Bittersweet

So when we first moved here, we were completely baffled by the giant piles of leaves raked to the edges of yards all over town. We couldn't figure out why people didn't just put the leaves in garbage bags like many another North American.

Then one day, I was innocently sitting in the living room reading a book when I heard this horrible noise! It got louder and louder as I raced from window to window trying to figure out what freight train was rumbling down the street. Then I saw it. The LEAF SUCKER MACHINE!! It's true! It's a service provided by the city where you just rake your leaves to the curb and the Leaf Sucker comes along a few times a week and whisks them away. You can't see very well from this picture, but the machine has a giant tube on the side of it - the Vacuum tube. One man hangs on for dear life to the outside (he's there to operate the vacuum, but I'm guessing he's really just clinging to the truck hoping HE doesn't get sucked up in the Machine),and two men ride inside the truck (I guess to keep each other company or in case the outside guy really does get sucked up).

So now we know. Mystery solved. Leaves don't just go to the curb to die. They go to be sucked up for a giant leaf party with all their leaf cousins and leaf friends, presumably made into mulch to nourish next year's leaves.

And just FYI, I had fully intended to take a better picture of said machine since Dr. Lawrence finally raked all the leaves on the yard yesterday (raking them neatly into the requisite Giant Curb Piles), but it started snowing between 2 and 3 this morning, so now no more leaf sucking for the season. *Sigh* Maybe next year.