When the Leaves Begin to Turn

Autumn Arrives Quietly Series Vol.5

At first, it may be only one leaf.

A touch of yellow among branches that are still mostly green.

Then another.

Perhaps a little orange appears along the edge of a tree beside a familiar street.

Nothing has transformed overnight.

Most of the landscape still looks much as it did yesterday.

But now, the change is becoming easier to see.

For weeks, autumn has arrived through smaller signs.

We felt it in the first cool breeze.

We heard it in the changing sounds of evening.

We saw it in the longer afternoon shadows.

Then we opened our windows and allowed the cooler air into our homes.

And now, color begins to join them.

Something special about these first changing leaves.

They do not have the dramatic beauty of autumn at its peak. There are no mountains covered in red and gold, and no paths buried beneath fallen leaves.

Not yet.

Instead, small patches of color appear among the green.

Easy to miss.

Easy to pass without noticing.

Perhaps that is why finding one can feel so meaningful.

A single yellow leaf can tell us what the calendar cannot.

The season has moved forward.

Soon, these colors will spread across trees, gardens, hills, and familiar streets.

Autumn will become impossible to overlook.

But there is beauty in this moment before that happens.

When green remains.

When the colors are only beginning.

When autumn does not need to fill the entire landscape to make itself known.

We felt autumn before we could see it.

Now, at last, it has begun to show its colors.

If you missed the previous article in this series, you can read A Window Open to Autumn.