LIFE AS IT IS

The mighty Mississippi is flowing once again. The trees lining the river banks are growing new leaves; soon their bare branches will don a green coat. The lakes, which were frozen even a month ago, now have ducks swimming in them. Spring has given new life to fields, gardens and parks - the grasses glisten as the sun pours over them its blazing, yellow light. The days are becoming longer – the sun now sets well past 8 o’clock. I enjoy the last few minutes of the daylight while I have my supper. The splash of red on the evening sky is a pleasure to the eyes. The sky reminds me of a blank canvass and the splashes of red an absent-minded artist’s strokes of a paintbrush. As the school bus crosses the bridge over Mississippi, I stare in awe at the river, which was white and icy even a month ago. The trees on the Mississippi banks were leafless; they stood crooked, withstanding the biting cold. But Spring has given them a new life. Fresh leaves sprouting from the branches of decidu

I have never seen the splendor of autumn before. I haven’t known the festival that fall plans for the mankind– the autumnal celebration of colors is a beauty to behold. As the winter was approaching the trees were shedding leaves; they were metamorphosing from green giants to living skeletons of boughs and branches. Soon their twiggy bodies would be covered with snow. The branches that once exhibited shades of green, were now clad in a thousand shades of brown, red, orange and yellow. Leaves fell like rain when the wind blew; the ground under every deciduous tree was a bed of leaves. A crackling sound followed my footsteps when I walked on them. A pair of ducks swimming on the Mississippi was enjoying the cold afternoon – they poked each other and ducked their heads underwater playfully. As they glided in the cold water, dead leaves from maples and birches fell on the water in silence. A gush of wind separated more leaves from their branches, thrusting them farther away from the t