Each fall we are treated to glorious sights as leaves die in flames of glory. This is another ingenious gift from our artistic Creator, one that mirrors God’s beauty. As I scan landscapes rich with gold, red, yellow, and orange trees, I can exclaim with poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, “O world, I cannot hold thee close enough!” This is the season for leaf peepers. Once when I was a speaker in Vermont, at the peak of nature’s fall displays, no hotel room was vacant! I had to stay at someone’s home on Lake Champlain.

Religious Significance of Fall

Gerard Manley Hopkins’s poem “Spring and Fall,” begins, “Margaret, are you grieving / Over Goldengrove unleaving?” It ends “It is Margaret you mourn for.” The dying of leaves reminds us that we too face mortality. Our fate is connected to two trees. Saint Irenaeus said, “As through a tree we were made debtors to God, so through a tree we receive cancellation of our debt.” The tempting tree in Eden gave way to the saving tree on Calvary.

My Leaf Education

I was introduced to the many varieties of leaves when we were to collect them for a high school biology class project. My mom knew I didn’t have the star-shaped sweet gum leaf. When she spotted one, to pluck it, she had my dad stop the car at the side of the road and she climbed onto it!

I carefully placed each leaf on white tagboard, traced around it, leaving a narrow border and cut it out. Then I swathed the sample in plastic wrap. My leaf album earned an A+. Linnaeus would be proud. Later, as a teacher, I used some of those preserved leaves to decorate bulletin boards.

Note:  There are three basic kinds of leaves, simple (a single undivided leaf), compound (a leaf divided into leaflets attached at the stem either in a row or radiating from one point), and needlelike.

Trees

Who is not familiar with Joyce Kilmer’s poem “Trees”? To refresh your memory, here it is:

Someone drew these lessons from trees: Stand tall and proud, go out on a limb, remember your roots, drink plenty of water, be content with your natural beauty, and don’t forget to enjoy the view!

A lesson from the stately redwood trees: How do these enormous trees that stretch into the sky remain standing? Their roots are intertwined. Through this mingling of roots, they also share water and nutrients. They teach us the value of cooperation and mutual support.

Besides providing us with beautiful scenery, nuts, oxygen, and shade, trees help us to play. Did you ever build a treehouse, swing from vines, climb a tree, picnic under a tree, or hide your face against a tree trunk, counting to a hundred for a game of hide-and-seek?

Soon we will be moving evergreen trees into our houses and decorating them as Christmas trees that add enjoyment and beauty to the celebration of this feast.

• What is your favorite kind of tree?

• Was a certain tree special to you growing up? Is one special now?

One of my favorite melodies is “Autumn Leaves.” Here is a version with lyrics sung with Nat King Cole’s velvety voice.