New Beginnings

I know spring is supposed to be the time of new beginnings, but for me fall always holds more promise than spring. Maybe it is because I still operate on an academic year (and probably will for at least several more years), but September brings way more new things than April. This year in particular I am relishing many of these changes. New job, new school year, new perspectives on life. And smaller things too, like new clothes, new school supplies and a new haircut. I will admit that I don't always like change. This time around though I am enjoying every moment of it.

So in honour of these new beginnings, I bring you a picture of the new berries on the mountain ash in my parents' backyard. This tree is right outside my window, so I often mark the changing of the season by the changes in this tree. This picture is a few weeks old, but one of the things I like about the mountain ash is that it holds on to that promise of newness longer than most trees. It flowers around the same time as everything else but the berries keep looking new long after everything else has reached full summer blooms. It, like me, waits for fall before it changes itself.