I
remember most clearly the crispy, crunchy “Smunch!” as I landed in the huge
mountain of golden autumn leaves raked together in my Grandparents’ farm yard.
I lay deep in my new, soft bed, looking up at the deep, blue fall sky, framed
by the gold and yellow leaves that half-buried me. I could smell the pungent,
spicy aromas of aging leaves and berries from the forest that surrounded the
yard, and, far above, dark, straggling “V”s honked their way noisily to the
South. Above and behind me, the old wooden swing that I’d just launched myself
off of creaked back and forth on its length of rope tied high in the old spruce
trees.
Later,
we piled that mountain of leaves into the back of Uncle’s big, old green truck.
Then we drove out to one of Grandpa’s big fields. The soil was now black with
only a low layer of stubble lining the furrows where golden stocks had bobbed
and swayed only a few weeks earlier. As the truck rumbled and bumped across the
field, we grabbed great armloads of leaves and tossed them high into the air,
letting the wind pick them up and carried them away. We did that again and
again until the truck had a long, orange tail of fluttering leaves behind it.
We were
allowed to do this, the adults explained, because as the leaves decayed into
mulch, they’d make Grandpa’s soil that much richer for next year. But we were
having so much fun throwing leaves around, that we barely heard that.
And
beyond something to jump in for kids, and a tedious mess to rake up for
teenagers and adults, we really don’t put much thought into the common every
day leaf, do we?
Then
again, maybe they’re not quite as common and every day as we think they are.
·
Leaves don’t actually change color in fall. They
just stop producing the chlorophyll that keeps them green all summer, and start
showing their real colors which have actually been their all along.
·
Although we bust our backs raking them up
because we’ve convinced ourselves our yards look better without them (and
because they’re kind of oogy when the snow melts in spring), a layer of leaves
on the ground is actually vital to the forest. It protects the wee seeds so
they can blossom next year.
·
The Raffia Palm of Africa is sometimes described
as having leaves as much as 80 feet long!
·
The Fenestraria
plant of the desert has leaves with windows in them! They live buried in sand
with only their little windowed leaves sticking out in order to catch sunlight
to use for photosynthesis.
·
Here’s
an interesting one. Another desert plant called Ocotillo survives
droughts through an unusual technique. They drop their leaves when it’s dry and
only grow a new batch when it rains!
·
There are leaf cutter bees that cut up leaves
and use the chunks to build beehive cells. And there are also leaf cutter ants
that also cut out leaf chunks and use them to feed their supply of fungus which
they keep in their nest. The adults ants feed the fungus to their young, while
the adults eat the sap of the leaves they cut.
·
The leaves of the Telegraph plant move in
response to sunlight, warmth or vibration. It’s said that if you play music
around one, it will actually vibrate to the beat!
·
Venus Flytraps use their leaves to trap insects
for food.
·
Crows have been known to use leaves as tools to
root insects out of their hiding places.
·
There’s even a leaf butterfly that looks for all
the world like a green or brown leaf when it folds its wings. This enables it
to hide among the leaves to avoid predators. Truly leaves are a vital part of
our world, aren’t they?
So, by all means, take some time
out, this autumn, and play in a pile of leaves. It’s fun and good exercise,
too! And it’s good for a few good memories, too.
Besides,
Mother Nature would be please to see you enjoying one of her finest creations.
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