The alchemy of nature caught my breath the other day. We've been having chilly nights. I was driving home from the eastern end of town, with the mountain at my left (south). Looked over, as I always do, to observe its many changes of face, noticed the sudden, small bits of gold. The aspens noting the change in temperature.

Struck me that nature needs no "philosopher's stone", or has the ultimate "p.s." just in her inevitable ways: coal turned to diamonds; dinosaurs turned to oil; green of leaves turned to such brilliant shades, esp. that breathtaking aspen gold. So famously beautiful, jewelers coat the real things in real gold and sell them as pins.

Then, two days later, we get slam-dunked with a jokester prank: Nature just turned the heat back up to the 90's in the daytime! Don't know what the aspens will make of that, probably slow down the inevitable glory show and kamikaze leaf dives to carpet and nurture the hope of spring's renewal.

kat