Unexpected Beauty, Small yet Substantial

Cradled among the pines. 

While Pris and I were outdoors during the last week of October in the backyard, cleaning up before the arrival of cold weather (where did it go?), I came across a solitary leaf that had drifted from a nearby maple tree and gently settled within the blue needles of a dwarf spruce growing at the base of our rain garden.

Whenever I’m outdoors, everything about nature compels my eyes to observe and to ponder – however momentarily – the smallest of things such as, in this case, a leaf.  This one though, as also happens within the human family, stood out from all the others.

Had it been just one of those dried-up, crinkled foliage remnants of early fall, I might have simply brushed it off from the spruce and gone about my chores.
 
But not this one.  That singular leaf, outstanding in its brilliance, rested within an array of short, blue-needled branches. There, in silent repose, it presented a variegated display of rich color – orange, green, and yellow hues held together at the base by a slim, crimson-red stem.

That picture had an arresting quality that could not be ignored.
 
Stay open to the advent of gold-trimmed leaves in your life, wherever and however they may cross your path.

Thanks for reading and take care of yourselves.

(Click on the photo for an enhanced view.)