Jumping in Leaves: a Favorite Fall Activity For the Young and Young at Heart

If you happened to see Dan Cassavaugh's article called "Pumpkin Patches, Pumpkin Fests, and Corn Mazes Abound in Norwich, Oneonta, Cooperstown and Across Central New York", then you know there is plenty of Fall fun in our region to enjoy.  However, you really can't beat the old-fashioned activity of jumping into a big piles of leaves. 

When I was a kid, I had quite a large yard that would fill with more leaves than you could imagine.  The only thing I liked about having to rake them up was of course jumping into them.  As a matter of fact, I became quite the daredevil and would gather the biggest pile of leaves  I could and place that pile underneath the edge of my Dad's workshop roof.  It was probably a twelve foot drop from that roof top, but if I got enough leaves piled up, it was like jumping into a cloud.  What an exuberant experience!  After that I would always come in the house with rosy cheeks and a big smile on my face.

So consider this: the next time your kids tell you they're bored and there's nothing to do, hand them a rake and tell them to go jump in a pile of leaves.  It's a win-win for you and them since they'll be raking the yard and getting in some fun and exercise, jumping in the big pile of leaves.