Some thoughts on trees and life...

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Living in New England I am surrounded by vast quantities of trees.  They are everywhere I look; millions of them.  I am fascinated by the beautiful changes the leaves go through as the seasons push them along in their yearly cycle.  After last years brutal winter with snow covered trees (and everything else), I was rejuvenated with the beautiful spring blossoms.  Blooms of every color adorned the trees; majestic fuchsia, pale pink, clean white, vivid orange and sunshiny yellow.  Then the blossoms dropped and my entire world turned every shade of green you can imagine; green everywhere you looked.  The trees are so dense you cannot see trough the thick forests.  July 4^th can be tricky, you have to be in the perfect spot or you will not see the fire works hidden by the leafy treetops.  The dense trees provide much needed shade from the sun and homes to all the critters that scamper about.  Sometimes I forget to look up just because there are so many leaves.  Then the temperatures dropped and the leaves transformed into some of the most amazing hues I have ever experienced.  The New England leaves truly are an experience.  Joy would fill my soul, as I would drive down the road in a tunnel of crimson, gold, chocolate, and fire.  There were times I felt it was dangerous to drive because the breathtaking leaves were so distracting.  I lived in a vibrant oil painting.  As the leaves started to change I started to feel anxiety that fall was here and soon the leaves would drop and the trees would be naked, ugly, bare.  The world becomes drab barcodes of grey stripes wherever you look.  With the shorter days and the lack of color, it can be depressing and dreary.  I don’t want to feel that way so I have chosen to look for the good.  As I have walked around and really looked at my surroundings I have discovered much beauty and many parallels to life.  When the trees are stripped of their leaves it is an opportunity to see things in a different perspective.  The bare trees allow me to see what the land looks like; beautiful dingles, bubbling brooks, hidden landscapes.  I observed the shapes of the individual trees.  Each tree looks so different from the others, the branches are skeletons; some short and stout others tall and thin.  Some trees have beautiful knots and others have rough bark.  Some have been damaged with branches hanging by a tread until the next storm comes.  Some trees have been hiding beautiful berries, bird nests, papery wasps nests or a stray Frisbee.  The bare trees allow me to feel the sun shine and see the beauty of the azure sky or a fiery sunset.  The branches guide my eyes to look up and see the full height of the tree.  You see the trees as they really are, what they have been through, and remember what will happen to them after the impending harsh winter.  They will bloom again!  100% chance that spring will come again…guaranteed!  Such is life.  We have bare times that seem dark, drab and discouraging.  I know in the autumns of my life I have been able to see things differently.  If I chose to seek beauty in the situation I could always find it.  Every time I am in one of these times of life the Son shines and heals my soul. I learn what I am truly made of.  There is also that same knowledge that there is a 100% chance that spring will come again.  Things always get better.