This early fall color palette glows with bright oranges and yellows, with a solid foundation of natural greens and browns.
It’s been a long summer, and I thought the heat would never break, but lately I can feel a hint of cooler air in the mornings. And yesterday I noticed that the leaves on some of the trees are just starting to slide into a bit of yellow orange, instead of bright green.
Which got me thinking about change and the heartbreaking beauty of new beginnings.
So I set out to try to build a color palette that expressed that feeling of potential and energy that comes with the hint of a change coming.
First of Fall Color Palette
This early fall color palette is full of energy, even as the leaves start to lose their color, which feels a lot like the current in the air this time of year. The warmth of the bright orange and yellow are grounded and balanced by the deep brown and muddy green.
Embracing Change
Fall is such a bittersweet time of year. The cooler air brings relief from the heavy heat of summertime, but the shorter days feel like the loss of something sweet and free. I always struggle to define my feelings about the changing of this particular season.
I love all things fall, cozy, and pumpkin. And my birthday is in October, which is fun. But I don’t love cold weather, and I know it’s just around the corner.
So I try to enjoy every moment of fall, and soak up every last warm ray of sun, like I’m storing energy to hibernate for winter. I dig in my heels against the pull towards winter and inevitably start researching moving to the tropics.
But deep down I know change is good. Just as the leaves need to fall from the trees to fertilize the ground and provide room for growth in the next season, I know that life follows seasons too.
We give up things that we’ve held onto just long enough to believe they were permanent. Things that we thought would always be a part of our lives. It’s hard to let go, but that’s what makes the way for new things to happen.
If my life cycle were up to me, I’d still be holding onto old leaves from decades ago, and not have embraced any of the new growth that’s come along in the seasons since. Making room for new growth is hard when it just looks like letting go of what was already beautiful.
I wonder if trees feel the loss of their leaves? The pluck. The slight lightening of the branch. The exposed place where that leaf was fastened. Or maybe they feel relieved of their burden, after such a long time of nourishing those leaves and providing for them.
Do they know that the cold is coming, but after that will come the spring again?
Maybe the trees feel nothing like I do. I guess I hope that’s true. But maybe I would do better to let go a little easier, and embrace the change that happens, inevitably, for the good of creation. For my own good.
So here’s to the rainbow of promise that’s currently developing on trees all around us. May we revel in the new colors, however briefly they may last. And may we look forward to the transient beauty that each season brings with hands open to both collect and let go.