Scorched Earth

After enjoying the summer long view of lovely roses and other bits of flowering florae, and the local fauna which enjoy munching on said florae, there comes that time of year when The Missus Herself commences a little something I like to call "Operation Scorched Earth."

In which she goes through the town, leaving a swath of destruction in her wake. A barren landscape in which a scorpion would have trouble finding sustenance and...

No, not really.

When my better half began "Operation Fill the Yard with Flowering Things" (which sounds way more militaristic in German, to wit Operation Füllen Sie den Hof mit blühenden Dingen) I didn't give much thought to what would happen to all of those plants when winter fell upon the land.

Our first autumn in Little Rhody wasn't too bad, the gardens were still somewhat small and modest. It wasn't until the second autumn that we really had a fun time clipping, trimming, and bagging all of the plant life which had graced the yard in the summer.

Well, this year I'm "excused duty." (Yup, I'm still milking that post-surgical thing, truth be told, Doc said to take it easy until the end of November when I see him again. And no one has ever had to tell me to take it easy twice. Frankly, the surgical site still hurts a bit. At my age one does not heal very quickly.)

Anyhoo...

I came home last night to see a rather large collection of these out by the street...

(Source)

There have been years when The Missus Herself has filled upwards of thirty of those bags with yard detritus. Believe you me, it's no fun hauling all those bags down to the curb as they get filled. While sometimes they're not that heavy, there are years when I think my lovely wife has put a yard of dirt in each bag. While she doesn't really do that, there can be quite a bit of soil left clinging to the roots of all the plants she's yanked out of the ground.

Being hors de combat this year does make me feel a little guilty.

A little.

Perhaps I should emulate the granddaughters...

Ya know, hit the highway! (Little Bit seems really into driving, whereas L'il Sweetie looks rather like a bored commuter on the way to work. The WSO tells me though that the youngest member of our tribe was really into having her sister drive her around. And around, and around, and around...)

While we still have some flowers left, the time when the ground is barren again isn't too far off. Not to worry though, all that white stuff will cover it up. (Wait! What am I saying?)