“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” ~ John Muir
“Sounds like we are eating potato chips,” commented my son Billy to me as the leaves were crunching under our feet on the first of our eight hikes for the Portage Park District Wild Hikes Challenge. We were on the peaceful Headwaters Trail in Garrettsville on the first day of fall. It was a gorgeous day and we had never been on this part of the trail so we couldn’t wait to explore!
Within minutes of being there, Billy’s clothes were covered with little green burr-like plant pieces after trying to get a better view of the picturesque creek below. I ended up getting some stuck to me too after following him to see what he had gotten into. We tried to brush them off but realized they had to be picked off one at time because they were firmly attached to our clothes. As we continued our scenic journey, Billy thought it was funny to take them off of his clothes and stick them onto mine! We eventually forgot about them and enjoyed the rest of our trip by pointing out chipmunks and squirrels, taking pictures, and collecting as many different kinds and colors of fallen leaves as we could carry.
When we returned home, Billy researched the names of the leaves and I posted pictures on Facebook to document and share our trip. A friend, who is a teacher and fellow nature lover originally from Ohio, thanked me for sharing our adventure. I asked her if she knew what was all over Billy’s clothes. She responded, “Some type of seed pod that is Velcro-like.” I commented, “Yes, it is very Velcro-like!” And she proceeded to tell me that those pods are what inspired the invention of Velcro.
This, of course, sparked our curiosity, so Billy and I went online to find out more. We learned about the inventor George De Mestral, a Swiss engineer, who took his dog for a nature hike on a summer day in 1948 and was intrigued by the seed pods he found stuck to his pet’s fur. He put one under his microscope and came up with the idea to invent a fastener with one side having hooks similar to the pods and the other side having loops similar to the fabric of his clothes. After lots of trial and error and help from a French weaver, he invented Velcro (a combination of the words velvet and crochet) in 1955.
Billy and I will always remember the story of Velcro and how our first hike led us to this discovery. We are glad we signed up for this challenge because we not only got our exercise, had fun together, learned about the different types of leaves, but we also learned a little history lesson too! Like George De Mestral, we feel inspired by Mother Nature, and we are looking forward to our next hike to see what else will be revealed.