#0085 | with each falling leaf

Submitted by Gina from Kaiserslautern, Germany.

Here’s Gina’s story:

“My husband is in the Air Force band; that’s why we’re living in Germany right now. Instead of living on base, we chose to rent a house. We have a fabulous one–it’s on a corner lot, beautiful garden, perfect layout for us and our two kids.

Germans are very particular about their garden and lawn care. We are responsible for keeping our part of the sidewalk clean, meaning free of leaves, snow, and weeds. Our landlord has told us (only half-jokingly) that a person’s morality is judged by the cleanliness of his sidewalk.

Our neighborhood is mostly older, retired Germans, who have all day to work on their sidewalks and gardens. Not only do we have a corner lot, we also have a huge willow tree that makes a mess of the entire block. We are also at the bottom of a steep hill, so everyone else’s leaves end up on our corner.

Now that it’s fall, my poor husband is out there constantly, raking and sweeping. Just this afternoon, he spent three hours working on clearing the sidewalk under the willow. By tomorrow morning, it’ll look like he hadn’t done a thing. And the neighbors are watching.”