Green and Yellow Gingko leaves

On my way up the stairs to my office, I nearly stepped on a bright green Gingko leaf at my feet.  It’s Autumn here in Adelaide and I was surprised to see such a fresh leaf fallen with the usual pigmented kind.  I looked around to find a ‘normal’ Autumn leaf and found one that was completely Yellow.  I took the colourful pair up to my office on the fifth floor and placed them gingerly side by side, on top of my Computer’s CPU.  Beautiful.  The contrast of the fresh green and the glowing yellow was just lovely.  A visual feast.  All day, whenever I caught a glimpse of them from the corner of my eyes, my heart leapt a little.  They represented a kaleidescope of things to me.  Freedom.  Nature.  Outdoors.  Holidays.  Photography.  The endless associations were all uplifting and refreshing.

The next day I picked them up in my hands for a closeup.  The underside had fine ‘veins’ that seem to emanate from the tender slim stem.  Delicate yet profound.  I held them up in the light and I could see the softness and the slenderness of the leaves.  Just marvellous.  They represented to me amazing pieces of natural engineering.  Handcrafted with care and precision.  With our modern sophisticated technology we cannot attain such loftiness in design or creation.  Even if and when we come close to it, it ends up costing the earth, in a literal sense.  The amazing beauty of the Gingko leaves on the other hand have seemingly sprung up from simple things such as seed, dirt, water, Sun and a little care.  Anyone who takes the time to observe the Gingko leaves closely would agree that there is nothing simple about them.

I nearly stepped on something so wonderful as these Gingko leaves en route to my busy life.  Each day we side step such marvels in our quest to exist.  If we could only take a moment to admire the profound beauty of a pair of Green and Yellow Gingko leaves.