Regarding the sound of falling leaves

Woods near the Coginchaug

You have to listen for it each year, but if you’re lucky, during fall in New England, there comes a brief time when you can hear the sound of leaves drifting from the trees and hitting the ground cover below. It’s a rustling sound, but not as dry as you might imagine. The bright shapes still have some suppleness to them as they reach the floor.

This morning I saw maples, yellow in the oblique morning light, quietly releasing their cargo, making for a soft pattering that could be heard in the longer moments between passing cars on the nearby bridge. If I could record this sound for you it would no doubt be inaudible, or insensible, like trying to capture a subtle sunset with a mediocre camera.

Snow has a sound, it’s true, but the tone of leaves falling in autumn is somehow more surprising.