Helicopter Seeds
George has another article out in Boundless… well, actually, it was out about a week ago, but I’ve been remiss in blogging lately. Check it out.
It’s a beautiful spring day with a cobalt sky and cottony clouds wheeling high overhead on the breeze, and I’m standing in our backyard near the huge maple, the one that overhangs the whole world. Staring upwards in 4-year-old fascination, I watch the budding leaves swish in the breeze as winged seed pods swirl to the ground.
By the hundreds they come, the tiny green streamlined packages of nascent life; whirling from branch to ground in a brief, glorious flight! Half an inch wide and two inches long; curved with the bulge of a pregnant seed. The pods fly on the wind that carries them away to a remote final resting place.
Of course, I know none of this at age 4. I simply know they’re magical.
Mom picks up one of the winged wonders from the ground. “Do you know what these are, Georgie?” she asks.
I shake my head, but stare curiously at the object in her hand.
“They’re helicopters!” she says. With that, she releases the fragile seed-carrier into the breeze. It spins away on the wind, floating and twirling its way to the ground.
I cautiously pick one up to see if my childish hands can duplicate adult magic. Breathless, I release the helicopter … and it soars! Captivated, I pick up another, and another, giggling with delight. Each one dances with the wind. I scoop a cloud of seeds in two hands and watch them flutter to the earth with wild abandon!
The helicopter seeds are a carefree day; a childhood caught in a moment. I have discovered wonder.
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