Fall/Autumn is my favorite time of the year. For someone that lives in Michigan, USA (near Chicago and basically right under Canada) we are privileged to experience the changing of seasons. With fall in Michigan, we get vibrant reds, yellows, and oranges all around us! Taking a walk on a trail is not silent with the gentle crunching of crisp leaves underneath your feet. Who can forget all the decorations and activities that come as a result! Corn mazes, pumpkin spice lattes, soups, the beginning of sweeter treats, and the hunkering down of the Winter that is to come!
Recently we took an early morning walk with an avid bird watcher around a lake up in Northern Michigan. One thing he said stood out to me:
Leaves always have the reds, oranges, yellows, etc that you only see in the fall. They don't appear in the fall. Rather, what happens is that as the temperatures change, the amount of chlorophyll (what makes leaves green) produced lessens, revealing the colors that were there all along.This upended my whole world - more than it probably should have. The colors were there the whole time, but the trees needed the food during the summer to stay alive and maximize producing food! Trees work hard during the spring/summer months to grow, and their leaves are an important part of their nourishment. But it does not last forever. Even trees need a break.
Sometimes, life gets so difficult that the current demands require you to pivot into a survival-like mode. Whoever you are taking care of, you may need to go into turbo-chlorophyll-producing mode. This may come at the cost of you masking (not losing)your vibrancy to make it through the day. Situations in your life can sometimes dim your colors out of necessity, but that does not mean that they eliminate your colors.
As I drive by the fleeting fall colors and engage in various fall activities, I have a deeper appreciation for these leaves as I rake them and prepare for winter. They were instrumental during an important stage of a tree's growth. They bring joy, if but for a moment - revealing a tree's true identity. It makes me grateful and reminds me that seasons change, and each change brings with it a new frontier and a new opportunity to learn something more about yourself and the world around you.
For my friends around the world, what signs in nature have caused you to take a second look at life and revealed a more profound way to view your situation?
P.S. - here's a picture of some trees in a nature area that I took on Saturday while enjoying nature.
