Falling Leaves and Good-byes
We are now back in California. Saying good-bye to our friends and our adopted home was profoundly sad. As we were packing up and making preparations for our departure, we noticed that the trees along the stream that we see through our window were starting to change color. Autumn was on its way.
My husband gave me permission to copy what he wrote after returning from a walk:
It is now time for this crop of leaves to fall. Yet they do not fall in vain. Slowly, as they blend with the soil of our hearts, they will in unseen ways both protect and nourish, so that in due time, that soil will produce a new crop of leaves and fruit, more abundant, sweeter and higher than before, all on a trunk that is made stronger by one more ring of winter. My leaves are yours, oh God. Do with them what is best. 
Through the seasons, it was amazing to see the trees go from bare brown sticks in the winter to spring-green buds, then leafy summer foliage. Now the leaves are turning gold and brown, and falling to the ground. Do trees ever feel reluctant to release their leaves? Letting go can be hard, and I feel the grief of all that I’m releasing, all the good-byes that I’m saying. But new leaves can’t grow until the old ones are gone. And those brown, decaying leaves nourish the soil for the growth to come in the next season. But for this season, my branches will be bare.
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged fall leaves by Lisa