It is interesting how nature metaphors are much more graceful than reality, and I suppose the object of the story is worth keeping. The side note is that trees actually deliberately withdraw all nutrients and materials that it can from the leaf to save those for the long winter(which kills the leaf). The shell, that is what’s left of the leaf, falls to the ground to be recycled in the soil by bacteria etc. And in subsequent Springs, the tree reabsorbs the lost nutrients. I suppose that it’s like the shedding of skin cells, but we don’t anthropomorphize those skin cells like little personalities like we do leaves. It is however a charming thing to think of the life and death of the “leaf personality”.
Hello Doug, thanks for taking time to leave a comment. I think its down to the change in colours. From green living foliage, to the autumnal reds and oranges, humans find those colours warming. There is an assocation with fire – and warmth as a result. The brief time before winter is perhaps a visual reminder that trees can provide heat and light during the darkness and cold of winter.
This Happy Human 
It is interesting how nature metaphors are much more graceful than reality, and I suppose the object of the story is worth keeping. The side note is that trees actually deliberately withdraw all nutrients and materials that it can from the leaf to save those for the long winter(which kills the leaf). The shell, that is what’s left of the leaf, falls to the ground to be recycled in the soil by bacteria etc. And in subsequent Springs, the tree reabsorbs the lost nutrients. I suppose that it’s like the shedding of skin cells, but we don’t anthropomorphize those skin cells like little personalities like we do leaves. It is however a charming thing to think of the life and death of the “leaf personality”.
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Hello Doug, thanks for taking time to leave a comment. I think its down to the change in colours. From green living foliage, to the autumnal reds and oranges, humans find those colours warming. There is an assocation with fire – and warmth as a result. The brief time before winter is perhaps a visual reminder that trees can provide heat and light during the darkness and cold of winter.
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