Leaves Take Flight at the OK Leaf Corral

On a spirited Sunday morning with an invigorating chill in the air, volunteers staged a leaf roundup at Veblen House. 

Here's board member Keena, showing proper stance and form as she raked leaves onto a tarp. She's a natural, even though she grew up in the Arizona desert, where there were no leaves to rake.

Joanne didn't have childhood memories of raking leaves either, but warmed to the task as the task warmed her.

Elsewhere on the Veblen House grounds, Scott mowed leaves back into the lawn.

By chance, Richard, a neighbor who is doing a major cleaning out of his house, had just donated some tarps that worked beautifully. We hauled the leaves off to an "OK Leaf Corral," where they will quickly settle and slowly return to the soil. A leaf corral may look limited in how many leaves it can take, but the leaves quickly settle, making room for more just a day or two later. 

Though some may think of it as a task to avoid, raking leaves brings back joyful memories for me. It was a family affair. We'd rake oak leaves into a big pile at the bottom end of the yard, and then I'd run down the hill and leap into the pile. Sometimes we'd make small piles and burn them, turning the leaves into glowing skeletons. The acorns would make a big POP when we tossed them into the flames. Today the smoke is considered pollution, but back then, the scent of burning leaves was part of the romance of the season. 

The leaves we raked this fall at Herrontown Woods were wet, which makes them heavier to carry on the tarps, but helps speed decomposition after they are piled in a leaf corral. Our volunteer workdays are every Sunday, starting around 10:30am.