Seasons
In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter, enjoy.
William Blake
To be interested in the changing seasons is…a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.
George Santayana
To me it seems that youth is like spring, an overpraised season — delightful if it happen to be a favoured one, but in practice very rarely favoured and more remarkable, as a general rule, for biting east winds than genial breezes. Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits.
Samuel Butler
Aspens are my favorite deciduous tree in the west. Their bare white trunks of late fall have a stark beauty, glowing brightly above the brown leaf-covered forested floor. And on winter days, those same trunks are accentuated by the sparkling snow carpeting the ground below and caught on their limbs. In spring, their bright green leaves cast a soft light when walking through groves. The deep green leaves of summer contrast perfectly with their white bark. It’s autumn, though, where aspens really show off.
Though many people think that aspens are golden in the fall, the truth is that autumn aspens turn many different colors. Yes, yellow and gold are the most common colors, but with the right weather conditions, many trees sport orange or red too. My favorite is when the same tree has little touches of green, but is largely covered with all the colors of a perfect sunset…gold, orange, yellow, pink, and red. Each season brings a special beauty to aspens.
In some ways, the seasons of aspens are a bit like the seasons of our lives. We each have seasons of our life that reflect a unique beauty. In the “spring season” of childhood and youth, people are often physically healthier and at their peak of what our culture sees as “beauty” (appearance, physical beauty). In the “summer” season of life, often when people are marrying and raising a family, there is beauty when a parent gazes at their child with love and many other moments of beauty.
In the “autumn” of life, when people are retired or semi-retired, the smile wrinkles have carved evidence of wisdom and a life well lived even as joy and freedom may be reflected in lifestyle. Even in the “winter” season of life, when people often resemble apple dolls and struggle with health challenges, the wrinkles and twinkling eyes reflect the joys and challenges of a lifetime, and countless stories of life are shared.
So, even as the aspens are beautiful in each season, we should always seek to see the beauty of an individual in whatever season of life that person is in…and even in ourselves. Embrace every season of life and allow that season’s beauty to shine through you!
