Taking Leaf of my Senses

The Academy, lacking a groundskeeper, or, to put it more accurately, lacking a willing groundskeeper, has had to resort to desperate measures, sending me, the headmaster, to battle the onslaught of falling leaves.

Who would have thought, late last spring, that the lovely deciduous flora and fauna covering the campus would have turned on us so quickly? I mean, I really don't mind if they practice photoperiodism - there's nothing wrong with that - just so long as I don't have to clean up after them.

We have leaves blanketing the lawn and the pool. We have leaves covering the porch, deck and patio. We have leaves in garden beds, pots and baskets. They are in the cars and in the truck bed. I have even found them in the headmaster's bed (which, curiously, raised the suspicions of BBA's headmistress).

I've been waiting for a Mighty Wind to sweep them into the neighbor's yard, but I think they're on to me. So finally, today, I decided to do something about it. After fighting the good fight for a couple of hours, I enlisted the help of some random students, putting them to work on the East Campus. After 10 minutes, I couldn't take the complaining anymore. "We're tired" "We're hungry" "We're cold". Talk about making a mountain out of a couple inches of chlorenchyma tissues.


I'm thinking that wind may come along any day now...