Leaves, back aches and blather

I raked leaves today, mostly Siberian apricot leaves and pine needles, all of which I pushed under the pine trees. It’s amazing how those things kill anything growing that they land on. The ground was raw underneath. I turned up a few fat earthworms who were not happy to be disturbed by my rake. I let them seek shelter and tried not to step on them.

We have a neighbour whose backyard abuts our own. The people who first moved in there comprised an old man, an old woman, and a youngish woman. The daughter is mildly retarded and I understand there’s an older sister who lives elsewhere. We used to see the old man walking up and down the street, first with a walker, then with a cane. He would stop and talk, and one time told me I should come over and visit with the womenfolk. I never did. His wife would walk the dog every now and again, or the retarded daughter.

Several months ago there were many cars parked in front of their place and people were standing around in suits, and it occurred to me that the old man must have died. Since then I haven’t seen him, so I guess I was right.

Today as I was raking leaves, the daughter saw me and said hi and came right onto the lawn with the dog, a tiny Shih Tzu who couldn’t stop trying to climb my leg. She just started talking about the dog and about the weather and about whatever popped into her mind, and all I really wanted to do was get back to work. So finally I said, “Well, I suppose you better get back to your walking and I better get back to my raking,” and she took that as a dismissal.

But I did something to my back and tonight in belly dancing I was constantly aware of. I also stopped on my way home and bought coffee and groceries. Why am I telling you this?

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