otoh

Look up, idiot. Sorry — talking to myself again…. It took me years to get used to the “seasons” in Florida. We have a few months of warm and dry and several months of hot and humid. There’s never much of a transition in between.

The colors of autumn where I grew up in Kentucky would start slowly — little tinges of red at the edges of leaves. You can spot the subtle signs if you take the time to look. You have to look up. I always found the color change more interesting if I watched it from the beginning. Sadly, I didn’t always do that.

Sometimes I would suddenly realize the leaves were in full color: the bright reds, oranges, and yellows that remind me of fire. This always takes weeks from when those first subtle signs appear. And I had missed it all. I would get wrapped up in a heavy course load in college or the throes of a long-time on-again-off-again romance. I would walk around oblivious to the changes going on around me until one day I’d look up and… WOW!

Since I’ve developed an interest in photography (yeah, there’s a pun in there), I appreciate more than ever the colors and the play of light and shadow. And I miss more than ever the fire of autumn leaves. I’d like to say that I never get so self-involved any more that I fail to look up and appreciate the panorama. I’d like to say that, but it wouldn’t be true. Even though I don’t have the fire to look for every year, doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot to see. After all, palm trees are real, they just don’t provide much shade… or fire. Look up anyway.

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