Whispers in the Trees

Ever gone taking pictures of the trees in the fall? Yeah, didn't think so. Although there are a few people that have the same hobby...I saw them with my own eyes today. I on the other hand have taken pictures of fall foliage since I was in college. In fact, my obsession with leaves changing brilliant shades of red, orange, and yellow began my third year in college when I saw the most beautiful tree changes I have ever seen. Growing up in a suburb of Dallas, I saw little more than the day and a half it took for the trees all at once to go from green to brown. Every once in a while you'd see a hint of yellow or red (mixed with brown on the same leaf). That year in college, I went to the nearby lake to snap some shots of the trees. And...also collected a huge sack full of those that had recently fallen to the ground. My roommate my junior year would appreciate the memories of this, I'm sure. I showed them to her and we both had the revelation to tape them to our wall in our dorm room. So, thus began a project. They were everywhere in our tiny dorm room, but only on one wall. I can't remember if we taped them or hot glued them. But either way, I'm glad Mom T didn't catch us in whatever method we decided to use....mean old woman. So every time we walked into our room, we enjoyed the color of fall, well into spring actually, and maybe until the end of the spring semester. Can't remember. Ahh...the sight of fall leaves (which actually retained their color) and Christmas lights up year round. What were we thinking? So that year, I discovered that the tree color depended on the amount of rain the month or so before the fall foliage. If there's little rain, there's little color, and vice versa. And this year, we were "blessed" with two saturating and flooding rains from back to back hurricanes.

This year, I dragged my poor husband and daughter out on a photo excursion. I allowed my slow poke of a driver husband to take the wheel as I sat in the car and snapped shots. I've been staking out several of the prettiest trees in town for a few days and figured today was the best day to get them. Soon, the leaves will fall off. Most of these photos it looks like I've trespassed on people's property. I promise that's not the case. We just stopped in the middle of the road so I could get non blurry pictures. Hey...it was a Sunday in Arkadelphia. No traffic whatsoever. And yes, I'm sure people thought we were nuts if they looked out their window and saw a pregnant woman hanging out the front passenger window with a camera in hand taking a picture of the tree in their front yard. But who cares...I got some awesome pictures. The one where we're standing is taken on another college campus in town.

I swear, if you drive by some of these trees at the right time of day when the sun catches them just right, it looks like they're on fire. Others just look like the goldenrod and orange embers that burn after a fire has petered out. Looking at these trees is just a breathtaking experience...mainly because I'm looking at them and not the road and end up almost hitting a mailbox or parked car or something. But seriously, they are beautiful, and they are from our precious creator. It's a gentle reminder that when we look at them and see the leaves gently blowing in the breeze, if we listen closely enough, we can hear His tiny whisper in the trees.