leaves

what is it about autumn leaves? every fall i am amazed at the colours. today i was walking past several trees whose leaves were strewn about the grass. i kept stopping to pick up different leaves that caught my eye. i'd look each one over and then let it fall again. i wished i could look at every leaf; they all deserved to be seen individually. i continue to think about how i can save them. a couple years ago i laminated a few, hoping they'd retain their colour, but they still faded. they truly are around for just a season. you can't create them in a hot house. and that'd miss the point, anyway -- it's the large scale, the random placement, the surprise blast of colour around a corner, a whole block lined with multi-coloured trees, lawns strewn with multi-coloured leaves, clouds of multi-coloured trees covering a cityscape. perhaps it's the momentary nature that makes it so wonderful.