Tuesday, September 03, 2013

Creeping Into Autumn

 Virginia Creeper and Berries
 (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
In the highlands of eastern Ontario, the first of the autumn scarlets, plums and deep inky blues are already creeping into view, their appearance out of late summer's dusty greens set in motion by cooler evenings and gently ruffling winds at nightfall.

As often as I witness the seasons turning and such vivid things coming into being, the morphing into deeper and more intense hues is always enchanting.  It takes us (and the camera too) by surprise each and every year.

The Old Wild Mother (Nature) waves her elemental wand, and seasonal changes are set in motion, the anthocyanins and carotenoids in plant tissues coming into brilliance as chlorophyll production slows down and plant sugar levels surge.  Leaves bearing abundant anthocyanins dazzle in bright red for the most part, and those enfolding concentrations of both anthocyanins and carotenoids flash bright orange.  Leaves with lavish measures of carotenoids and scant levels of anthosyanins do a sky dance in honeyed golds and yellows.  Absent both anthocyanins and carotenoids, the native tannins rule, giving us the splendid russets, ochers and browns of the great oaks, hickories and beeches.

Such transformations are magics of a wilder and more elemental kind, and I can't imagine living this old life without ever seeing with them or being right here among them as they happen.  In autumn, the north is a fine place to be, and I always wish I could paint like this.  No wait...  Come to think of it, my lens is already doing that.

3 comments:

Barbara Rogers said...

You not only see the changes, you can explain the scientific aspects which was said in a way I could understand...maybe not remember those bigger words, but I've never understood the chemical colorations before.

Lynn said...

Yes, Cate, your lens is exactly doing that to our endless pleasure.

Lynn said...
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