One of the tasks we were always assigned in the early weeks of school was to find leaves for science. Green ones. Leaves that illustrated the diversity of trees that grew in our yards.
Our yard was mostly tree free. Certainly diverse tree free. We had a huge Weeping Willow in the front yard, a Sugar Maple at the end of the driveway, and some fruit trees and a Black Walnut in the back. Oaks? Nope. Sycamore, birch, aspen, poplar? No, no, no, no. And leaves on every single one of those few trees in our yard changed colour by the end of August, and dropped every leaf by the middle of September. We were left scrabbling through the grass for anything that wasn't too crispy, still intact enough to be recognizable. We'd gather them carefully, then lay them between two sheets of sandwich wrap and iron them flat, preserved by the wax paper. I think for all my life I will remember that smell - charring paper, melting wax, cooked leaf. Not a pleasant smell, but interestingly, not an UNpleasant memory.
No post tomorrow, we're going to Oma's birthday party. Details and pictures, I hope, next week.
2 comments:
I loved pressing leaves between waxed paper - that and shaved crayons!
I remember pressing leaves in waxed paper. I think we did a Brownie project like that.
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