| Journal of the Fall |
| In the last great drought from 2010 to 2014 the trees were discarding their leaves early in the season. The struggle to survive happened in July and August of that year. It became clear that the leaves falling so early was a last ditch attempt for the tree to save itself. The leaves, which under ideal circumstances produced energy and food for the tree now were liabilities that were sapping the tree of energy. The attempt to discard the leaves and go dormant was in effect the last hope of a dying organism to survive a few extra days in the hopes that life restoring rains would come. Rain did not come, and during the drought an estimated 300 million trees died. Recent local news broadcasts stated that with the recent rainfall the southeast Texas area was now out of drought and that things were “back to normal”. To see the drastic change occur in my surroundings due to a drought led me to begin to record the unique beauty of the leaves as they fall, both as a record of the annual ritual of the change in color and the dropping of the old leaves each year, but also to become more aware about the signs that tell us about the health of the land, the forest, and the larger environment of which we are a part. |
|
all Images©Aaron Bielish