Holding on for dear life

Look harder for it
London, ON
October 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We didn't find a whole lot of color in the woods this year, almost as if nature decided this wasn't the right time to put on a show.

Indeed, this isn't much of a time for a party, what with the pandemic and climate change and the general day-to-day struggle among folks just trying to get by. So perhaps it's just as well that the colors were somewhat more muted than usual.

But if you look a little more closely, or squint your eyes just so, you can occasionally see flashes of light that suggest all is not lost.

I found it in this shriveled-up brown leaf hanging on for dear life amid a strengthening wind. The light was just so, and the wind slackened just long enough for me to grab one sharp frame. I'm sure it was on the ground before I got back home.

It isn't brilliantly colored, but brown is a color all the same. It doesn't grab attention from afar - unless you happen to be standing in just the right spot where the light backlights it just so. It won't ever merit being carefully plucked, brought home, and saved in a book. Yet it lives forever right here.

We don't always get what we want. The alternative is often better than that.

Besides, parties are overrated.

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