Maple Leaves

We have a maple tree in our front yard and one just like it in the back.  They are beautiful trees year-round, but in the fall...well, sometimes they take my breath away.

Right now, the leaves are turning.  When you stand right beside the trunks and look up, you see mostly green.

But if you step back, it is clear that the trees are aflame.

I love how individual leaves do not change all at once.

And how leaves that are tattered and torn, still put on their best colors.

I love how so many different colors exist at once on a single tree.

I love the contrast of scarlet leaves against blue sky.  It reminds me of Japanese watercolors.

And I love, love the way the leaves look as if they were lit with fire from within.

And so ends my visual ode to the maple leaf.