A Tree's Brilliance

I was driving down the road late this afternoon and caught the sun dancing across a variety of red, orange, yellow and brown leaves dangling from the tree branches. I thought, "what amazing fall colors we are experiencing this week - even amidst the drought." The colors were truly brilliant. And then it dawned on me...the trees are in a death stage. A stage when the leaves wither and die and are blown from the branches they covered for the past 8 months. Isn't it incredible that these once young green fleshy leaves can have such flaming vibrant pigments pronounced here at the end of their life?! I can only hope that I die with such enthusiasm and excitement when dust returns to dust.