Life and leaves alike, change. Each has seasons. Fall tends to be a brief change filled with the explosion of dreamy, rich colors. Life can drag slowly. Change is often welcomed, but not always. This has been a year of change, an unwelcome change. A new decade, new rules, new ways of completing once simple, everyday tasks. The change occurred rather rapidly and unexpectedly. The color change in leaves was expected. Oddly enough, Fall in Western North Carolina has dragged for an unusually long time this season, sort of like how life does. By mid-November, the color has normally gone, but I am writing this during the second week of November and there are second waves of color explosions occurring amongst the oak trees. It seems life and the fall season have swapped speeds of change. 

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My mind conjured up this parallel between the state of our world and the fall leaves while hiking through the woods one evening. I find it is next to impossible to go for a walk in the forest without some sort of inner reflection taking place. I never mean to go deep, but my mind does. This has been a strange year. I think my heart longs to find meaning. Little parallels like this are the result of such.