Photo Challenge - Vibrant

This is not a word I generally associate with this time of year - it certainly has been a week of rain and drab colours. I did go for a stroll, taking the word ‘Vibrant’ along with me as a companion, and thus saw a familiar stretch of road through a new lens.

The most vibrant things I saw were manmade - “No Trespassing” and road signs, Christmas ornaments still on display, a yellow bucket hanging next to a yellow gate. But Nature had a few things to say - tender light green leaves on a deciduous shrub that’s 6 weeks ahead of its usual schedule; a red-green Oregon grape shrub shining out from beneath a cedar tree; and this glossy green arbutus tree leaf laying atop a mass of decomposing maple tree leaves.

I like what I’d call a gentle vibrance in this leaf picture - the reddish-browns, the lines and textures, the glossy green. Green in the predominant colour this time of year, as I live surrounded mostly by towering cedars and douglas fir trees. Yet here, one green leaf stood out all on its own. I also found it poignant that what was the ‘star of the show’ a couple of months ago, the pile of maples leaves that were a gorgeous yellow, have become the backdrop here. It speaks to the passage of time, transformation, and the different approaches to life and survival that can be found in deciduous (broad leafed) trees - one is evergreen, with a thick waxy coating on its leaves, the other’s thin, more fragile leaves is seasonal. It seems one is the victor in this photo, and yet they are admittedly on different journeys.

I know I could find much more vibrant photos in my collection - new autumn leaves, a colourful bird, or a snowy scene. But I enjoyed the challenge and it lifted my mood this wet week to have an eye out for vibrance.

Thank you

for the uplifting challenge this week.