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Tuesday, October 5, 2010

The Leaves

I have always loved summer.

The warm weather, the sunshine, being out on the boat, going to the beach... I love driving with the windows down and wearing shorts and dresses and of course, flip flops.

In all of the years of my childhood, up until a few years ago, each Labor Day weekend was met with a feeling of melancholy sadness. School started, and while that was sometimes fun [for the first few days while everything is still new and easy], and the end of summer came. The resort season ended, the tourists went home and the temps dropped. Out came the fleece, socks and scarves while swimsuits were tucked away for the year. The chilled weather and the browning of the trees, shrubs and grass always brought about a feeling of sadness; a feeling of nostalgia for the summer that had ended, and a longing for the summer that was yet still 9 months away.

Fall would zip by in the blink of an eye and we'd be knee deep in a frigid Minnesota winter, with all eyes turned toward the promise of a thaw, and of spring. Of Summer. The cycle continued year after year. Summer was the defining season of each year.

The problem with this, is that I never actually enjoyed any of the other seasons. Time passed, and I wished it away, and surprise - summers passed way too fast. I spent 9 months wishing for 3. Then, the fall of 2008 came, I was graduated from college, and for the first time in my life, I didn't have to go to school. Matt was deployed to Iraq for the second time, and I was basically passing time until I could move to Hawaii to be with him. I spent my time shopping for care package supplies, cleaning cabins at the resort, and soaking in fall. For the first true time EVER. I was 22 years old.

Last year was a whirlwind of travel in the fall, and while I wasn't around much, I did manage to take a leaf drive with my parents one day while we were home in October. Then a frost came, and the leaves dropped fast.

This year, photography has helped me to slow down. Life is still busy with photo shoots all around. But, I have started noticing. I notice the leaves. The color. The way a tree can be green, yellow, orange and red, all at the same time. The way the colors seem to glow in the sunshine. And I notice the way their color fades and the way they fall, all too quick.

Last week, my dad and I took a drive around the area, admiring the leaves. The sky was blue and the sun was shining in full force. It was the perfect setting to look at leaves. We parked and wandered in the woods, looking and photographing mushrooms. With the wet year we've had, there was no shortage there. I'm going to need to do an all-mushroom post.

But for now, the leaves. The colorful, beautiful, amazingly stunning leaves that God has blessed our world with. What would we do without Maple trees???

Stop and look around. Soak in the color. Even if you hate fall, hate what is coming ahead - I don't think anyone can deny how awesome it is that our trees look like this. How incredible is that?


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