"Did you ever wonder why or how leaves change their color during the autumn season?  Why
does a maple leaf turn red?  What about all the bright yellows and oranges we see?

Just recently I read up on the mystery of this metamorphosis.  It all has to do with what
leaves are and how they function.  Simply put, leaves operate as miniature "food
factories".  Trees and other plants take water from the ground through their roots.  The
leaves absorb energy from sunlight that changes carbon dioxide and water into
carbohydrates (specifically glucose, a kind of sugar).  The process by which plants turn
water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates is called photosynthesis  (putting together
with light).  A chemical called chlorophyll helps to make photosynthesis happen.
Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color.

Yet hidden beneath all that green are pigments ranging from pale yellow to deep orange to
bright red (depending on the type of plant or tree).  As summer ends and the days get
shorter and shorter, the chlorophyll breaks down.  Thus the leaf's green color gives way
to the underlying yellow and orange pigments, thereby bringing about the change in
appearance.  The fact is, these colors have been there all along, but they aren't visible
in the summer because they are covered with green chlorophyll.  Moreover, while this
metamorphosis in color is taking place, other changes are occurring simultaneously.
A special layer of cells develops where the leaf stem is attached to the tree and gradually
severs the tissues that hold the leaf onto the branch.  Once the seal is cut, a gently breeze
is all it takes to make the leaf fall.

 

 

There is a lesson here about the beauty that results from adversity.  The shorter days, the
longer nights, and the dropping temperatures bring out an underlying beauty that was there
all along but couldn't be seen until the more adverse weather conditions.  Isn't that how it
is with trials in our lives?  If we respond to them rightly, they bring out an inner beauty
that wouldn't be seen otherwise."     ~written by the Pastor of Webster Bible Church in
an article titled, "Autumn Reflections".

 

I took these pictures of trees this past weekend.  I cannot get enough of their beauty, and
the brilliant blue skies, this Fall season.  Their beauty lifts my spirits and causes me to thank
my Creator God.

 

 

 

Thank you for the privilege of sharing this beauty with you.   I hope in seeing them, you are as
blessed I am, every time I take in their grandeur.