Water vs. Wind

Leaf  blowers are big here in Michigan. I guess by now they're big everywhere. But it wasn't always so.

Growing up on the west side of Los Angeles one would see a gardener at work on any given day of the week but Sunday. In those days, they were mostly Japanese gardeners. My Dad would marvel at how meticulous they could be mowing and trimming a property. Moving from Oregon, he was especially impressed with how they would wash the entire place off when done: Sidewalks, pathways, patios, driveways. Everything got a bath before they packed up and pulled away. My Dad, being the passionate gardener he was, soon parked his broom and came home with a high pressure hose nozzle to send all manner of grass, dirt and debris cascading down the driveway and sidewalk and on its way toward Warner Avenue. Ah the good ol' days of unrestricted water use and no thought as to what went down the city's sewers.

Here in Michigan-- where we have no shortage of water-- I've seen noisy leaf blowers used to clean off lawns, sidewalks, and driveways. I've seen them used to clean out garages and I've seen them used to blow snow off walkways.  I don't have a leaf blower. So, when it came time to clean out the garages the other day, Tam, being a native Michigander,  thought I should fire up the compressor and blow 'em out using compressed air. Next best thing, right? No way!

To the contrary I did the only thing any guy raised in LA in the 60's would do:  I got out my hose with its high pressure nozzle. I haven't washed off a driveway, sidewalk, or patio in over 40 years. That said…. Damn that hose did a nice job! Quite therapeutic really, watching all that dirt, those leaves, twigs, and chips of wood go flying out the doors. Water vs. wind? It's water, hands down. And Tam was blown away.