Gingko Trees

I love fall. There's almost nothing I dislike about it--except for one unpleasant thing I got to experience during the four years I went to the University of Iowa. The Pentacrest has tons of gingko trees, and in the fall, the female trees (yes, there are boy and girl gingko trees!) have the stinkiest, nastiest berries. All those berries got squashed under the feet of thousands of students, and it was impossible to miss the unmistakable stench, which is not unlike dog poo.

This summer I noticed that there are gingko trees all along the walk to school, and I hoped that they weren't female trees, and then I forgot all about them. Today I saw an ajumma (grandma) picking up something off the ground with those tongs they use litter, and realized that she was picking up the berries and putting them in a trash bag!

Other than the smell, gingkos are pretty cool trees. They're about 200 million years old, and they were Frank Lloyd Wright's favorite tree. Since we've got little old ladies to pick up the berries before they start smelling, I'm actually enjoying the gingko trees this fall.