Mariton: Everyone Loves A Parade

by Tim Burris, Preserve Manager

There is something mesmerizing about watching leaves fall in the forest. It is as magical as watching clouds sail, or snow light to the ground.

Some leaves pirouette around their stem all the way down. They touch down and bounce up like a ballerina on her toes.  Some leaves sashay through the air like a clam shell in water.  Some leaves cartwheel through the air like a kid somersaulting down a hill.  And some leaves dive from the sky like an osprey to a fish.

The aspiration of flight is probably what keeps us staring at leaves, clouds, and hawks. Gravity always wins when it comes to leaves, so we have a lot in common as we will all eventually tumble to Earth.  (Some more gracefully than others.)

It isn’t just about watching either.  There is the sound of leaves crashing against branches as they fall from the trees.  Leaves rustling against each other during the drop also make a sound.  One can even hear soft thuds as the leaves hit the leaf-blanketed ground.  So on a day with a still breeze, find yourself in a quiet forest and enjoy the parade of leaves as they make their way to Earth.