Fall - Joy in Death

The leaves fall, and so does my jaw. I'm surprised by people's reactions in this autumn season. My own included. Joy, photographs, ecstasy amidst the beautiful, colorful landscape. Beauty is the distinctive color; joy is related to the novelty of the canvas trees create.

But why are the leaves falling? Because the weather is changing. It's a sign that cold weather is coming or has already arrived. As the weather cools, trees shut down the transmission of energy to their leaves. Similar to our circulatory system, trees have a system that carries sap (similar to our glucose) throughout the tree.

What happens to trees when the cold hits is that the energy production by the leaves stops. The cold causes the leaves to lose their usefulness in producing energy through photosynthesis. The yellowish or reddish color is the result of the lack of photosynthesis. Simply put, autumn and cold weather bring about the death of leaves, as their usefulness has been eliminated.

So the joy of autumn and its colors is a celebration of death. Or maybe a extreme protection of life, since the tree will survive.

So the joy of autumn and its colors is both a celebration of death, of the leaves falling, drying, and leaving the tree bare and dry. When people rejoice in the death of the leaf, this joy is fleeting, because they don't like the end product, the consequence of autumn. Although they don't appreciate the dry, leafless, cold, and emotionless trees, they continue their lives as if nothing were happening. But even if they reject it, death will arrive at the doorstep of every home, brought by the winds of time.

And when it arrives, no one appreciates it. While the dry leaves are on other people's doors, my life seems unaffected. We watch the death and suffering of people in movies, soap operas, and on the news without being moved. But we don't like to think about the suffering, nakedness, and death in our own homes. We laugh and take pictures of the dead leaves in other people's gardens, but we don't like the mess that autumn can make in our backyard.

Autumn leaves are a testament to the coming cold, regardless of my preference. And cold brings death. From my experience living in Michigan, USA, and interacting with Europeans, I've noticed that cold climates produce more depressed and unsociable societies. But autumn isn't the end. The dying leaves protect the trees from winter. When the sun's warmth returns, they will reappear, bringing life to the landscape. It's the afterlife, the spring of life. It reminds me of a group of people rejoicing in Someone's death...