Suburbia.
I'm relatively new (again) to suburbia - I've only been back in it for the last five years. Before that I always lived in houses right in the city (both in Green Bay and Fond du Lac). I'm not saying that living in town is akin to the "concrete jungle", but where I am right now is total suburban land.
Don't get me wrong - I LOVE the house that Brian and I share and the thought of moving makes me sick to my stomach. But sometimes, I'd like to wring my neighbors' necks.
Within the 5-house radius of my house, both in the front and back yards, it seems that everyone owns a leaf blower, riding lawn mower, weed whacker and other extremely noisy lawn implements. I am constantly surrounded by that awful din of motorized equipment. One of my neighbors stands out in her driveway with the leaf blower just waiting for leaves to fall - I witnessed this while on my walk today.
Let's break this down - first of all, do these people seriously have nothing better to do than to wait for leaves to fall so they can blow them out of their driveways? I've got an idea - how about you just wait under the tree with your hands cupped - it's far quieter and more environmentally sound.
Secondly, how lazy do you have to be to use gas-powered equipment instead of a good old-fashioned rake? I find it interesting that those folks who could stand to lose a couple of pounds are the ones who rely on leaf blowers and riding lawn mowers in the first place.
And really - for your suburban patch of grass you call a lawn, do you REALLY need a riding lawn mower? REALLY? Because there are patches of grass that your behemoth can't get to, so you have to dig out your electric, NOISY weed-whacker to clean up the job. How much sense does this make?!?
Now, Brian mows the lawn with a regular gas-powered mower, so I can't claim we're Mr. & Mrs. Al Gore either. But our lawn gets cut about once every 7-10 days, like normal people. We both could find a hundred other things to do besides annoy our neighbors with our noise-polluting equipment. And speaking of noise pollution - one of the offfending neighbors likes to blare the radio whilst he's out leaf blowing - it has to be loud so he can hear it above the roar of his mighty manhood extension, doesn't it?!
Oh, and do we really have to be out using our expensive toys at 7:30 in the morning on a SATURDAY?!? Find a new hobby, people!!!
Well anyway, thank you for letting me vent. I know that you out there would NEVER be so inconsiderate to your fellow neighbors, right? I didn't think so. :D
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I believe here we have an ordinance about how early you can mow your lawn on a weekend, but it's still pretty early, something like 8:00 or 8:30am. WE own a riding lawnmower for our small lot because we brought it along from our previous home which had nearly 1.5 acres. Not going to buy a new one if this one is still working. And when it dies, we'll probably buy a walk-behind. But think of it this way, with a rider, the lawn gets mowed faster, much faster, therefore less noise. But I do share your feelings about leaf blowers. They are much louder than lawnmowers and simply useless. I've watched my neighbors using their leaf blowers and I figure I could sweep my sidewalks in half the time. Most of the people around here mulch their leaves, so I don't see a lot of actual leaf blowing. It's one piece of equipment I wish they hadn't invented at all.
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