Leaves

[Mark Walker]

Leaves - by Mark Walker

I don't remember exactly when I first became obsessed with leaves.  For many
years, I hardly even realized they were there.  They were everywhere, and
yet I took no particular notice of them.  A friend of mine used to point
them out with great fascination, but I could never fully relate to what she
was talking about.  And then - as if my eyes were suddenly opened for the
first time - I began to notice the diversity and the incredible rainbow of
colors that were presented on each and every leaf of each and every tree.

And so I venture far and wide to embrace the leaves - each one uniquely
different and special in it's own rite.  I enjoy them on the tree, I enjoy
them on the ground, and I especially enjoy them as they fall.  If you get up
really close, the fascination is multiplied.  The texture, the variety of
shape and color - all these contribute to the overwhelming attraction I find
for these organic tokens of Creation.

Through the years I have kept the most intriguing of leaves - putting them
together in a spectacular portfolio worthy of presentation.  They are
primarily for my own personal enjoyment - though likely only because I find
few who share a similar passion.  I certainly never hesitate to share them.

A friend has recently taken exception to my possessive tendencies.  She
insists that I should leave the leaves where I find them and take pictures
instead.  She has grown concerned for the well being of leaves, and insists
that there are fewer leaves around now than when she was growing up.
Perhaps this is true.  She claims that I am contributing to the raping of
forests, and notes that every year she's noticed the trees looking barer and
barer.

I don't know.  I watch the forest every year - I'm in it daily, and have a
vested interest in it's well being.  It appears to me that the forest is
well designed, and that the trees are capable of producing such a mass of
leaves that the few that I take home should be of no concern.  In support of
this idea, I took note of the experience of another hobbyist whom, unlike
myself, places no limit on the number of leaves that he acquires from a
single tree.  In one location he had removed so many leaves that I, too,
became concerned with the trees ability to replenish.  Returning to the spot
the following spring, I was pleased to find the tree alive and well - fully
adorned with the leaves of the new season.  The trees are robust, and they
produce many, many leaves.

But my ecologically minded friend is not impressed.  She points out that in
her neighborhood she's noticing fewer and fewer leaves.  I reason with her,
and explain that there are fewer leaves in her neighborhood because there
are fewer trees there - but that doesn't seem to sway her.  Keep the trees,
I tell her, and you'll always have plenty of leaves.

Now I, too, have become concerned about the leaves.  I went walking in one
of my favorite patches of forest the other day, and to my astonishment the
whole area had been dozed to the ground.  A convenience mall was to be built
on the spot so that those of us who have chosen to live in the country don't
have to travel so far to buy the things that we need.   One of my all time
favorite trees - an old large oak that has never failed to provide an
abundance of leaves - was currently being cut into firewood.  One thing can
be known as certain - no trees, and no leaves.

Sigh.  I suppose I will soon be forced to give up my passion for collecting
leaves.  As the surrounding landscape continues to be transformed into
concrete and steel, I can see the day when there will truly be too few trees
to sustain a hobby like mine.  In the meantime, however, I've dedicated
myself to doing something positive.  And so now, for every leaf that I
choose to call my own - I will plant a new tree.

Mark Walker
Oceanside, CA

 
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