A couple days after I was born, June 26, 1952, I was brought to the modest brick house where I lived until I went off to college in September of 1970. Oh the stories I could tell about all of the things we did growing up in and around our brick house.

Other than a couple months in a dorm room and a couple months sharing an apartment with my buddy Harry, I lived in that brick house for twenty-two years until Linda and I got married on September 14, 1974.

We started our married life living in an apartment for a couple months. Then we rented a small cabin on the southeast corner of Lake Owasso. It was tiny, fun, but we needed some more space. So after about a year or so we left the cabin for an apartment for a year and from there we bought a brick house just two blocks east of Como Lake in St Paul MN in 1978 and have lived here since.

Both the house I grew up in and the house, 3.6 miles away, I’ve lived in for the past forty-three years were solid brick houses, built within a year or so of each other. I’ve lived in a brick house for sixty-seven of my sixty-nine year life.

The house I grew up in was two stories and was built by my bricklayer father and his brother. The house I live in now is a rambler. It is the house the developer of the subdivision built for him and his family. I was told his kids grew up in this house.

This story is really not about the brick houses I lived in. This story is about raking the leaves. However, to understand the point I want to make, it is necessary to understand my attachment to our house.

First off it is centrally located. The Guthrie, Gopher sport venues, Wild hockey, Theatre Latte’ Da, St Paul Saints, MN Twins, Mpls Institute of Arts, MN United Soccer, The Science Museum and more are all within ten miles of easy driving to our house. Admittedly Mystic Lake Casino or Treasure Island are both about a forty-five minute drive but I’m really not into casinos so that does not matter too much.

Linda is very attached to both a knitting group and book club group in our neighborhood. She and her neighborhood lady friends are constantly in communication and go to various events such as museums, art galleries, dinners out, patio gatherings, and the like.

We live on a one block long street that comes to a T on both ends. Although we get some traffic because there is a daycare on our block, generally it is just at pick up / drop off times and they are being careful because they are carrying kids.

We have sidewalks. Sure they need to be shoveled but year around we have a safe place to walk outside. There are lots of different routes we take on our walks. Going for a walk in the neighborhood is something we do individually or together almost every day.

Como lake and the pavilion with its small cafe, plays and concerts is just a fifteen minute walk away. Conny’s ice cream shop is just three blocks away also.

Neighbors walk their dogs so if you are in the front yard there is ample opportunity to talk to the neighbors or not. It’s a friendly place. Our driveway and the next-door neighbors driveway are side by side and attached. We get along great with them and it is amazing how convenient it can be to once in a while use a double-wide driveway.

Our yard is very small. Mowing the lawn takes about twenty minutes. In the front we have a patio and very nice landscaping. In the back, we have a large deck, flower bed, two giant pine trees and a rain garden. So there really is not that much lawn to mow. Plus our yard looks nice, inviting yet feels secure and comfortable.

I snowblow both ours and our neighbors driveway whenever it snows. So far I actually like doing the snow blowing. I feel useful and it is good exercise. When I was recovering from my kidney surgery two different neighbors blew out my driveway for me. It is nice to have nice neighbors. There will come a time when we hire the person who does lawn and snow maintenance for about a dozen people in our area.

Since I’ve retired we systematically repainted all of our rooms and replaced virtually all of the furnishings. The kids’ old bedrooms have been repurposed into an office and into a room we call “the nook”. Our brick house is comfortable and fits our needs very well.

So anyway this story is about raking the leaves. The truth is I no longer actually rake the leaves. I use a leaf blower / leaf vac and / or the lawn mower to pick up my leaves, put them into bins and take them to the Ramsey County compost site which is less than two miles from our brick house.

By the way, our brick house is low maintenance. Homes take maintenance and our brick house is no exception. However the amount of maintenance is relatively low.

So anyway, periodically I’m asked if I’ve thought about moving into multi-unit housing so I no longer need to deal with raking the leaves each fall. Admittedly, this fall I’ve picked up the leaves and brought them to the compost site at least six times. I certainly do understand why people are happy to not rake the leaves each fall.

Which is why I decided to write this story which is about even though I still need to pick up the leaves, I am not ready to move out of our house.

The closer you look, the more you see.