The Burning Bush

This plant has a piece of my heart. Until I moved to Coeur d'Alene in 1983, I'd never encountered this plant up close. One day it is green and unassuming. Whole hedges are formed from lines of them.

Then overnight, they change. A frost descends and shocks the leaves into revealing their vibrant color. They glow all over town.

I caught the bush in our front yard the day after the frost crawled up its branches. Some of the interior leaves were caught with their pants down, in the midst of change.

The outer leaves were already showing off.




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Burning bushes always remind me of my friend Tim. He came to visit me that first difficult autumn. I sent him a single red leaf and a one phrase question. (The contents of that note remain a secret between us). The kindness he showered on me during that visit remains one of my fondest memories.