Hidden colour

When one of my grandsons eats his dinner, he always leaves the best till last. I wonder if that's what God did when he created autumn. Its as if all that begins with the tiny new buds of spring and blossoms and flourishes in the warm, heady days of summer, comes to full harvest in an explosion of vibrancy and fruitfulness in autumn ... a grand finale!

Autumn transforms the ordinary into something quite extraordinary ... tumbling over buildings, cascading down walls and draping itself over lampposts and window frames ... carefree and nonchalant it 'paints' splashes of colour across the fading landscape of summer's end.

But here's the wonder of nature. As the tree anticipates the months of dormancy ahead, the veins of the leaves begin to shut down and the bright green chlorophyll production ceases … suddenly the other colour pigments, carotenoids and anthocyanins, which give the leaf its red and purple, yellow and orange tones, are set free to shine. They’ve been there all the time, hidden beneath the chlorophyll.

It's a season of anticipation ... of cool nights and chilly mornings, bluest of skies and air as crisp as a new season’s apple ... the fragrance of first fires ... hot soup and homemade bread ... of snuggling under doonas ... soft, mellow light and the joy of dancing in fallen autumn leaves.

It's a season of change and reminds me of the impermanence of things, in nature and in life. Just as the leaves must fall to make way for new growth next spring, I need to let go of the past in order to embrace the gifts of the here and now. Let go of hurts and disappointments … failures and mistakes … expectations and demands so I have a free heart and mind to accept whatever is being handed to me.
 
Accepting and embracing change is probably one of the most valuable and freeing lessons of life.