“Can you believe how much this maple has grown?” asked the Muse of Many Questions.
“It was just a tiny little stick when the kid brought it home on 2011’s Arbor Day,” mused the witty one.
“It says here…” Urania looked up from her screen, “deciduous means the dropping of a part that is no longer needed or useful. In plants, it is the result of natural processes.”
“Spring and autumn are my favorite seasons,” said Cal.
“There are a lot of scientific words here we don’t understand.” Thalia was peeking over Urania’s shoulder now. “Abscission, carotenoids, anthocyanin… parenchyma cells.”
“Can we just say it’s beautiful?” Cal picked up a fallen maple leaf and traced its veins.
As Hallowe’en approaches, the dark leaf struck me as the botanical embodiment of Ichabod Crane.
Boo!