Neptune Twp. leaf sucking machine makes its rounds in OG. Last week they sucked up a medium sized dog which wound up in Asbury Park, but it was fine. Blogfinger photo. Nov. 4, 2016

By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger

Is it possible that every once in a while, life can actually get less complicated?  My neighbor Melinda was out the other day raking leaves into the street.  I asked her if she knew whether we are supposed to bag them or what?  She said, “I don’t know,  but I’m thinking of calling.”  I shrugged and shuffled through the pile of leaves around my car.

This morning, the giant vacuum truck showed up at Delaware and Mt. Hermon Way. My old friend Darby from the Neptune DPW had one hand on a rake and one hand pointing at the huge sucker hose.  He wore a mask, which he lowered to answer my questions about leaf collection in the Grove this season.  He smiled as if to say, “This is really simple!”

It turns out that you can forget about bagging the leaves.  Simply rake them into a pile in the curb.  The curb part is true, while the pile part seems to be optional.  Then, as the sucking machine makes its rounds through town, it will eventually get to your leaf collections.

Once they end their route, they start all over again.  So, for those of you who sometimes feel nostalgic for the autumn aroma of burning leaves,  the Neptune  DPW presents us with a November gift of leaf cleanup and clean air in the fall.

JOHNNY MERCER       “Autumn Leaves.”  From his  album My Huckleberry Friend