Autumn's Amazing Palette

 Autumn’s Amazing Palette
Every time I go outside, I am amazed at the bright colors and hues that have graced the trees around my home. This year, the transformation has been extended because of the cold snaps interspersed with periods of warmth and sunshine. Oaks, maples, aspen, beech, willows, wild cherry, and apple trees form nature’s quilt to cover slopes of western Pennsylvania.
The hills that were so very recently colored in a wide variety of greens, have tossed off that lush verdant cloak and donned a Joseph’s-coat-of-many-colors, but more flamboyantly. Each tree is covered in leaves of various shapes that have been assigned to that tree. The shapes shimmered and shone in the summer sun where shadows chased each other when the breezes stroked them. Their summer attire was beautiful, but it covered the rich hues that are inherent in each leaf.
In autumn, the green slowly recedes and the hidden becomes revealed in aall its majesty. Ever so slowly the colors blend. One hue fades and the other strengthens. Each leaf takes its time revealing one color after another. The breeze shifts the foliage’s position to change the entire presentation of the tree. The changing position in the shade and sunshine almost appear as the scales on a snake.
Is it any wonder that we are amazed with the world that God has created? It is an ever changing panorama of His intelligence and creativity. When we look around, it is surprising that God can create such a difference using the same ingredients: air, clouds, soil, rocks, and plants. They vary from deserts, mountains, jungles, seashores. The beauty is remarkable and yet so different
When our church group travelled out West, we’d comment on the beauty of the rocks, sand, and cacti. There would be locals who asked, “Where are you from?” We’d say Pennsylvania and more often than not, they’d say, “Trees. That would be so beautiful.”
We don’t take the time to really enjoy the land around us, but I believe that the colors of autumn can cause us to enjoy what God has given us.