Remember autumn days when you were a child? You’d rake fall leaves into a huge pile, then jump in. Or, as you walked along the sidewalk, a perfectly crunchy leaf would beg for you to stomp it – so you could hear the satisfying crunch.  

Even now, when I’m in the woods on a sunny day, I like the feeling of being surrounded by bold color – and of having to squint when the sun is streaming so strongly between the leaves, illuminating every tiny design element of the leaf closest to you. But through your squinted eyes, the rest of your visual field is filled with a blurry palette of oranges, reds, yellows and greens.

As John Denver sang in "Seasons Suite"

The falling leaves are whispering

Winter's on its way

I close my eyes remembering

The warmth of yesterday

So for now, before the inevitable gray of winter comes, we celebrate every nuance, every shade, every leaf hanging proudly and waving to us as we walk by the show.