Tuesday, October 02, 2012

L is for Leaves

L is for Leaves.

I suppose I may never tire of watching autumn leaves. Happy, colorful, and carefree, they dance through their final days...

 I watched them dance through the yard, swirling and twirling, happy and carefree. Without warning they ran straight into the road in front of my van, doing cartwheels as they went. If they ever looked both ways I didn't notice. The smiles, I'm sure, never vanished from their faces, and as I swished by they leaped out from under my tires and into the air behind me, shouts of laughter and excitement escaping their lips...

I wonder, do leaves yearn to be free from the branches that hold them all summer long? Do they close their eyes during thunder storms, or shiver on dark scary nights? Imagine the excitement of fluttering down from the highest branches, catching the breeze, floating upward again then spinning round and round on the dizzying descent!

Old age brings a new dimension to the life of a leaf. No longer tethered to the tree, they are free to twirl and dance. They fly through the air and sail on the breeze, spinning as they go. Early life found them supple and green, working hard to provide for their own. Now time has colored them red, orange, yellow and bronze, and left them brittle and stiff. They are dying, yet are, in some ways, more alive than ever before. It's almost as if they know the time is short and they are determined to make the most of it.

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9 comments:

  1. Wonderful tale of the leaves on their journey to fall. What a cutie-patootie gathering and playing in the leaves.

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  2. I guess I'm one of those leaves, trying to make the best of the time left, trying to be more alive and aware of life the older I get. I just loved this metaphorical tale of the autumn leaves and the photo of the cutie-pie is great.

    Leslie
    abcw team

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  3. i love your allegory. i don't think leaves yearn to be free---they are let go when the time is right.

    L is for...

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  4. ...the falling leaves...
    ROG, ABC Wednesday team

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  5. Well done,Martha...
    A really lovely read...
    Never thought about it like that before...

    Cheers!
    Linda :o)

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  6. Oh, how beautiful! Our leaves haven't started to fall yet...just barely starting to turn!
    I love to hear them crunching under foot!

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    Replies
    1. Ours aren't falling yet either, but by the time they do we'll be done with the letter L. :)

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  7. Such a cute model!

    Catching up with ABC. Got busy the past couple of days and just now have the time to visit entries.

    Leaping Chipmunk
    Rose, ABC Wednesday Team

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