Thursday, May 19, 2011

SPINNERS

This time of year come the Spinners.   These little helicopters are everywhere right now, and are simply marvels of natural engineering.     I cannot get my mind around the absolute genius of the apparatus, grown onto the maple limbs and branches like dragonfly-wings, and which leaves the tree with the seed up, succumbs to gravity and flips in mid-air, and has the built-in rudder and rotor to ease its way to the ground with the flight taking it sometimes yards from the tree, and landing bolt upright in the grass or on anything handy to prop against.

When I planted the three two-inch-high little trees in the front yard, I’d given no thought that one might be a GIRL tree, with thousands of the little whirlybirds to spin off into the lawn and take root amongst the turf every Spring.   Some of them fall straight and true in the grass, standing rigid like little golden soldiers:






Others seem to congregate like a scurry of tadpoles for safety in numbers:




And still others group in little cliques, like the Kewl Kids on the playground: 





One year when I was doing so much morning walking, I’d have to step out into the street for several blocks along, just to keep from slip-sliding on the great tides of the fallen pods, lying like great shoals of green, tender fish along the sidewalks.  And dried and gold---just a few of the whispery wings on smooth ground will slide your feet right out from under you.

These fellows are a mystical marvel of Creation, and even allowing of the evolving---how in the world LONG did it take for the seed to grow a tiny projection, then how many eons yet until that became a fin, then the swell of the shape into a wing, shaped perfectly to whirl the seed on the wind and deposit it neatly into the undergrowth, with a head-start toward the soil.   There's definitely a PLAN there.

Aren’t these things just a mysterious miracle?  


6 comments:

  1. Hi Rachel, I so do not like those spinners in my yard. As luck would have it we do not have them in this yard "MUCH" but the wind does carry a few here on our mountain. I agree they are amazing the way they are weighted to spin and seed themselves. Mother nature is always a study and a miracle too.

    We are home and packing like crazy. We leave in less than a week for Maine. Just when our yard is flowering and green. I will miss that part of June. However, a month in Maine is really calling our name. I can rest and read!!! We can discover new places and do "whatever we want."

    I also love your green post. Beautifully green and flowers to come. After a long inter this is heaven. I love the ivy and the statue. It lifts our hearts and gives us energy.
    Have a happy day reading Caro's books and sharing them in order. How do you do that? Smile.
    Hugs, Jeanne

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  2. I love the way your mind works, taking joy in little things! It's an inspiration!

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  3. The two middle grands have discovered the "white" dandelion "flowers," and love to send them flying over the yard when we go on a flower picking jaunt. How can a grandparent say no to that? Another marvel of Nature's engineering.

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  4. Beauty is everywhere. So glad you take the time to REALLY notice.

    Hugs,
    Kat

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  5. Well, dear Rachel, I must tell you that you have inspired me to look at these with different eyes and a different mindset. And, I am very glad you did.

    I love it inside your head, heart and soul.♥

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  6. Thank you all for understanding the silly ways I look at things sometimes. I appreciate you all, every one.

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