Ever seen this? Ginkgos are weird, and one weird thing about them is that they like to drop their leaves in bulk. They all turn bright golden-yellow, a lovely color. They shed some leaves here and there but if there is a night with real hard frost, they will drop all their remaining leaves at once, just like that. Golden puddles at their feet.
When we lived in Washington, we were right on the intersection of Swann Street. Locals will know, Swann Street is lined with ginkgos. That's both good and bad - good because ginkgos are lovely and bad because they planted mostly but not exclusively female trees. Let me tell you, ginkgo fruit stink like dog poop.
But in the fall, after the first frost, we looked out the window and all the ginkgos were bare and the street was blanketed ankle-deep with golden leaves. That sight was like the first snow, unreal and joyful at the same time. (Here's a photo I found of Swann Street but not of the dramatic leaf carpet.)
Years later, we ran into this sight in Bucharest, around the corner from our house, in Piata Dorobantilor:
And more years later, namely this morning, I found this in our yard:
It's a really tiny puddle. But pretty. And a promise of so much more, one day.
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