The snowmelt off the hill behind my house creates a lovely babbling brook down to the corner of my property, where it flows into a culvert and is diverted away into the lake. When that culvert gets clogged up by leaves, branches, and assorted other garbage, my back yard gets flooded and I find 2" of water on the floor in my shed. I found this out the hard way... the previous owners neglected to tell me about this hidden little culvert, and I said nothing when I watched another neighbor dump his fall yard waste down the slope.

I figured if it looked like a dumping ground for yard waste, that's exactly how people would use it... so I started cleaning. I separated it into leaves, branches, and other garbage, which included tarps, scrap metal, a 55-gallon drum, tires, and car batteries.

My intent was to bag or bundle the yard waste for the city to pick up, but I quickly got in over my head. (Literally!) The pile was at least 6' tall in the middle and spanned the entire road. I called the city to explain the situation, and they sent a crew - with machinery - to finish what I started.