The Lost Leaves

Colorblind yet Bright

This is a letter to the leaves in the Harriman State Park: The yellow, bright leaves on the ground shed by the fall trees in pain, they are not fell yet!!! There is still time to console them!

I'm here with my friends to greet you today (November 4,2023), find you and pacify the trees, before they shed more of you this fall. This will be the hike to remember, laugh together, get lost together and find ourselves as we look at our reflection on the muddy waters.

How does it feel to feel fresh? I guess it'll be awesome to find our true selves. We'll know when we find you, when we find ourselves.

Why does your feet grace the other trees' tears? So, you have the power as a pack to face humans, bugs, bears! But those Lotus feet of yours must really greet the lake Skenonto

Before the trees shed you as tears this fall in Tuxedo!! So, Let's go there to console Central Park's crying brothers, Shall we set sail on a train with friends?

Let's play a word game in an empty train car- Remember not to complete words; And don't "Xerox" too far!! Oh, Leaves of Tuxedo, why are you softer than Lotus, Yet drying on sunshine's orders! Hey Leafy! Is it that fun? To Yellow like the Sun We're coming for you! Crossing the track, Meeting the chestnuts' pack, Fallen astray, just like you, from the trees, the bark! Ah! How ironic? You may ask You will see us soon, haha! I promise Purposely losing our way, to glimpse eclipse in Venice Does it make sense, Leafy? It shouldn't, For we are lost like an elephant inside the stomach of a runt Yes, Lost! Like you, away from trees, still on the trails Alright! Are you on the white, blue or the red trails? Oh! I forgot you're colorblind. yellowed by the sun! Don't worry if you're not on the trail, away from the fun!! Going off-trail is in our plans anyway, So, we shall come find you! Find a way ... "Why do we move together slower than the snail's funeral?" To look after one-another, of course, on and off the trail! Lest we get split further or lost looking for beavers! So, wait longer, we'll click crazy photos on the rocks-out of focus, take a short break at lake to eat lunch together! And then decide which trail to proceed further!! Oh, herdmaster! Look at that giant mountain? We will get diverted, distracted, climbing off-trail to its crown But the views will be worth the effort, won't they? Now back to finding you again, let's ask the navigator, shall we? Where are we? For he is still looking at the Earth's map Trying to find a way to heaven from the mountain top "A way down to heaven!" We shall succeed, that's what matters Creating new memories, friendly, scary memories!! For the First time ever, we are having an argument if we should go uphill or downhill to find the exit Of course! If being lost were an artpiece, this trip would be a masterpiece!!! And we are learning this art from you, dear Leafies as I continue learning languages on the way from friends! I guess, we are as close to being lost as to finding you! Crossing high mountains and muddy terrain, lost like you!! Wait!!!I will ask the fellow hiker in the opposite direction, "We are but a few miles from the train station"

Fantastic, Right! Until!!! we realized, a few never means one or two miles away, "She didn't say a couple, she said a few - that's atleast three miles away!!!" Ahhh, about two hours ago, We were less than two miles away from Tuxedo, It's funny, isn't it? The distance to Tuxedo magically increased, Yet the distance to you and to being lost, marginally decreased!! Are you happy now? We will find you amongst the lost! There you are!!! Like us, Found and then Lost, How did we find you? We had help - from friends, from signs, from the Map, the mountains, the lakes and the muddy terrains A sailor among us, a fellow enthusiast in Chess, Helped us build a bridge in the muddy waters... Throwing logs into the mud was the tactical zugzwang we needed to cross the mud and lakes without drowning! And the ruler of all, who got into the trip at the last minute, Was our ship's anchor, when we were about to fall into the mud! He had the tension and the speed to catch us from falling into Yet took 15 seconds too long to get into frame of the photo!! And finally, we have the photographer, a leader with the camera, always at the end of the crew; not me this time, Nah! He ensured all of us go astray together, not leaving anyone, So that we can find you, lost in time and space!! Shall we get back? I know it's nice being lost in here for eternity, But we have a train to catch at sixteen twenty, And there is another group who is up ahead, on the trail, not lost hopefully, missing all this action to catch the rail You may ask - Why were we on the wrong trail here? To meet and greet you and hear the lovely bear's cheer! We can only hope we find them the next time, like we found you today on time!! Alright!! It is 16:00, time for us to start counting to 32! As I count thirty, panic mode strikes, Where's the other 2? Felt like another eternity, those last ten minutes, Until We found them, grabbing a takeout with two minutes!! While the trees still continue crying, I'm glad to have made new friends today, Climbing and hiking! See you next time, not under the soil as a yellow ghost, But on the trees with your family where you belong, not lost!! A valiant effort, indeed, Thanks for making our day with a wonderful scenery! I loved every bit of the ride, today!! Hope you did too, meeting us away from the trail!!!

The only tree with leaves not lost, felt nice to meet you on our way to being lost!!!