Smokey Mountains National Park (Karla Schultz)
Now that it is November, there are only a few dwindling weeks remaining to enjoy fall foliage. Maybe we only have days–we had our first snow overnight. Winter has its own beauty–I might even take a photo or two!–but I do find myself reluctant to say farewell to the leaves this year. Accordingly, as the rains and snows set in, I am finding beauty in the wet leaves close to the ground. There is a certain glossy and poignant appeal to wet leaves, and I am encouraged to look more closely at the structure of each one.
My sister, Karla, a wonderfully skillful photographer of all things in nature, agreed to let me post some of her pictures of wet leaves this week (and in the months ahead, there will be more of Karla’s photography.) Below, I include a new poem inspired by these November leaves and a couple of photos of my own. May you find a few bright, deciduous treasures to bring inside!
Magnolia Planation, South Carolina (Karla Schultz)
Savannah River National Wildlife Refuge (Karla Schultz)
Savannah River National Wildlife Refuge (Karla Schultz)
Smokey Mountains National Park (Karla Schultz)
Wet Leaves Song
Spring rains, autumn rains—
Leaves and raindrops fall—
Light through windowpanes
Changes. That is all.
First leaves, red and gold,
So tiny and new,
Become green and bold,
Lasting summer through.
And then the bright green
Vanishes, all too soon.
Winds grown chill and keen
Under a frosty moon.
Old leaves, shimmerings—
Orange, gold, and red—
Dance windy skimmerings,
Though clouds press down like lead.
Leaves will fall as rain falls,
But these wet leaves shine.
Their fragile beauty calls
To me, and becomes mine.
Leslie Schultz
Below are a few more photos (these that I took in Northfield this week).
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