Today was a a brisk and blustery autumn day as I set out to market. Trudging through the crunchy brown leaves and shuffle kicking them as I have done for as long as I can remember in Autumns past, I looked up and down to admire the work of the fairies. Some of the leaves had been painted red at the tips, others were shiny bright red orange, gold, yellow and countless combinations. Some were were distinctly marked with spots and patterns of beautiful design. As I wee child, I remember asking my grandpa how leaves got they way and his reply was simple. "Why the fairies are busy painting them at night when no one is watching." Grandpa was the smartest man I knew, and he shared his knowledge about great philosophers, poets, mythology, trees and the little people. Although he was schooled by the Jesuits at a boarding school, he never lost the details of his Celtic heritage. I became a tree hugger and magically minded Earth lover under his patient tutelage and my life has grown richer by following his favorite phase, "always keep your sense of wonder." One day, just a few years ago my beliefs were put to a harsh test. I was in a Master's program for information systems management, when one of my professors was lecturing about the logic of software architecture made the statement that there are lots of crazy people who still think leaves are painted by the fairies. Now he was a retired Bell Labs scientist and bit of a logical positivist so I couldn't fault his way of thinking ..... for him. By the comment struck a raw nerve with me and my hand shot up. "Excuse me professor but since the scientific method has not solved all the world's mysteries, don't you think that there is room for alternative beliefs? I happen to believe that the autumn leaves are painted by the fairies." As the class mom, the students were aware of my Earth based philosophy and were respectful, and so all eyes were on the professor. For what seemed like a full minute he stared at me with dropped jaw, momentarily lost his train of thought, and then continued the sober lecture. Needless to say, I passed his course with an A, and I was amazed that on the last day of class as I was leaving, he pulled me aside and told me he learned a lot from me and my convictions, and thanked me for bravely sharing my beliefs. It was a wonderful moment when two people with such differing views shared a common respect. And so while others are thinking about how temperature, light and climate interacts with the chlorophyll, carotenoids and anthocyanins to provide the trees with such beautiful color, I will be thanking the fairies for their glorious handiwork.
