Ahh, the leaves are about 1/2 down and the 1st
leaf pickup has come and gone, without me putting
anything out.

The township realizes that the trees are dropping
late (global warming, what's that?), and has scheduled
another pickup in a couple of weeks.

But I've delayed cutting the grass, which means it's
kinda long, and it is a bitch to blow leaves through
high grass.

Wait a sec - why blow the leaves, why not just cut
the grass with them in place? Sounds good. There has
not been a rain in a week or so, which means it should
shred nicely. And I mulch the lawn in place (which means
I simply leave the grass to rot), so it is not like
there will be any additional effort.

So here's the rules:

#1 - Do not turn off the lawn mower. Keep in mind that
it is an auto-push, and I bungie cord both the gas and the
drive handles, which means if the law mower is on, it is
trying to move forward.

#2 - Do not waste time going over the lawn twice to pickup
sticks and stuff. If a branch is dry, and small enough to
run over - go for it. It'll shred. Of course, dry is pretty
tough to tell from a few feet away, walking behind a lawnmower.
If it is large enough to have multiple branches, then attempt
to swing by and pick it up, tossing it in the branch pile
in the back (the rabbits love me). If you have to go over the
same area twice, it is not good, but it is ok if it is required
by rule 1.

The playing table:

My side lawn is lush, where the water runs down, so the grass
is pretty high with few leaves. My front lawn is kind of dry,
covered in sporadic leaves. My back "lawn" really has almost no
grass, instead is covered with layers of leaves, branches, and
prickly balls dropping from one of the trees. Oh, and a decrepit
redwood swing set that the bees love.

Add the occasional drain pipe grating that is waiting to destroy
the lawn mover just like last year.

Additional points: Loud music to drown out the mower. While
I can still hear it (a bit), I really have no idea what it is
chewing through.

It went well. For the most part.

One issue I'll probably have to revisit is my no protective
eyewear policy. When I chopped a branch in half and a 6 inch
long 2 inch wide piece fly by my head that made me think.

But I dunno. How many "HOLY SHIT!" moments do you have every
day? It's something to look forward to next year.