Fall leaves in transit

Fall color is arriving early this October, and many of the first-turning trees are already dropping their leaves. The cause of this accelerated autumn is, of course, the drought, a situation that motivates many hardwoods to ditch their water-demanding foliage a few weeks before the usual time. All of the critical chemicals, chlorophyll in particular, have been broken down and placed in storage for the winter, and with that necessary job accomplished, the leaves are literally just hanging on by a slender thread. All it takes is a hint of a breeze to send the foliage flying to turn the paths and the streams colorful. Spent and sodden, their job completed, the leaves will hang around the eddies for a time, then descend into the depths, to be converted by bacteria into their component parts. All of these will eventually be reused in what, I hope, is an unbroken—and unbreakable—natural cycle.