Falling Freely

Today I ran out quickly to get food. On my way home, I drove the same road that I have gone down many times. Today, however, it was different.
As I hit the road, "Where to Begin" by My Morning Jacket started playing. I stopped at the stop sign and I looked ahead; it felt like November. The long road in front of me was painted in different colors. The sidewalks held a thicker layer of paint than the roads. Yesterday they were clear. Today though, it appears as if the trees also knew that it was November.
It was the trees that had painted the pavements and the road. They dropped their leaves of different shades of red, orange, and yellow. The colors were everywhere. Nobody was around attempting to clear them away. It could be because it was raining on and off throughout the day or perhaps, they were admiring the art created on the ground by the trees also. Maybe though, they knew they could clean them all up, but the trees would just drop more leaves another day.
It's fall, and the branches are setting the leaves free, and they're all falling away beautifully. Many of the leaves were pressed into the wet road, and for now, that's where they'll stay. But all around me, those not sitting still were dancing freely in the air. They were twirling and swirling all around like a figure skater. It was like they knew that it was almost over. Now that the tree had no need for them and they were let loose, their time is coming to a close. They weren't going to just lay there and die like many of the others had done. They were going to live until the end came. How I admire them.
I've never really thought this place was beautiful. Before I drove that road today, I looked at the other buildings and thought we were a sad looking town. It took me twenty years, but I've managed to take in something that I wish I had noticed and appreciated sooner. Fall on the east coast... is there a more beautiful thing? Probably not.