I have to admit that I've always taken this autumn extravaganza
for granted. But recently I got to thinking about the fall
explosion of color and what could possibly account for such an
exhibit. I guess I had always felt that the onset of colder
weather certainly had to play a major role. But I wasn't sure.
So I asked a number of people what they felt caused the leaves
to adopt such vibrant colors. I got a wide range of diverse
opinions but none were dispositive. So I did what I always do
when I am baffled by some natural phenomenon, I googled Science
Made Simple. I like that term so much better than Science For
Dummies. It is gentler on my self image. And it turns out that
leaves are quite active little devils. Science Made Simple
explains that they are little production units. They are
supplied water by the tree's root system and they pluck carbon
dioxide out of the air. They then turn this into oxygen and a
sugar-like substance called glucose. Of course, we are the main
beneficiary of the oxygen, the plant