How beautiful the leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days. - John Burroughs
October 3, 2022 - A fallen maple leaf in the evening sun
Consider the Fallen Leaf
i saw the leaf before me
full of holes,
curling in upon itself
turning brown
fragile
disintegrating
i saw its veins
darkened by sunlight -
its stem caught
in the crack of a stair
i saw its long shadow
stretching
curling in upon itself
full of holes
i saw the leaf before me
October 3, 2022 - Gathered Leaves and needles from Pier Cove Ravine Trail
October 3, 2022 - Gathering leaves on the trail today, I realized I didn’t really know much about leaves. What do they do for the tree, why do they change colors this time of year, why do they fall off, or if they don’t fall off, why not? Here’s what I learned:
Leaves use water, air and sunlight along with the chlorophyll they already contain to make food (sugar - sucrose) (for the tree. In the fall, when light changes, the chlorophyll starts to break down and whatever color is left in the leaf; depending on its particular chemistry is the color you see. The leaves help the tree grow as long as there is sunlight and available water; but in the winter, when there is less sunlight, and the hard ground makes it difficult for the tree to absorb water, the leaves need to fall off in order for the tree to conserve water. The reason evergreens don’t lose all of their leaves is that their needles or leaves are coated and don’t cause the tree to lose water, so they don’t need to be shed. In warm climates, some trees that are not traditionally considered evergreen also don’t lose their leaves; because they have more available sunlight, and the ground doesn’t freeze. Once leaves fall, of course, they still feed and protect the tree by covering the ground and then breaking down into compost. Birth life - death - rebirth - over and over again every year. It’s amazing.
October 4, 2022 - Fall. Falling. Fallen.
October 4, 2022. We’ve experienced a bluff collapse on Lake Michigan the past few years… it makes for striking images on the beach. The land slid down, trees slid down with it, some falling and dying, some managing to survive in a new location. They are all here; the fallen, the falling and the living - going through fall transition.
October 4, 2022. Sentinels
October 4, 2022. I saw a group of red pines standing next to a house on my run Tuesday night. Evergreens. Tall and regal. Soldiers standing at attention.