by Elizabeth Marie

Created on: November 02, 2009   Last Updated: November 05, 2009

Small children giggling, leaves fly into the air, and the slight chill of the October air. Yes, it's that time of year again.The leaves that were once a gorgeous green are now a beautiful variety of autumn colors. How can such a beautiful process be such a nuisance? Your arm is aching, your back cracking, drops of sweat trickle of your face; you throw the rake down in frustration. Okay, so maybe that's an exaggeration, but nonetheless, how do you make the annoying process easier? Today, I'll tell you how.

Maybe one of the most important tips in raking leaves is what I call " waltzing" with the rake. Moving your whole body with the rake will prevent the back pain brought with this chore. Another tip is drinking coffee before setting out to do the task. Recent studies have shown that drinking two cups of coffee before doing any psychical activity will help reduce muscle spasms.This way, you too, can enjoy jumping in the piles of leaves!

Now that we have pain out of the way, what about process? What's the best process for raking leaves? Here's a simple supplies list: garbage bags, a rake and a outdoor dustpan. First, find designated spots for each pile of leaves. You might want to do more smaller piles than fewer bigger piles. Set a time to begin and a time to call it a day so you don't overwork yourself. Now, grab your rake and go! After you rake the leaves into small piles, use your dustpan and scoop them up. Remember to have fun!

1,2,3,4 - too many to count. There are many bags of leaves here!. What a waste! How can I do my part in keeping a cleaner planet? Maybe you don't want to throw all those bags full of leaves into a landfill somewhere. Maybe you want to do right towards the planet. You can do this by reusing your bags of leaves as mulch for your garden. To mulch your leaves, all you have to do is leave them in the yard and run them over with your mower. No, this doesn't get you out of raking. After you've mulched your lawn with leaves, usually there's lots of leaves left in places the mower couldn't reach. Rake those leftover leaves up and spread them in your garden.This will enrich the soil.

Have kids? If you have crafty minded children, save some of those brightly colored leaves! Take leaves, wax paper, crayons and an iron. Simply put the leaf between two pieces of wax paper. Before sealing the wax paper together with the iron, put crayon shavings on top of the leaf. After that, take the iron and run over the wax paper! This will make a beautiful collage of colors!

Learn more about this author, Elizabeth Marie.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.