Thursday, December 30, 2010

Maple leaf's end


Fallen
London, ON, October 2010
About this photo: This is one of my favorite photos of the year. Do you have one lurking in your files, too? How's about two? Or more? Click here if you'd like to share.
It's always sad to see the brilliant colors of autumn give way to crunchy, far-from-perfect leaves underfoot. When the bare trees cast forlorn shadows over endless stretches of leaf-choked lawns, you kind of wish for the color to return.

But that circle of life moves in only one direction, so you've got to work with what you've got. And when this one, withered leaf blew across the hotel parking lot, I knew it made no sense to wait for something brighter or less pockmarked. We had come to this.

So I hung back from my wife and kids, pre-set the camera to manual and tried to guess the necessary settings with my fingers as I sat down cross-legged on the pavement and lined up the shot. Sure, my wife was mortified and the kids tried to disown me. But if I didn't end up with a Michelin tread pattern running diagonally up my back, I figured I stood a pretty decent chance of capturing something worth remembering.

As the year ticks down to its inevitable end, I find myself thinking about what we lose along the way, and whether we're doing enough to hold onto the resulting memories after they're gone.

Your turn:
What does this photo make you feel?

9 comments:

Kalei's Best Friend said...

Fallen leaves that have turned color always remind me of the end of a season- my sycamore does the same ..also it could mean end of a life.. but also its a sign of a renewal of life, the tree will produce new leaves and go thru the same cycle as before... like any living thing...

Dawn said...

It makes me feel a bit nostalgic.
Wondering what life has been like up to now, and if it was worth it.
Does one miss their glory days after they're over...or do they ever end and just get brighter.....

Glad you risked the tire treads to capture this. If it was mine...I would post it as my favorite of all time. It carries a ton of feeling.
Amazing how the little carries a lot.

Thanks for your posts. I always look forward to your photos and wit.
:)
Wishing you a great day today!

Anonymous said...

Hi Carmi,
first let me say that is one amazing photo.I would have that framed and hang in my bedroom. Why the bedroom? That is our sanctuary where we can decompress & recharge our selves. This picture symbolizes a well traveled soul and perhaps to live on or perhaps not.. Glancing at that picture each day would be a gentle reminder that we are all well traveled and will move on to new adventures, trials and joys.

I love leaves.. I really do..

Somewhere round about said...

that image is amazing

our family has had an interesting christmastime, on both sides we've all been bumped up a generation...so coping with the grief that brings

but there's that time, when life has gone but death is not fully with us....

that time when all our tenses are muddled up.....(she is/ was)

the days when almost they are still here.....

when we haven't yet got it, that this is forever now...

the times when we reach for the phone.
flick throughh the address book and .gulp.
stay somethihng.and.just.stop, for how could we have forgotten?


Like that leaf.

It still has form
It's not lying flat and finished

The echo of movement is still there

The possibility of flight, not joined to the tree but a last puff maybe, is still around the place

It's not yet brown, there's colour
There was life
Blowing, breezying, flying life.

Anonymous said...

I feel the fading warmth of autumn as it all plays out into winter.

I've got a lovely leaf captured in a parking lot that I'm saving for Valentines Day.

Rebecca said...

this makes me miss seeing the changing of the seasons i live in Fl and we basically go from all green to all brown and dead not much color in between i miss that

The Gearheads said...

Somehow, not only have you caught the leaf's sadness in it's own demise, but have also created a shot that is amazingly simple, yet has such complex texture, I like this one.
Sorry I have been absent from the recent theme, Carmi, but I have added to the collection and plan not to stay away like this again.

-Mr

21 Wits said...

At first it made me wonder, "Has it met the lost yellow glove?!"

Cloudia said...

Spare & eloquent.

Happy New Year, Carmi



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