We had a couple of very windy days, and about half of the leaves blew off of the trees, down along the River more like 90% of the leaves blew out of the trees last weekend. I went down for a walk in the swamp at Dyke Marsh. And I had a chance to indulge in one of my favorite rituals, something I have enjoyed since childhood.
Walking through ankle deep leaves, shuffling my feet and kicking the leaves out ahead of me. I can remember doing it on the farm as a kid, on my way to and from the school bus, or heading around the corner to see my grandmother before they went to Florida for the winter. It was something I missed doing when I lived in central Florida where there are not a lot of deciduous trees, and the trees that do shed their leaves don't do it in a massive drop like this. When I moved back north, and went to law school at the University of Louisville, I indulged. There was a square behind the law school, between the Speed Museum of Art and the law school, ringed with massive oak and maple trees. The leaves would get half a foot deep there for a few days in the fall, and I would go out and walk across the middle of it. Dean Torbeck saw me doing it one day, and called me into her office to say how it looked like so much fun. It was. It still is.
If the leaves are falling near you, take a walk.
Come to my garden if you like ankle deep leaves!!! The trees up here are so pretty right now, but I suspect will be empty in another week.
ReplyDeleteNature's mulch.
DeleteLeaves are not falling here, and they are looking bright green and very fresh. Yes, as I did when I was a kid, I still kick through autumn leaves, except now I wonder if there is a hidden rock in the leaves, or a syringe.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the brilliant greens of renewal.
DeleteI used to love to do that. We don’t have the same opportunities.
ReplyDeleteYour climate is more like Florida.
DeleteOne of the best things about Fall!
ReplyDeleteHas it snowed there yet?
DeleteIn my neighborhood some people put up signs reading "leave the leaves," encouraging neighbors not to rake leaves so as to allow natural mulching. I agree
ReplyDeletePeople rake away all of the natural mulch, then use artificial fertilizer next summer. The quest for the perfect patch of green grass makes no economic or biological sense.
DeleteWe had the yard crew out to do cleanup and pruning in the yard and they took up all the leaves in the backyard and all the leaves in the driveway.
ReplyDeleteThat night the winds came and brought all the leaves back!
Mother nature will always do the groundskeeping.
DeleteWe have lots of leaves here to crunch through! Lots more on the trees still waiting to fall, too.
ReplyDeleteThere is still a lot of color in the trees here.
DeleteI've done that too but it's been a very long time ago. One of my fondest memories from Illinois was taking a fall walk with a friend of mine (who still lives in Quincy) along the tree-lined streets. Having a quiet conversation while listening to the leaves crunch under foot. My friend's birthday was last month and when I called her, I asked if still remembered that long walk. She did.
ReplyDeleteWonderful memories
DeleteHaving grown up in Florida, I never made this a habit.
ReplyDeleteI can understand that
DeleteDon't know what it is. I like kicking leaves on the ground.
ReplyDeleteI love shuffling and kicking leaves and I love jumping in leaf piles with my grandkids!
ReplyDeleteI can think of nothing better than a walk outdoors
ReplyDelete