Fools Gold

In my post A Mid Summer Walk I posted a couple pictures of maple leaves wearing their bright yellow and orange autumn colors, I had been surprised by their brightness and vivacity. Now, a couple of weeks later, I walked that same path only to find the leaves dangling in the same position without any changes  in their forms or coloring, that surprised me even more, I expected them to have fallen or changed to a darker tone, so I took a closer look and touched their stems only to realize that they were fake. I had been fooled.

Someone had played a practical joke on us, nature lovers. They had strategically place those leaves in such a way as to draw attention in their direction. I wonder how many people actually stopped to admire this out of place scenery in the mist of summer. How many took pictures, and how many talked about it? How many noticed they were fake? I really have to wonder about my attention to detail...

Amazing how easily we/I can be fool. Now, revisiting the pictures I took a couple of weeks ago I see the unnatural way in which they have been placed, instead of its original beauty I see the staging and the twisted wiring, this unique moment in time has faded and lost its authenticity. I can only hold on to the memory of my first reaction in sighting the unusual display of the perfect autumn leaf in mid-summer.