Turning over a new leaf this fall
Written by Wendy Gerber
Thursday, 22 October 2009 10:14
Soon the new year will be upon us ... a time for resolutions and “turning over a new leaf” to become the best person we can each become, working hard to fulfill our dreams and to make the world a better place. I’m not sure where the expression “to turn over a new leaf” is derived from, but there is in fact much that can be learned from nature around us and particularly the cycle and changes of leaves that can bring new meaning to our lives.
Consider for a moment our individual personalities and goals as a spectrum of different colors — a kaleidoscope of individuality with opportunities to change and grow over the time. And consider the colors of autumn leaves that we enjoy this time of year. Did you ever wonder how and why a fall leaf changes color? Why a maple leaf turns bright red? Much like the variations among people, leaves are individual in their own way and nature and life’s experience impacts their colors and their appearance.
As we know, plants take water from the ground and carbon dioxide from the air and turn them into glucose, using sunlight and the chemical chlorophyll through the process of photosynthesis. Plants use this glucose as food for energy and as a building block for growth. Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color. But while we all enjoy the changing color of the leaves each year, many of us don’t know why this occurs.
As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter. While we know this through our calendar and our clocks, the trees also “know” they need to begin getting ready for winter when the days are short and dry, so there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis. The trees will live off the food they stored during the summer, just as many of us are now forced to live off our savings in this difficult economy!
As the trees begin to shut down their food-making and the green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves, we begin to see orange and yellow colors, that come from the pigments “carotene” (orange) and “xanthophyll” (yellow). These colors were in the leaves all along, but the green chlorophyll covered them up. The bright red and purple colors come from “anthocyanin” pigments formed in the autumn especially in maple trees, from glucose trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. The brown color of oak leaves is made from tannin, a waste product left in the leaves. Different combinations of these pigments give us a wide range of colors each fall.
While evergreens have special leaves that are resistant to cold and moisture loss and are thus lucky enough to keep their green leaves during winter, the wonder of most trees is that each year after giving us a vibrant display of color, they shed their leaves in preparation for winter ... and then grow new ones in the spring. The old leaves are damaged over time by insects, disease, and weather, but in the spring comes a rebirth and new leaves grow.
How many of us have layers of ideas and dreams that lay buried somewhere within us, waiting for the right climate to emerge? And how many have felt downtrodden by life’s experiences that seem to thwart our goals and aspirations? The bright colors that lie hidden in leaves under the chlorophyll finally emerge in the fall for a vibrant month, a final swan song before falling to the ground. As we look at the beauty of these vivid leaves, perhaps we can use it as an opportunity to reflect upon our goals and dreams for ourselves that lay hidden within.
Similar to a leaf, our individual lives are made up of our genes and our experiences, the combination of which creates both color and opportunity for growth. May the beautiful colors we enjoy on the trees in the fall provide an opportunity for each of us to “turn over a new leaf” and be the best that we can be — moving forward with our lives with vivid color, striving both to accomplish our goals and to make our world a better place.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
|
|