Catching the Last Leaves of Autumn

[This post was originally published on Cent here]

It might just be me getting old, but autumn, my favorite season, seems to get shorter with each passing year.

Be that as it may, every autumn I look forward to seeing the leaves changing their colors. Especially here in Seoul.

Going on slow strolls with my wife up Mt. Nam each weekend of fall, to track the slow, but sure changes of the gingko trees as their leaves turn from summer green to sun stained yellow, is a tradition I'll try to keep alive as long as I have breath to breathe.

To mark the end of autumn I have one other tradition. A 366 year old gingko tree that my wife and I call Halmonee (Korean for grandma) lives in the center of the apartment complex adjacent to mine. Before winter arrives - like literally during the last few moments of autumn - about a million golden leaves flutter down to the ground from her branches. When that time arrives, my wife and I stand beneath Halmonee and try to catch as many of the last leaves of autumn as we can.

Today was one of those days. And it was glorious.

Do any of you have any special autumn traditions?