Miss Cindy took the photo of us laying in the leaves. We were visiting her in Black Mountain in the fall of the year. We always tried to help her with this or that when we visited and on that trip she wanted us to rake leaves. I can’t remember which one of us thought of laying in them and I sure wouldn’t have ever remembered doing it if Miss Cindy hadn’t captured our silliness.
Pap and Granny never raked leaves in the fall of the year and we don’t either. I always think it would be nice to rake them and put them on our gardens, but have never completed the task.
Living surrounded by trees like we do there are always many fallen leaves. They burrow themselves in my flowers and litter the front porch.
When Granny was a girl they would gather leaves in the fall of the year and have a lot of fun jumping in them. They only had one rake. Between using the rake and gathering leaves by the handfuls they’d soon have a giant pile to play in.
Another interesting fun fall activity Granny shared with me was using a chair to slide on.
One of the places they lived had a hill that dropped off on each side of the house. Granny said she couldn’t remember why, but her and her younger brother James seemed to get ready for school before any of the rest of the bunch.
While they were waiting for the others to come out and for the bus to come Granny and James would take an old straight back chair and lay it on its back for a sort of sled. Fall of the year meant frosty school mornings and Granny said they had the best time sliding down the hills on the frosty grass. Sometimes they’d make it all the way to the bottom.
Last night’s video: Cleaning the Chimney & How to Build a Fire in a Wood Stove.
Tipper
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Growing up in New England, we never raked our leaves, we stomped all over them while playing in the yard, and they provided a good cover to protect the lawn from frost. When I married a sailor and moved to Virginia, the trees in my yard shed their leaves during my first fall; the neighbor complained my leaves were blowing in her yard, and would I please rake my leaves; I answered how the leaves would compost and protect my lawn, so I’m not raking, and she was in the same boat as me, as her leaves were blowing into the yard next to her. We had a good laugh about it; she still rakes, I don’t, and we are still friendly.
I used to love jumping in leaves as a girl. Once I saw a big old spider on the leaf pile, so that cured me of jumping in leaves!
One of the joys of childhood memories for me was the year we were just that “right” age to hide in our huge pile of raked leaves and pop out laughing at our parents when they came to check on us.
This year I am trying a new-to-me method of planting potatoes in the fall. I dug my trench, lined it with leaves, potatoes, and more leaves, then more soil on top. We will see what happens in the Spring.
I grew up in Raleigh, the Oak City. We lived 2 blocks East and 3 blocks North of the Governor’s Mansion, in Oakwood. I remember raking leaves when the rake handle was twice as long as I was tall. The reward for raking leaves was always the joy of jumping in the piles.
There were several households headed by older, single or widowed ladies in our neighborhood. Pa taught us to take a rake to their houses and, after asking permission, raking their leaves up and out to the street’s curbside. We were never allowed to take money for doing this, but cookies and milk were welcomed and almost always provided. Sometimes Pa would come along and light the leaves off with a strik- anywhere match, but we were not allowed to burn them until we were 12 or so. I love the smell of burning leaves. Nowadays its considered air pollution and is banned just about everywhere. I suspect insurance companies played a large role in getting those bans.
Tipper, the leaves look like lots of fun! I’m sure Miss Cindy was thrilled to take the pic of you two young people. l used to take leaves as a young adult, but we don’t have leaves to rake now. we sure would like to have some I’m the garden.
You just brought back wonderful memories I had forgotten about. Our father put up a rope swing in a tree in the woods behind our house. The tree and rope was on the edge of a creek. We would spend many a day swinging across the creek and jumping into a pile of leaves we created in the fall. The best part of the pile of leaves was that by spring you could dig down into the leaves and easily find crickets, red worms & night crawlers for fishing bait.
We don’t rake leaves either. My mother in law wants her raked. As a kid , we piled up some and would run a d jump in them. It was so lucky fun.
Love the picture of you and Deer Hunter in the fall leaves. Wonderful memories Granny shared with you about her young years of jumping in the fall leaves. My mind went back to my own years along with my siblings raking up piles of fall leaves to jump in, it was such fun. I also thought of the first time I raked leaves up to show my granddaughter to jump8n them. She was a toddler then and it took her a few times before she decided it was fun playing in the leaves. My only regret is I didn’t have my camera with me to take her picture, but that memory will be forever in my mind.
such a sweet memory picture Tipper & Matt! 🙂 Did you happen to see Mark Huneycutt’s latest video with Beaumont Beau’s song at the end of video?
