Friday, November 20, 2009

Last one


Most of the trees in Roundtop’s forest have long since lost their leaves, but a few decided to wait for a while. This little maple tree is among the very last to hold onto its leaves and its color. Perhaps it just wanted to shine on its own for a bit without competition from all the other, bigger trees around it. In an event, this is the last tree I could find with leaves and with color.

The marcescent leaves, mostly on the beech trees, are still hanging on, though they are withered and dry. They usually hang on until spring’s new leaves will finally push them out. These maple leaves, though, are like a beacon of yellow in a sea of brown that I can see from a hundred yards away.

It’s funny, I think, how my eye naturally moves toward whatever is different in the landscape around me. In the summer, I look for things that are not green. In late fall and during snowless winters, I look for things that are not brown. It’s the different things that catch my eye, no matter what the season. Perhaps I should spend some time exploring the subtleties in the things that at first appear to be the same. Maybe I’ll make that my project this winter.

2 comments:

Grizz………… said...

There are only a few color/leaf holdouts here along the river, not counting honeysuckle. That little yellow shrub across and upriver is the most obvious. (And no, I still don't know what it is. Sigh.)

Anonymous said...

We still have a few leaves hanging on (also maples), but the thing that looks so weird is the few apples still hanging on the bare trees! LOL