All the Leaves On the Trees Are Falling To the Sound Of the Breezes That Blow
Classic Photo - November, 2002 - Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri
Driving and walking around town, I enjoy the fall colors. I know people in New England think they have the market cornered on the beautiful leaves, but it’s not too bad in most of the country. I remember reading once the reason Vermont has some of the most beautiful foliage in the nation is because most of its trees were cut down in the 17th and 18th centuries, then later replanted, and that helped fuel the colors. I’m not quire sure how much truth is behind that, but it sure sounds good, doesn’t it?
The picture above is from the fall of 2002. It’s from somewhere in Forest Park, St. Louis. I had a weekday off when I worked a weekend schedule, and was meeting some new-friend/co-workers for dinner downtown before a Blues game. I decided to walk through the park and get a nice glimpse of this big park in the new place I lived. It was nice, with all the leaves this amazing orange color thanks to the sun and a warm fall. I think every picture I took that day turned out amazingly, but this one is my favorite. Something told me to take a picture of the pond in front of some glowing orange trees. The water was rippling from ducks or fish or thermonuclear tests nearby, and it just made a really nice reflection of the leaves. So what you’re seeing is a real photo (not touched at all - we don’t do that here…well, except for some minor cropping, but I own PhotoShop 0.1, and the free version at that) of a pond’s reflection of leaves. It just turned out really well, in my opinion. I think once a year I get a photo to work like that. (See the Alki Beach shot below)
Fall starts an interesting time psychologically in the world. Everything is dying, but it’s dying spectacularly as the leaves turn these amazing colors, making you notice them after they’d become green and become part of the background. After the leaves fall, we carve up some gourds and throw them on the doorstep and invite beggar children to grow fat off our freebies (aka Halloween). Then, we all gather in each other’s homes for Thanksgiving and comfort food. When that’s done, we string up electric lights around our house for Christmas, bring a big dead tree into our homes, throw more lights on that (you know Pepco just loves it), and wrap up some boxes. Trust me - this is my favorite time of the year. Then to say au revoir to the year, we drink champagne, make some noise, kiss someone, and drink more champagne.
The problem is January 2. The Christmas lights are down, the Christmas tree is gone, the wrapping paper has left. Suddenly, you look around. The leaves are fallen and gone. The grass is dead or barely hanging on. It’s cold and gray, and sometimes snowy. It’s dark early, dark late, and it’s simply quiet. No wonder early January sucks, especially since all you have to look forward to now is St. Patrick’s Day. Blech. Look in this spot in early January for what I do to combat all that stuff.
Here’s a wider shot of the ripply leaves. This is a different picture, not the one above just cropped differently.
Title is from the song "Moondance" by Van Morrison.
October 29th, 2006 at 7:49 am
Forest Park is once again going orange, although not as brilliant as your photo. Here’s two two more months of everything looking up!