LEAVES
It is the leaves that most often capture our collective attention towards trees. Leaves make philosophers wax poetic about the 'seasons of life' and poets turn philosophical about their changing colors. Carloads of tourists drive the back roads of New England, the Ozark mountains, and the Appalachians to ooh and aah over their glory. In the spring they dazzle us with their tiny leaf buds before they spring into their summer shapes. And the summer leaves shape our perspective of the sky and our landscape.
Leaves are also hard at work taking in sunlight for photosynthesis. Yet they are as ephemeral as buds and flowers. The English word, 'leaves' is a constant reminder that they are with us for a brief time |