Leaves often create a coat on the forest floor before they are wetted by rain, devoured by other forms of life, and recycled back into the ground. They provide a multi-colored carpet for tree climbers on their way to an adventure. Do you remember kicking at leaf drifts? Leaf accumulations are fun to play with but they can hide things as well, just like a layer of snow.
Last week I was adventuring in a
wild area and reveling in the fall weather. The winds were cool on my face and
leaves drifted down in a lazy fashion, as if unwilling to depart from their
parent tree. I saw a mound of leaves and could not resist the urge to kick the
pile and send colorful leaves once again sailing in the wind.
Kicking the leaf pile proved to be a
bad decision. A tree stump lay hidden below the natural layer of mulch. The
leaves had piled up against the wind break and just begged to be scattered by a
swift kick of my foot.
The pain was intense for a few
moments. I waited and looked around to see if anyone had seen me. I was alone
in the woods. I wiggled my toes and in a few moments the pain receded. A 4-inch
diameter stump seemed to smile at me near my feet.
I’ll try to be more careful the next time I get near a leaf mound. Maybe an exploratory nudge with my foot might serve as a good practice before I put my full weight behind the swing. But I’m not sure a calculated and researched kick will provide me the same quality of joy like a spontaneous swift swing of the foot.
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