When I think of leaves changing colors, their true hues show.  The shades of red, green, yellow, purple and orange are autumn colors that are in our woods and surrounding area.  As I see the leaves in nature, their colors along with their shapes display their uniqueness.  Fall has always been my favorite season.  Cooler weather, pumpkins, sweatshirts, bonfires, and Thanksgiving are some of the aspects of the season that I enjoy.  Our woods has many trees and the other week ago it was windy.  There were leaves in all areas of the yard.  Our son Luke asked to go outside to try to catch the leaves as they fell to the ground.  The wind was gusty and the trees looked like they were shaking all of their leaves.  Luke stood there with his arms open wide and as the leaves started to fall, his short arms could not catch many of the leaves.  The leaves scattered all around him.  As we stood there watching the tall trees, there were many hues of leaves.  Green, yellow, orange and red were plentiful.  Seeing the beauty in nature, while enjoying the day was treasured.

As a child, I remember having to help rake leaves in our yard and then bagging them.  It was a chore to get all of the leaves into piles.  At times a gust, would come and the leaves would scatter.  The whole process started again of raking the leaves and hoping the winds would settle.   Life also starts again with the changes of the seasons such as the gusty winds and the calm breezes.

Some years ago, our previous home had three trees across the street that always left many leaves to rake.  While raking,  my husband Matt would say, “These leaves will never stop.”  Sometimes I have to smile when I pull in our driveway and see the many trees in our yard, along with tons of leaves scattered.  It would take an enormous amount of time to rake all of the leaves in our woods compared to the three trees of our previous home.  Leigh Hunt says, “Colors are the smiles of nature.”

Just like the colors in autumn complement each other, so do the colors when creating.  I enjoy exploring with colors in basket weaving and sewing.  When staining baskets, I think of the basket style and the shade of stain that will enhance each basket.  Sometimes the stains are dark, while at other times the stain hues are light.  When applying the stain, it looks like a stronger shade than what it is supposed to be.  When the stain dries, the reed of the baskets show their true colors.  When designing clothes or other fabric projects, I lay out the fabrics and see which colors complement each other.  It becomes a goal to figure out the shades of colors that will look the best when completing a project.

Some years ago around Christmas, Matt asked what I would like to for a present.  I really did not know what I wanted.  You could sense the educator in him as he asked, “What is something you would like to learn?”  I replied, “I sewed in college but haven’t maintained my skills.  I guess sewing would be something I would like to continue to learn.”  A couple of weeks later, he took the kids and I for a drive and he parked outside a sewing studio.  He said, “This is your Christmas present.  Sewing lessons to allow you be creative and grow.”  It took a few class to get back into the routine, but once I took some lessons I was able to start working on projects for our home, our kids and myself.  While looking for sewing ideas, I found different organizations that serve others through sewing.  The past few years I have sewn dresses for Little Dresses for Africa.  It is a non-profit that sends and delivers clothes to Africa and to other areas in the world.  It brings joy to give to others through sewing and designing with shades of different fabrics and colors.  The motto of the organization is “We’re not just sending dresses.  We’re sending hope.” 

When seasons change, we have to adapt.  As the temperature changes, so does our wardrobe.  When the night comes earlier, so does our evening routines.  Our tv seasons change with different line-ups on the tv schedule.  Even though seasons change, they bring a familiarity.  The seasons are continual.  There will be change, yet there will be constants as seasons cycle again.

“She couldn’t keep her colors inside the lines, so, she drew new lines Just like the leaves that are scattered and have no boundaries, so are we as people.” Unknown