Trees and Seasons

Deciduous trees are trees that shed their leaves in winter.

Why do we think of four seasons, instead of two, three, six, or none? I'm not sure. Probably there have been cultures, and are, that think differently. There are probably cultures that talk about just two, the rainy season and the dry season, for instance.

One thing that reinforces the idea of four seasons is the appearance of trees.

We are now in winter. Some few years ago, I finally started paying attention to trees in winter. They are beautiful. Just bare branches, but beautiful. For one thing, they make marvelous patterns against the sky. You can see the sunrise through them. They look more individualized in winter, I think.

In the spring, trees bloom. That's certainly beautiful, too. Maples have tiny red flowers before they grow leaves. Apples, and other members of the rose family, have flowers with five petals, that eventually fall to the ground, one at a time.

In the fall, trees are gorgeous. God must have been in a good mood when he invented sweet gums, which can be green, red, yellow, and a sort of purple, all at once on the same tree. Other trees are gorgeous, too, in their own quieter way.

But what about summer? Trees are beautiful then, too. That monotous green is an absolute necessity. It means that other colors of light are not bouncing off the leaves, but being absorbed, so that the trees may continue. Green is the color of provision, of sustenance.

Trees are beautiful.