That Time of Year Again

Fall has arrived in several parts of the good old USA. I remember last year walking around the tiny town of Ozona, Texas. Ozona is not far from San Angelo, around west Texas. The colors of the leaves were so nice to see. All the yellow,red, gold and orange hues of leaves that were still on the trees. Here in Houston it is a different story. It is almost as if we have two foliage seasons - green and dead.

I have always liked fall. Fall, I think, is Nature's way of telling us that life is always changing and we should not take that lightly. Who among us hasn't had different seasons in their lives? Some good some bad, some colorful, others not. If you go around Houston there will not be much in the way of fall colors in the trees. If you want to see fall colored leaves, go to a store like Hobby Lobby or Michaels and buy some fake leaves and scatter them around. That is about the extent of our season of fall. You want fall decorations for your home? Go buy some pumpkin candles and decorate your house with the colorful leaves that you bought at Hobby Lobby or Michaels. That is it.

I envy those areas which have real colors of fall. The leaves hang on the trees just long enough for people to appreciate the season. Of course there disadvantages to living in an area where trees have colorful foliage. The leaves eventually fall off the trees. Then they turn brown and dead, just like here in Houston. They crunch when you walk through them, just like they do in Houston. The wind blows them all over yards and into streets where cars blow them around again, just like here in Houston. The difference is that unlike other places, here in Houston the trees are green one day and dead the next. Color, what color? Green or dead - not much choice.

So if you live in an area where the leaves change color, enjoy them. Sure you will still have to rake them just as we will, but remember that the colors remind us that there is a season for everything - even leaves.