Nothing Gold

Robert and I live in an old 1800’s apartment building in Historic District Savannah, so we don’t have much garden space. But we do what we can. (Correction: HR manages most of the “doing.”)

Here’s our little Japanese maple as she decided to “seasonally change” her outerwear recently.

Isn’t she gorgeous?!

I told her, EXCITEDLY, that she was simply LOVELY in her shimmering gold, thinking she would receive the compliment graciously.

And she did. Sort of. The she smiled, as wise sentient beings often do and said with patience (which wise sentient beings often have): “Neal” (I was thrilled she knew my name), “seasonal change, as you call it, is a part of life. We all go through it.”

“And sometimes it strips you bare.”

My smile drooped a bit. I wasn’t really keen on that part of our convo.

“It’s a part of life,” she said with no trepidation in her voice.

Maple got me to thinking, and I know I have probably used this poem far too often in my blog, but it SO resonates with me, especially as I’m getting … older and “seasonally changing.”

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

— Robert Frost

Here are a few of Robert’s photos of Maple and her “seasonal change.”

May we all “seasonally change” so gracefully.