Thursday, October 6, 2011

Indian Summer


We are enjoying what people in this area call Indian summer. We had snow flurries last weekend but things have warmed up since then and the weather is absolutely delightful right now. I would love to be able to spend time outdoors but since I am basically confined to a certain spot in the house that isn't an option.

The children are enjoying raking leaves in the evenings after school. They have the perk of being able to enjoy the piles they create which is something I never got to do as a child. We had a lot of pines and other evergreens around our house and a giant horse chestnut tree. Raking all the prickly nuts, pine needles, and the few chestnut leaves together never made a pile that you wanted to jump into.

Did you get to enjoy playing in leaves when you were a child?

17 comments:

  1. I did not get to play in the leaves when I was young as we only had pine tress where I lived. But, I sure enjoy playing in them now with my daughter! Making up for lost time is fun!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Indian Summer has hit us here also. The trees are shedding thier leaves, and the sun is shining brightly! What a mix up!

    ReplyDelete
  3. After a very cold weekend we are loving the warm temperatures here, also. I'm so glad your children are enjoying the season. When our daughter visits with her dogs in the fall we usually throw a ball into huge piles of leaves for them to retrieve. It's fun watching as they bury themselves so that only waggin' tails can be seen until the ball is found. :)
    Have a wonderful day!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I loved playing in leaf piles when I was a child - and my children liked it too. For 3 years of my childhood, we lived in a small Mississippi town where there were mostly pine trees. Pine needles aren't very good for piles to jump in; but they're great for making "forts". They hold together a lot better than leaves, so we'd build pine-straw forts with walls 2-3 feet high and hurl pine cones at each other. WHERE WERE MY PARENTS?

    ReplyDelete
  5. There were no leaves to play in at home, but school was another story! A huge maple tree in a corner of the school yard provided enough leaves for everyone to play in! We younger girls would arrange leaves into the walls of "rooms" in our imaginary house in which we played until the school bell called us back inside. What fun we had!!!

    Do children do such things any more?

    ReplyDelete
  6. We did get to play in the leaves as children and my own children enjoyed it. But most of the time we left them to nurish the grass the next year. We are enjoying an Indian summer as well, but the lady bugs are out in droves and driving us all nuts.
    Mrs. J.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I lived my whole life in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. We had to be quick if we wanted to play in leaves because they were swept up before you knew it. And my mother wasn't to keen on them either. She always suspected some dog poop under the leaves.
    I am 56 now but the feeling and sound of dry leaves under my feet still make me happy.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Here in Southern Louisiana we have
    lots of pine straw and leaves. It was such fun as a child to jump in the big pile that was raked. Of course we got a little repercussions
    from my parents.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I must say, Fall is my very favorite time of year. The leaves haven't begun to fall here in the Seattle area, but they are sure turning the most vivid colors. There's a scent to the air that's lovely too: sort of a combination of grass clippings & wet dirt, tinged with eau de Pine Needles :)

    My childhood memories are filled with all things Fall.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yes, it was so much fun. We don't have the same kind of trees where I live now. Maybe one day my kids will get to experience it like I did.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Growing up and living in New England I really don't think I know anyone who didn't play in the leaves when they were young!
    One of my earliest memories is riding on top of a pile of leaves in the wheelbarrow as my father walked across the street to the field to dump them (The piles of rich soil under those leaves were also one of the best places to dig for worms).
    There are houses in that field now...

    I believe they call that progress...

    ReplyDelete
  12. Leaves as a child? Not hardly. I grew up in a small farm community in Los Angeles county in the 1940/50's. No falling leaves as the weather changed -- mostly because the change was almost unnoticed! I like much better the specific seasons we experience in north Texas. (We really would like some fall this year!)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I grew up in a place with many trees and many leaves! We'd rake them up and jump into them, sending handsful of them to the air. Later they would be raked to the street, to be burned, and we were allowed to throw the big,horse chestnuts into the fire, where they would snap and pop as they ignited.
    When my kids were young, they also had the oak and maple, beech and sassafras leaves to play in and collect the best of. We didn't burn them, but left them on the grass, as a sort of 'mulch' for the lawn and gardens.
    Hoping you are comfy in these days, MaryAnn!

    ReplyDelete
  14. The changing leaves are my favorite part of fall, and since the weather's gotten cooler, I'm a whole new person. The heat went on forever here this year and made me crabby after awhile. This sounds crazy but I didn't like bugs so I never wanted to play in the leaves. I was too prissy I think. I let my kids though - and I love seeing other people do it. LOL Have a good weekend ~ ♥

    ReplyDelete
  15. I grew up one of 5 children and playing in the Fall leaves of Kentucky & West Virginia (oaks, maples, birches) with all of their variety was the best reward for helping to rake them into piles.

    Now, living in South Africa, the seasons are reversed in the calendar and everyone says "Autumn" and the colours are not so vivid. We mostly have fruit trees and a tall eugenia hedge, so there have been no leaf piles sadly. I like living near the sea (Cape Town, where the 2 oceans meet), but miss having 4 distinct seasons.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I've never lived in an area where the leaves don't change, so I've had plenty of leaves to play in while growing up! :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. One of my favorite things! We would wait until a "killing frost" so all the leaves would be tumbling out of the trees and then we would rake them up and jump in them over and over again. 4 maples trees in the front yard really helped to keep the piles heaped up! When we bought our first house, we had 4 maple trees in the front yard and I couldn't WAIT for fall to come!!! Our boys were 11, 7 and 1. Fun x 3! We also played hide n seek a lot and invariably some one would try to hide in the pile and the seeker would end up running through the leaves and tripping over the "hidden" person. I'm surprised on one ever got hurt!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking time to comment. I love hearing your thoughts.