Children of the Leaves
Mitch Jameson of Knee-Deep in June Gardens
Looking around one beautiful October day in the garden.......hoping that the emerging fall Iris stalks beat the first freeze.......I heard a door slamming and saw her darting purposefully, in little-kid-like anticipation, to see if the leaf pit was ready. When she got to the top of the wall, her eyes lit up. She could see that it was. I could see her bouncing and jittering, trying to decide whether to jump in right now or whether to go get her friends. Distracted, she saw me and asked, "Is it ready?" I said, "Yes...today'd be a good day."
Off she went to gather her friends.
Six little people ages four through eight converged rather quickly above the leaf pit. They started conversing and contemplating methods of leaf play, recounting fun ways they had learned in the past. The most adventurous lost interest in the talk and hopped down onto the leaves. With little hesitation, the others followed, except for the leaf rookie, the littlest boy. He was afraid. He did not have patterns of leaf play in his precious little memory. He didn't know what it would feel like to be in the leaves. She looked up and saw his fears and apprehension, gently coaxed him off the wall, held his hands as he first nestled in the leaves.
The next time I looked towards the children they had become a flurry, for from the wall they were jumping and diving, momentarily flying before landing on the cushion of leaves. And on it they were building caves and castles.......pretending they were all sorts of animals and animations.......tumbling, burrowing, crawling above and beneath the changing surfaces of the leaves. They laughed and laughed.......adding more leaves, mashing and crumbling, then fluffing them up.......being careful to toss aside the sticks.
Hours and hours the children spent in the leaves, and from them you could see emerging their own set of rules; be careful, take turns, forgive, create.
Eventually, the play crumbled leaves will be turned back into the soil.
Maybe more rebloom flowers will make it next year.