an answer. We both stand there in silence.
“I guess it’s not much of a long-term job, doesn’t pay all that much, either. But for some weird reason I like to see things clean and pretty. Strange, maybe, but I get a joy from seeing all these messy leaves cleaned up and yards looking pristine. Kinda like how I imagine the Garden of Eden. It’s like having a lot of my own beautiful gardens without the expense.”
“Well, Eric, that’s a good way to see a job. You do make our yard a showcase every week.” I smile.
He grins. “Funny you ask me this today,” he says. “It was always my dream to be a landscape architect, to draw beautiful gardens and enjoy making people smile. I guess this is as close as I’ve gotten so far. But maybe one day…” He trails off in thought, his eyes again searching the skies.
“There’s still time,” I say.
“I guess,” he says, and fires up his blower.
**********
Life is like a leaf blower. It’s a wind that’s always blowing. It sneaks up on us, blows for a while, then moves on. It usually makes a clean sweep of things.
I guess if we look close enough, we might see something good in everything. There’s still time for dreams to come true, even for Leaf Blowers. Thank you, Eric.
Bud Hearn
May 22, 2017