As I embrace the beginning of a new season, the colors I observe are amazing. Reminding me of looking into a seasonal kaleidoscope that amazes and makes me pause. I bend to retrieve any leaf that makes the words “oh my…that is beautiful”, fall from my lips. Gently tucking them into my pocket, it is a way of capturing the moment. You see, tomorrow, the leaf color will change. The seasonal kaleidoscopes are all around us if we just open our eyes along the way.
One early morning, as I visited Montpelier just after daybreak, the colors just popped. In amazement, certain trees stood out to fluff their leaves as if to say “notice me…make this part of your memory”.
The wine-colored leaves were lifted into their glory by the patient trees in the background. Whether too early to begin a colorful show or an evergreen, each tree will have their turn on nature’s stage.
No matter where I am, the kaleidoscope of fall is never too far behind. As I look outside my dining room window, the colors of the redbud are golden trinkets, falling to enrich the soil below.
A Yoshino Cherry tree gives me a reason to smile. It shines with golden leaves that drip, one by one, into the garden. Imagine a necklace has broken and each bauble dropping in slow motion. What a beautiful addition to my compost these leaves will become.
As I stroll in my garden, the Hydrangea quercifolia stops me in my tracks. The kaleidoscope on this shrub changes each day that adds excitement with each glance. Is it the wine in the leaves? Could it be the amber as it evolves like a flame throughout the shrub? I cannot answer honestly these questions. With each leaf I see, my mind changes moment by moment.
As I continue to collect moments to include in my kaleidoscopes of color, imagining how many combinations to include, simply bring me joy.
Do the kaleidoscopes of color found along the way add to your autumn experiences in nature? Do you collect leaves to capture the unique memories of autumnal bliss?
Gathering moments along the way…
Teri, Cottage In The Court
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