Leaf Catchers

Every October, when the winds start to blow, we find ourselves running around on the grass below the maple trees trying to catch a leaf. The game of leaf catch is really fun. The leaves, when the wind is right, never fall straight to the ground but rather dance and slide across the moving streams of air. We, too, have to move with the wind as our bodies futilely attempt to anticipate the path of a leaf.

The game involves running and jumping and laughing and lying on your back panting in the cold, moving air of autumn. Leaf catching is like many things in New England–a passing seasonal space to be together, a delightful  illusion of permanence in the passing of yet another summer.