A balmy autumn day of hot wind blowing through trees, leaf bombing the brook, the path of multi-colored carpet, the dogs lead the way along the river, I follow, under the sky, cloud covered, and who cares, the trees are letting go of all their light and everything's bright, my mood, the berries and river reflecting the glory of it all. How to choose a favorite picture of this wondrous day in the woods? But I will, it's the beech, last year's leaf still holding on, but thinning now, thinner than paper, it's wearing, it's torn, a little, such delicate skin, like my mother's, my father's, by the time a person dies, it's just like this, lived in, lasting and still, impermanent. I stop and appreciate the gorgeous age of the beech, its presence, this sense that it called my name as I was passing by this morning.

All photos and text copyright Kelly DuMar 2017