Wanita-I haven’t but will look for it. Thank you!
I remember raking leaves and jumping in the pile then rolling around in them. That was so much fun. I loved the story about Granny and her brother sliding on the chair and I enjoyed Matt talking about the wood stove and building the first fire in it.
I mow leaves until they win and I give up. I bought a new mower a few years ago and started mowing close to the house to keep the insurance agent from pitching a fit when I burn firewood. The mower had a faulty fuel line that caught fire and so did my big pile of leaves. Two guys happened to be working on my tractor that day and helped put the fire out. Since the fire, I rake on a windy day and watch the wind carry the leaves to my garden.
What a sweet memory of young Tipper and Matt preserved by Miss Cindy!
We have more leaves than anything else – except maybe acorns. Looks like our part of Michigan is going to have a hard winter. Oh, the weatherman says this and that, but in 21 years, I’ve never seen so much mast. Acorns, black walnuts, every kind of berry and fruit are bustin’ out. I go by the “old ways.” The signs all point to a tough, long winter. We have hardly seen a squirrel or a chipmunk up by the house (and there are loads of them) which tells me they’re fixing up their nests and filling every available cavity. The leaves, too, have turned quicker and dropped. I wish people would recognize how great they are for the soil and protecting sleeping plants. Instead there’s a lot of burning up here. Since it’s been terribly dry (another portent), I’m so afraid of wildfires. Guess we’ll just have to keep vigilant until the snow comes.
Kids who never knew the joy of jumping into a pile of leaves have been short-changed in life. Our two granddaughters loved it, and I have pictures. Our two grandsons somehow missed out on the fun, probably because they visited us before leaf-fall or after the raking.
loved the picture of you and Matt. So sweet!
My mother always waged battle against leaves in our yard, even muttering about them blowing from a neighbor’s yard where raking wasn’t as vital as it was to her. I tried convincing her that the grass appreciated the blanket of leaves when the weather was cold but she would have none of that “tree hugger” nonsense. We don’t rake now but have been mulching up the leaves by the final mowing of the year. Now experts are saying to leave them whole because they’re habitats for so many insects.
We used to rake leaves when first married,had a big fire and that distinct smell of burning leaves,autumn surely in the air. Then we got a leaf blower,wow ,made short work of that task. Now I just let the wind take them. On a different subject,I did catch a video of Mark Hunnicutts,think that was his name,where he hiked showing Chimney rock.You are right ,the drone footage is amazing. Really shows the destruction of such beautiful land. Then they played that song and when they sang Lord,send down lots of angels,wow that was powerful. Keep tissues handy. Still praying for all affected and for those helping.
What a handsome couple and special memory. I am glad Miss Cindy preserved this colorful moment in time.
We had a beautiful blonde cocker spaniel when I was young. His enjoyment of running out the door, across the porch, and leaping into a pile of leaves was almost as much fun as us jumping in them. His little body quivered with anticipation watching out the window as we raked them.
What fun memories! We didn’t rake leaves too often instead letting them blanket the yard. I l enjoy the sound they make when you walk through them. We used to slide down the hill in front of our house as kids when it snowed. I love all the colors of the trees this time of year.
Those unbeknownst pictures are the best kinds. I’m glad you two have it and the memory. As for me and my house, if I had a dollar for each leaf or needle I have raked or blown in this yard I’d be a rich man. I like the trees but I have to pay for having them. Don made me recall sliding on fescue grass as a kid and on pine needles when our two were small. We also used a piece of cardboard. It’s better than on snow because not as cold and not wet. Makes me miss the kids. That was quite awhile ago. Ah me, once upon a time we invented and/or made our own forms of fun.
