The beauty and wonder of fall and all its festive colors quickly loses its luster when those thousands of leaves are laying all over your lawn like a compost carpet. After hours of raking, the Hunchback of Notre Dame becomes a clear choice for your Halloween costume because the pain in your lower back makes standing up straight unrealistic until Christmas.

Enter the Toro Ultra 235 Electric Leaf Blower Vac — with a 12-amp motor and 235 mph air speed. Think of it as a handheld hurricane. It was recently featured on the Today show as a “must have” tool for fall clean up and a great bang for the buck.

The Toro Ultra 235 is light weight (weighing only 7.5 pounds) and low noise so the neighbors will be less likely to hear you when you’re blowing your leaves into their yards (just kidding). It has a variable speed control allowing you to adjust the air speed to match the task at hand: low speed for tight areas and hard surfaces, high speed for the tough lawn chores. In addition, enhanced attachments can be added to fine tune the air flow even further: use the main blower to remove debris away from the house and shrubs, use the specialized power insert to create piles and wind rows or blow wet heavy leaves, and the concentrator can be used to easily clean out cracks and edging. The Quick-Release Latch allows you to convert your blower into a vacuum in seconds without tools.

The Toro Ultra 235 Electric Leaf Blower Vac is available at Home Depot and retails for around $70.

If you find an interesting item at a local store, let Christie Schmidt know. Email her at clschmidt5@yahoo.com.