Fall is surely here. I haven't heard the official report, but I think this weekend and maybe into next weekend will be peak color season for our area. The yellows have brightened and the oranges and reds shimmer vivid against the blue of the sky. There is just something about encountering fallen leaves as I walk across campus. I can't resist shuffling my feet through the small drifts that blow over the sidewalks. I smile at the thought of the Peanuts cartoon picturing a lollipop plastered with leaves and a distraught Charlie Brown saying "Never jump in a leaf pile with a wet sucker."
I recall we kids raking huge piles of leaves, not to bag and remove them, but to jump into them over and over and over, laughing and rolling around, unmindful of the brown rustling leaves stuck in our hair and clinging to our jackets. We did our best to pick out any hurtful sticks, but it didn't seem to bother us that a small pile of leaves was no cushion against the hardness of the ground. The moldy earthy smell that made your nose sting was no deterrent either.
What did we see in the game of leaf pile raking and jumping? It was hard work for a few seconds of fun. Back in those days, we burned our leaves, right there at the curb of the road. The smudgy smoke left an acrid smell in the air and made it difficult to breathe, but that was the smell of autumn. Mold and smoke. And the leaf dust crumbling into everything - your shirt, your shoes, your socks. I wonder I didn't pick leaf bits out of my sheets for weeks afterwards!
Children nowadays don't jump into piles of leaves. Even if we didn't vacuum and shred them into bags, they would not find this a fun thing to do. The smells are definitely not acceptable much less the dirt. Nevertheless, those are great memories. I can still hear my brothers and sisters laughing, hear the crackle, rustle and swoosh of the leaves, smell the dank earth. Our last hurrah before the snow and cold drove us indoors for winter. I think I am in the mood for a little hurrah.
I recall we kids raking huge piles of leaves, not to bag and remove them, but to jump into them over and over and over, laughing and rolling around, unmindful of the brown rustling leaves stuck in our hair and clinging to our jackets. We did our best to pick out any hurtful sticks, but it didn't seem to bother us that a small pile of leaves was no cushion against the hardness of the ground. The moldy earthy smell that made your nose sting was no deterrent either.
What did we see in the game of leaf pile raking and jumping? It was hard work for a few seconds of fun. Back in those days, we burned our leaves, right there at the curb of the road. The smudgy smoke left an acrid smell in the air and made it difficult to breathe, but that was the smell of autumn. Mold and smoke. And the leaf dust crumbling into everything - your shirt, your shoes, your socks. I wonder I didn't pick leaf bits out of my sheets for weeks afterwards!
Children nowadays don't jump into piles of leaves. Even if we didn't vacuum and shred them into bags, they would not find this a fun thing to do. The smells are definitely not acceptable much less the dirt. Nevertheless, those are great memories. I can still hear my brothers and sisters laughing, hear the crackle, rustle and swoosh of the leaves, smell the dank earth. Our last hurrah before the snow and cold drove us indoors for winter. I think I am in the mood for a little hurrah.
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