A Single Autumn Leaf

03 October 2012

Lens:

Maple Leaf, Nikon DSLR, September 2012;© Sally W. Donatello and Lens and Pens by Sally, 2012

Pens:

Fall foliage has been pressed into my visual arena for weeks. But it’s still performing at a glacial pace. We need that cold blast to spike the process. Meanwhile the hummingbirds have departed, and I await the juncos and white-throated sparrows–each a sign that summer has slipped into the past.

In autumn I collect leaves like they are precious golden coins. Each has its unique visual attraction. The photograph shown in the Lens section is one of this year’s perfectly imperfects: a unique combination of colors and deterioration. As it begins to break down, this single leaf seems to exude brilliance.

Each leaf will become sustenance for next year’s vegetable garden. It gives me great pleasure to think about this one life continuing–adding to the next.

As I am surrounded by trees transforming into another chapter of their stories, it’s hard not to ponder the life cycle. One directive includes a quiet slowing of the inner engine: conservation and dormancy, lessons that we should heed.

Since I live in the northeast of the USA, I am privy to this cycling and recycling of energy: this miracle of science that manifests itself in the color parade of all color parades. Even when it’s not a ten pointer, there’s much to appreciate and observe.

If you are interested in a short explanation about the change of autumn foliage, click this YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeypaiIoMPI&feature=related/

I’m truly fortunate to live in a four-season climate. The rhythm of each step toward another wave of seasonal weather provokes reactions and rejuvenation. The sun’s role in this evergreening and preening process affects my photography, giving me constant prods to flow over and with the parameters of nature’s wonderment.

While autumn leaves foreshadow enormous change in the visual landscape, their disappearance on the deciduous trees brings me reassurance. Winter may be on its path to us, but a bold stark beauty of bold void can bring another kind of spectacle: a push to open one’s individual lens to consider other kinds of magnificence–magnificence that is instigated by the demise of a multitude of single autumn leaves.

Note: As always I welcome any comment about this post or any part of my blog.