Local Color
Author: admin
Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger
Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident
When I was in Mrs. Wilson’s fourth grade class every student made a notebook of pressed autumn leaves. The goal was to have as many colors represented as possible, and to pick the most colorful. I really got into it.
I began early in the fall pressing yellow and golden leaves but soon discovered that these were the most plentiful. As the season progressed, other colors appeared: orange, many shades of red, even purples. I thought the most spectacular were those with many colors, some as bright as a tie-dyed tee shirt. I don’t remember if we were graded, but I do remember that ever since I have looked more closely, and with greater appreciation, upon the autumn leaves, just before they fall to become humus for the tree and a winter home and shelter to many vital creatures.
We were all certain this fall would be among the most colorful. Something we could agree upon. We had perfect conditions, which are, according to the U. S. Forest service, “a succession of warm, sunny days and cool, crisp but not freezing nights.” A wet spring followed by a dry summer also helps. We also avoided an early freeze, which stops photosynthesis before the factors that contribute to color depth and variety engage.
In the early fall trees stop making chlorophyll and photosynthesis begins. As this green chemical slowly slips from leaves, yellow colors appear. Yellow is the color of the leaf once the chlorophyll is gone. More colors appear when new chemicals begin to be manufactured in the leaves. An early chill keeps these chemicals from being made, so years with early frost will have mostly only yellow leaves, which fall earlier.
This time of year even the most ordinary errand or stroll becomes a spectacular, joyous experience. Which is more beautiful, the single tree bursting with reds against a background of yellow and gold, or a panorama of the mountains, an impressionist’s dream? Our embattled psyches are healed briefly as we behold at last a fall event that has some familiarity with those of our memory.