I remember the air was really crisp, a sting in your nose kind of bite to it but not enough to form ice on your hair tips kind, but quite cold none the less, much like these days that lie ahead of me now. I have photographed leaves like this in many seasons and they are always a subject that continues to draw me in, as do tree branches and trees in general.
There is something about a tree that fascinates me. I don't know if it is the way their structure expands into ever narrowing branches or the huge variety of shapes, or the way they shed their leaves (well deciduous ones anyway) or the fact that pretty much as a general rule, half of what it is to be a tree is out of site. The way they draw energy from both above the ground in the sunshine and below in water and minerals is just so cool. I seriously doubt whether many people ever consider this hidden world below our feet when encountering a tree, if at all. What is even more intriguing to me, is the vast properties that trees provide that we use to fashion all kinds of useful things from it, to firewood to keep us warm (stored converted sunshine in reality) to lumber, with which to build shelters, to simple things in life like cooking spoons to stir a favorite meal.
This particular leaf, a Sugar Maple I believe, comes from a specie that blesses us even further with a sap, when caught in the middle of it's wintertime rise and fall, then boiled down enough, yields a amazing, rich syrup that is a delight to the tongue.
When I think of my own body and the circulatory system that constantly sustains every cell within me, I think of it like the branches of a great tree, moving the needed elements, nutrition and oxygen to where it is needed and removing the toxins from me in return. Perhaps for me, this is like a little connection with nature in my small mind.
In this image, I love the way the edges carry a ever so slim layer of frost, outlining the rich brown tones with crisp white and really seemed to stand out among it's neighbors. I will continue at some point, to make photographs of these fallen workers of sunshine and if I like it, will share it with you. In the mean time, I will continue to love looking at trees in the winter and the beautiful silhouettes they show us when unadorned.
