The shades and patterns of colours in autumn leaves are created when the tree, responding to the call of the seasons, withdraws the starch from its leaves so that they wither and eventually fall.
The beautiful shades of colour are because the leaves are dying. It is the swan song for this year's leaves.
In the winter the trees are stripped down to their stark but majestic beauty, unadorned, simple and honest.
In the spring the tree will once again respond to the deep calling from within and sap will rise. This will bring tiny new green buds to develop which will eventually burst and give us the splendour of a new seasons growth with fresh new leaves which look too perfect to touch.
We owe trees so much, they provide us with protection, food, shade, help create the rain in rain forests and even provide the air we breathe but we often do not give them a second thought.
We are destroying the rain forests of our planet, poisoning the air we breathe and destabilising our climate resulting in this beautiful world dying.
Our children and our children's children will not have its trees to protect them, it's waters to bathe in its bounty to feed and clothe them. It seems that we are incapable of preventing this inevitable slide towards catastrophe.