Leaf Lessons

    I love fall.  The trees are absolutely beautiful, the air is crisp, we're almost done with yard work...  I drove along the Yellowstone river this week, completely awestruck around multiple bends of the freeway.  I can't help but feel grateful for living in such a wondrous place. 
    We're studying trees in 5th grade science right now.  We get to look at some leaves and evergreen needles under the microscopes.  Pretty impressive.  Plants are fully equipped to produce their own food, with just a few simply obtained ingredients. They produce and store, and produce and store some more.  Then fall comes.
    The changing of the leaves always gives me a sense of calmness.  Maybe it's the knowledge that change will surely bring more change.  Maybe it's the feeling of readiness to hunker down through the cold.  Maybe it's just the anticipation of hot chocolate by the fire. 
    Here's what I do know.  Change and growth are constant and necessary.  That is fact in every aspect of my life, from family, to work, to nature, to my writing.  Sometimes change brings stress, or anxiety, or even frustration.  But as in the case of the spectacular cottonwoods along the Yellowstone, I love the calmness of the change to fall.
 

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