This photo is the tree that grows in front of my house. This tree was planted when my youngest sister was born, making it around 14 years old and also the youngest on the block.

I have no idea what kind of tree this is, but every year it is always the first tree on our block to change colors. This tree represents a changing of the seasons, that transitions so seamlessly and elegantly. Just by looking at a tree, you are able to tell what season it is; if it is bare, colorful, budding, or clothed in leaves.

I was home alone the whole weekend, so I spent it in my sisters’ room since it was bigger, and when I opened their blinds this explosion of color instantly hypnotized me. I was staring at a tree for about 5 minutes, just looking at it, standing there with the window blind chord still in my hand. When I snapped out of it, I took a look down the block and everything was still green. Quite an amazing contrast.

I was a bit nostalgic that day so I had spent it looking through childhood pictures since my whole family was out on a church retreat and I came home to an empty house. I went through all the baby pictures, from when it was just me and my older sister, to when my youngest sister was born. Our family kept growing and it was all a seamless transition from having only one sister, to now three, similar to this tree. This tree was planted the very same year my third sister, Acacia (ironically her name is a type of tree), was born. Every year, the tree grew significantly but we didn’t notice on a day to day basis until one of us pointed out that we were able to touch the top of the tree just last year, its growth was so seamless and unnoticeable. I didn’t notice how much all four of us had grown within the past 10 years. Maybe it was the air that day, the dark gloomy sky or just remembering how small the tree and all four of us were, but I really missed when all four of us sisters were at home together. My older sister and I are in college, leaving only two of us at home now, so there isn’t that daily commotion that used to pervade through our house. What was once a noisy and rambunctious daily life became a quiet one, and I really missed that. A new season of life started for me this year, and it came so quickly just like how this tree rushed to scream that fall was here, while the rest of the older trees seemed to want to enjoy summer longer. The older I get the more I want time to slow down.

–Chloe Chai