On my walk this morning I caught a leaf.
It was raining and the wind made heavy by the raindrops hit a patch of trees like a slap, letting several horse chestnut leaves spin, first up in the air and then downwards to where we stood.
Roger and Mary looked up and watched them and on impulse I caught the nearest one in my hand.
According to Sue Belfrage in her book Down to the River and Up To The Trees, there is an old British tradition that catching leaves is lucky.
Keep the leaf in your pocket, till dried out and fragile it crumbles, she suggests
I carried it home and left it on the dash board in Bluebell
It’s feel like autumn today
Yes, Autumn is definitely on its way. Not that we've had much of a Summer, but hey-ho! I hope the leaf brings the predicted good luck. xx
ReplyDeleteI do feel the seasons turning, though I haven't caught a leaf yet!
ReplyDeleteNow I'm on the lookout for falling leaves. Still summer here though the heat drops at night, great for sleeping.
ReplyDeleteIt is starting to feel like Fall here too, cool mornings and evenings, a bit earlier than usual I think. I remember chestnut trees when I was young but there aren’t any around here. We used to make “conckers” with the nuts. Hope that leaf brings you good luck and not just a mess in Bluebell. I must go clean out “Snowflake” today. She is usually very clean and tidy but somehow she is full of grocery bags and water bottles. Gigi
ReplyDeleteDoes the luck work when you know it will be easy to catch a leaf? The trees in my garden have been shedding for weeks. It's crunchy underfoot - in August!
ReplyDeleteHow very lucky,
ReplyDeleteMy front porch is always full of them... all year long!
ReplyDeleteI began catching Autumn leaves about 10 years ago, and had thought it just me. I do exactly as you say; put them in my pocket and let them dry and crumble.
ReplyDeleteIt feels as if it will never be autumn here in north Florida. Instead, a sort of Purgatory.
ReplyDeleteCatching a leaf seems similar to finding a 4 leaf clover. Our leaves are just starting to drop. The acorns are falling in great numbers which some say means a hard Winter. We shall see.
ReplyDeleteI'd never heard of that before. It's alright leaving it in your pocket until it crumbles but knowing my luck I'd leave it there and wash my jacket ... and then wonder what all the dried up brown bits were stuck to my clothes.
ReplyDeleteI agree it's starting to feel Autumnal, and last night because it was so cloudy it was dark here at 8.45pm.
It's supposed to hit 100 F here today so no autumn for us yet!
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of that superstition before! But it's an interesting one.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the four seasons, even winter when the roads are plowed and the furnace works.
ReplyDeleteAutumn is whispering here, as well.
ReplyDeleteA folk tradition I've heard of is catching twelve fall leaves to ensure a happy year. My friend, after following her husband's casket at Arlington, found a tiny red leaf tucked into the arm of her glasses.
ReplyDeletePut it in a pocket til it crumbles - it might be a good omen for your new course.
ReplyDeleteHow is a wind made heavy by rain?
ReplyDeleteThink about it
DeleteI wondered about that too, lots of thinking but still don't know. Answer required please!
DeleteThere won't be an answer it was just one of John's fanciful made up phrases.
DeleteI hope to catch a leaf.
ReplyDeleteLeaves are starting to fall here, but tomorrow's high will be 35*C with rain possible. The 10 day forecast calls for cooler temperatures after tomorrow. Odd for August.
ReplyDeleteI'd never heard about good luck after catching a falling leaf, etc. Interesting.
Hugs!
Bluebell leaves.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful evocative writing today, lovely.
ReplyDeleteI have a drawing somewhere of my first Pug, as a puppy---he caught a giant maple leaf, bright red and almost as big as he was. He carried it proudly home. I think I even pressed the leaf. [Who knows where that leaf blew from, as we don't have maple trees on my island.] His little ghost is near by on a rainy autumn day [to come, but not soon, as it is august a the Beach here.] lizzy x
A lucky leaf! :) I like that. I wish it would feel like autumn here. Instead, we're to have a record breaking heat wave this weekend. Again.
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