I have begun to watch for the weekly Nature Journal in the Asheville Citizen-Times. George Ellison is the naturalist who writes about our mountain surroundings. He quoted Dr Ross Hutchins on October 14, writing about leaves.* The expert said no two leaves are exactly alike, making me think of fingerprints and snowflakes. His writing was poetical when he talked about the voices of trees as wind blows through them. I first noticed that while walking under a gnarled old pine tree at the boat ramp in Stony Brook. There was a stiff breeze that day, and the resulting sound was a swishy sigh. Wind brought that tree to life. You can imagine the music implied in the title, Wind in the Willows.
Hutchins also wrote about flight patterns. Have you ever thought about flight patterns of leaves? Hutchins claimed he could identify a leaf by the way it fell. Maple leaves have a downward spiral, and oak leaves zigzag from side to side. Willow leaves spin. We have a huge oak in our yard, and I could immediately check out this statement. It is true. The leaves zig this way and zag the other If you see my head shake when I’m looking outside, I’m probably just following a crazy leaf as it falls to the ground.
I took a photo of our tree, so you can see what a future I have in leaf watching.
* “Hidden Valley of the Smokies: With a Naturalist in the Great Smoky Mountains” (Dodd, Mead & Company, 1971) by Ross E. Hutchins.
Mehrling Muse 
I will definitely be watching the trees now! Himself just spent several days in NC…Charlotte, Raleigh, then I-40 up into Tennessee…I told him to waive as he went by…you’ve been in my thoughts!
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Wish I’d known to wave back! He was about five miles from our house. If you travel with him again, could y’all take an hour off and visit with us?
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I would absolutely love that!!
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I hope there’s no big storm to bring lots down at once r you might do yourself an injury trying to keep up Anne. I hope you’re having a lovely weekend.
xxx Massive Hugs xxx
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We had a little wind when a hurricane hit the coast, but the leaves were not ready to fly those two days. Old age is wonderful because you forget so much. I cannot remember what happened to our leaves the last two years. I don’t think anyone raked them. Some might have been ground up the last time the lawn was mowed. Maybe the rest were blown into our neighbors’ yards. It can’t have been too bad, because they are still on speaking terms with us.
xxx Awesome Autumnal Hugs xxx
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I guess the leaf thing makes sense, with the different shapes creating different patterns of wind resistance. I’ll have to check it out for myself next time I’m in a park.
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You could say goodbye to your leaf friends by watching their final flutters.
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That’s a good point, Anne. 😀
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Now you have me curious…..I will be turning into a falling leaf watcher.
I love the picture of your tree! It is beautiful.
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I don’t think I’ll be identifying leaves by the way they fall, but I plan to look for the fun of it. Please let me know if you see any interesting flight paths.
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I will do that. We have maple, cottonwood, ash, elm, mulberry, walnut, black locust and apple around here. I will have to grab my teacup some morning soon and sit on the porch and watch.
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You are rich in trees. We are blessed with a mighty oak. Counting in my head, I think we have 14 other little deciduous trees on the property. They are intimidated by Mr Big.
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Leaf flight patterns – makes sense with all their shapes and designs – like airplanes and other flyers. Cool!
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