Trees Have a Schedule

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I notice that the young maple trees they planted on the grassy island that sits between our congregation of three residential streets have already started turning color, but the older trees next to them are still quite green. After a few years in a place, you know which trees will show the first colors. A splotch of orange, a patch of red. The oak goes red early, as does that nameless bush that grows by the fence. The young maples turn a consistent and slightly muted shade of orange that might be called cantaloupe - except that they are dry and becoming brittle instead of being infused with moistness as melons are. I had a favorite tree in our yard when I was young. It was the last maple tree to turn color. The tree was very tall and sturdy. It was in no hurry to change color. This was a tree with patience. It waited until all the other trees had shed their leaves completely. It waited until we had raked and raked to collect the leafy litter from its neighbors. And only when it was ready in late October did it start to turn. But, oh my , what a show. It burst into color all at once, as if Nature had struck it as one strikes a match. A sudden flame of color that was matchless. Every tree has a schedule. It knows exactly when to begin this autumnal process. I wonder though, whether the younger trees rush into Autumn, the way young people rush through life. Perhaps the trees, like people, slow down and take a more leisurely pace as they get older, no longer wishing to quickly reach that final season.