Red in Nature Calls to Us

 

Today I hiked a bit of the Nashua River Trail in Groton and Pepperell, and my eyes were drawn to the blazing red leaves.

The red color on the trees, I learned, is a special pigment call "anthocyanin" that trees in North America started producing millions of years ago to protect themselves from cold snaps, extreme sunlight and insect predators.

Whenever I spotted red it kept me there transfixed and awestruck, giving me its best performance ever and standing out among all the other colors of fall.

Whether up close or off in the distance, red came to the foreground and could not be ignored.

Whenever we are fearless and authentic, we too can be like the color red in nature - resilient and inspiring.