Zoetic (Gratitude)

"Her early leaf's a flower, but only so an hour."
~Robert Frost

My little family and I visited beautiful Prince Edward Island one summer and marveled at the huge maple leaves we found there. So we brought one home in a suitcase pressed between the pages of a book. Last fall, it began to fall apart. My kids wouldn't let me throw it away. So I drew it on lino and made an ink print of it so we could have that leaf forever. In fact, we could have hundreds of them if we wanted.

This leaf is memory. It's a family experience preserved. It's also a promise.

So much has changed since then but this leaf, just ink printed on paper, remains. Ink on paper...it's a little story itself, isn't it?

And this leaf will always be green. It will always be new. Like today. Today is green and golden. Wide and open. And for that, I'm grateful.