POSITIVELY LEAFY

by Mauverneen


A walk in the park

Walking through the woods on a recent, glorious autumn day it occurred to me that not all leaves are created equal.



Faaall....ing

They are not the same shape, not the same size, not the same color. Varying shades of green top the trees in spring and summer and in the fall – well, everybody knows what happens to leaves in the fall. Reds, yellows, oranges; all those lovely warm jewel tones! The leaves may be saying goodbye, but they are bright and colorful as if to add ‘don’t be sad. We’ll be back!’

 


Leaves on the ground

Some people consider autumn an end,  I think of it more as a limbo. A drifting off to sleep, if you will, waiting for a blanket of snow to keep everything secure until it’s time to awaken and shrug off the mantle of cold.  The sun will again warm the earth and coax out the flowers and the tender green leaves.

 

Fan shaped Ginko leaves 

We generally think of leaves collectively – but each type of leaf is so different.  Maple, oak, willow, birch – each has it’s own shape and each turns it’s own color in the fall.  It makes me wonder if they might be as individual as snowflakes.  



The long and the short of them

Little kids (and sometimes big ones) pick up pretty leaves, perhaps pressing them between the pages of a book, to look at again later.
Leaves may be swept, blown or raked into piles but before they are disposed of they become things to be jumped on or buried in – playthings from nature that bring not just work, but a little fun and laughter into our lives.
 

 

 

I love seeing the ground completely covered with colored leaves – in the parks, in the woods, in the neighborhood. I love watching them sail across the ground on a windy day, or being blown across the street, like so many children chasing after an ice cream truck. I want to run with them, free, let the wind take me where it may. But the best I can do is run after them.

 

Caught in the fence - like spiders in a web
 

True, it will be sad and empty when the leaves are gone and the branches are completely bare, but not for long.  In a few short months it will happen all over again.  That’s the beauty of nature. The cycles. And the colors. The glorious colors!
 

Glorious orange

 

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