Fading Away

It is a gray, rainy day, and these leaves photographed last week are now glistening wet. I purposefully did not rake them up because I think they are still so beautiful even as their brilliant colors slowly fade away.

The last days of the 2009 school year are also fading away this week with end of the year parties, holiday school programs, semester tests, and baking teacher gifts (oatmeal bread to go with the blueberry jam we made this summer). In my sons' Montessori class today, we will celebrate his seven years of going around the sun as "six-years-old" fades away, too.

Taking the time to notice the changes in these leaves on my front walkway and outdoor chairs helps my worries fade away-- at least for a while. Today, all of the leaves have fallen from the tree, and the branches are decorated with raindrops and stray pine needles caught where once there were star-shaped leaves.