Look at the leaves! Words cannot do justice to the splendor of Autumn, when every leaf transforms into a remarkable, beautiful flower.

"No spring, nor summer beauty hath such grace, As I have seen in one autumnal face," described poet John Donne.

Mature leaves, dancing freely on limbs, fall like confetti in bursts of fiery scarlet, brilliant oranges, and florescent gold-greens. Each leaf is a unique miracle of Nature.

"Autumn," wrote poet William Cullen Bryant, "the year's last, loveliest smile." 

As leaves undergo senescence, the autumn aging process, scientists say the color of a changing leaf is determined by the acidity, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and sodium. Rainfall, wind, and temperature are factors, too. 

Chlorophyll, needed for photosynthesis, paints leaves green. Once cold weather stops chlorophyll production, the leaf's carotene emerges in shades of gold and orange and anthocyanin (nutrients) erupts in red, burgundy, and purple glory.

For poets, like Bonaro Overstreet, the season's splendor is more: "Autumn makes a double demand. It asks that we prepare for the future... But it also asks that we learn to let go-- to acknowledge the beauty of sparseness." 

Nature's transformation, a vibrant celebration of life's seasons, riotous color, joy, change, and a breathtaking palette of hope. 

More AUTUMN Quotations

Keep your eyes toward the sky.