We lived in Charlottesville, Va for 29 years. If anyone has been here, you will see trees everywhere. So, in the fall we had tons of dead leaves. The kids would pile them up and jump in them along with the dog. The other neighborhood kids would join them. Usually, we left the leaves over the winter and in the spring, we would get rid of them. Where we live now, about 1 1/2 hrs. south of Charlottesville we don’t have many leaves in our yard. We made sure not to have a place where there are many trees around the house. They are now located along the road and way out in another neighbor’s property. I don’t notice people raking leaves like we used to do, now they blow them into piles and suck them up with machines. You can occasionally smell burning leaves where someone is burning them.
I have never been one to rake leaves. I usually just cut them up with my mower. I will either put something over the mower chute and cut them up or drive my mower in one direction blowing them out of the yard. Because of my bad knees and back, I can no longer rake leaves even if I wanted too. I have raked leaves up in the past and put them on my garden spot.
Don mentioned broom sage, we called it broom straw, Grandaddy would make brooms out of it. I don’t remember him ever having a store bought broom. The old farmers like to plant their watermelons in fallow fields of broom straw, they believed there would not be as much grass in them.
This is not the same as sledding or sliding in leaves or broom straw, but my neighbor kids had an old car hood they would use for a sled when it snowed. They would slide down a steep hill in the road in front of their home. Going down was easy, pulling it back up was the hard part but there was 6 of them. Back then you didn’t have to worry about cars on these rural back roads only a few at certain times of the day and no cars at all if it had snowed.
We lived on a street that was lined with camphor trees. They dropped their leaves twice a year. They looked so pretty falling and blanketing the ground. A nearby street was lined with crepe myrtle trees. When their purple leaves fell the ground appeared to be covered in a lavender colored snow. I always enjoyed seeing that.
always covered up with leaves in north Georgia. We try to get them up but in the end they usually win. we’re in our 70s so it’s an easy loss. Great stories.
There were 8 of us kids and one BIG hill calling our name to come and have some fun. It was really steep with a small meadow and CREEK at the bottom. We all would climb to the top with a big piece of cardboard in the fall of the year and when the leaves were good and dry, we would take turns sliding down that hill. My mom and dad raised our Uncle Homer (The daredevil). He talked my sister into ridding with him and he got to going so fast that when they hit the bottom, she was up in the air and fell so hard on his back that it knocked the breath out of her. Did I ride??? Heck no. I think that was the last time I tried dry leaves sledding. lol
Out beside our house in our younger days, there was a hillside which had once been a corn field. That was before any of our family was there, and we only know about it because of an old photo taken of Bryson City from there before the streets were paved, probably in the first decade of the 20th century. Then later it was cow pasture. The Bryson family owned the property, and had let someone keep a cow there; I’m not sure who it was. But by the early 1950s, the cow was gone and so was the barbed wire fence.
The ground, laying fallow, began its course of vegetative recovery. The soil had been depleted, and so the first thing in that recovery process was broom sage. There’s something beautiful about broom sage hillsides in the fall and winter. But it wasn’t the aesthetic which was appealing to youngsters – it was the fact that broom sage, a goodly slope, and a flattened-out cardboard box are all that a youngster needs to have all sorts of fun.
If you could set up a race between a cardboard box on broom sage and a store bought sled on snow, the cardboard box would win, hands down. You could flat out fly down that hillside. The only thing was that you had to bail out before the brier patch which was overtaking the broom sage down near the bottom. It seemed like the bailing out point changed, year to year, and a fellow had to learn that the hard way each year.
Today, that hillside is covered in trees and an under story of privet, poison ivy, saw briers and privet. The folks who live in the apartments at the top where the cow used to graze (and later, we kept a brace of beagles) are mostly my age or thereabouts and know nothing of its storied past.
The time may never come again when this old hill knows the sounds of youngsters hooting, hollering and laughing as they tickle its sides on card board. Well, I reckon it’ll just have to be, like me, contented with the memory.
We used to rake leaves in a pile and jump in it. Such fun in the Fall. Love the picture of y’all! ♥️
What fun. There’s a beautiful burst of yellow and orange here on all our trees which means they’ll soon all be in our yard. I don’t know why but it seems all our neighbors trees send their leaves straight to us instead of falling in their yards so we are just blanketed by mid November. The kids enjoy raking them as much as they’re able and jumping in them. We also like to find the prettiest, most perfect ones and press them. Such a fun time of year.