Falling Leaves

Like most people, I love watching the leaves change color. For me, looking how into a forest of orange, red, and green truly represents the fall season. This love of colored leaves has been with me since childhood. When I was in high school, my mother and I took a 4am flight to upstate New York to hike through colorful forests for a weekend. While Fort Worth has nothing even close to the caliber of the East Coast, one thing I have learned from this class is to appreciate the natural world around you. Previously to this course, I feel that I may have been guilty of judging and comparing different natural landmarks. Take for instance, waterfalls. My mother has a fascination with finding a new waterfall in every state we visit. However, now that I have seen so many waterfalls, I fear that I take their beauty for granted. Reading Abbey's perspective of the desert really forced me to understand that all nature is beautiful, it just depends on the perspective. For example, in this picture, I would normally say that while the tree is beautiful, the parking lot in the background ruins the picture. However, why should I belittle the beauty of the tree when it had no say in the construction of the parking lot. If anything, the tree's bright, loud color is emphasized by the muted tones of the concrete.

A tree outside my balcony, suspected of carelessly dropping its leaves on my windshield 

What looks like a simple tree outside my window could be home to a thriving ecosystem, completely ignorant of my presence and the outside world. Their tiny world is no less important or beautiful than a vast desert or roaring waterfall. It is beautiful in its own way and should not be dissected by the minds of man. I think the miraculous is in the unknown, and the willingness to let the unknown remain unknown.