On November 5th, the Susquehanna community was treated by an event dubbed “The Great Ginkgo Drop” by campus administration. On Friday morning, around thirty of the ginkgo trees lining Kurtz Lane simultaneously began shedding their leaves.
The end result was a fantastic display that amused both students and faculty alike. Streets, sidewalks, and benches were covered with distinctly shaped leaves. Leaves fluttered down from the trees in a way that’s normally only seen in movies. Students waded through the foliage on their way to classes while holding their noses against the distinct smell. The ginkgo leaves began falling as we grow closer to winter, but no one could’ve predicted that they would all begin to fall at once.
The event was featured on Susquehanna University’s main Instagram page and has been attached to this article.
I was lucky enough to witness the event firsthand last Friday. When I left for French at 8:30, I was met with a slow stream of falling leaves. It was nothing too out of the ordinary, though I did arrive to class with ginkgo leaves on my backpack and sweater. The smell, as always, was enough to warrant putting my mask on outdoors.
The true surprise came afterward at 10:00 when I was met with a street flooded with leaves. Amusing still was the fact that nothing had stopped; the leaves continued to fall with increasing intensity. Students turned to their friends, whispering about what was going on; people rode through it on their bikes; everyone did their best to avoid breathing in through their noses, lest they smell the ginkgo berries more than necessary. Today, the trees are nearly bare, but giant piles of leaves and berries still lace the sides of Kurtz walkways.
The university has cited ginkgo leaves as resembling unity and longevity: the perfect symbol for our school. While these are apt descriptors, I propose that they also symbolize a sort of mundane magic; nothing is more unexpectedly beautiful than thirty trees dropping leaves like snow.