(not necessarily in that order)
I can’t explain it — maybe it was last winter’s unusually heavy rainfall? Or something about the temperature? — but for the first time in all the years we’ve lived here, this little tree produced striking fall foliage.
For the past week I’ve been doing double-takes every time I look out the window! If only I had the photographic skill to portray just how beautiful it is.
Somehow I’m not really getting the sense of autumn that I’m accustomed to feeling.
We get quite a bit of fall foliage at the Village and not being there makes me feel like I’m missing the season.
Which isn’t really true, as we’ll be back before the end of October, but that’s where I’m at in this moment.
“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”
–Albert Camus
It’s been quite a while since we had rain, and it feels like we’re getting to admire the autumn foliage for much longer than usual. Now, I’m no scientist or botanist, and I know next to nothing about photosynthesis or chlorophyll. Which means I get to make up my own story about fall foliage and what it means (to me, at least). 🙂
It seems to me that the leaves absorb light throughout the spring and summer, then start losing it as they gradually diminish in the early fall and begin changing colors. But as the season continues, with the days growing shorter and winter drawing near, it’s as if nature gives us one last show…a final display of vibrant light and a sense of warmth. I’m sure you’ve experienced it: when you’re walking or driving along and you suddenly see a burst of light through the trees…and you realize it’s the fall foliage, glowing as if lit from within.
Sometimes I have to just stop and marvel at the incredible light emanating from the trees here at Ananda Village. They are so very, very beautiful! And I like the idea of each leaf going out in a burst of glory, as the spirit of the tree quietly turns within and prepares to enter the stillness of winter.
