Leaf Skin, Water Beads

These leaves were the only ones in the forest to collect rainwater like the first beads of sweat on an athlete. Other leaves were shiny and damp, but the water rolled over this fissured skin like mercury, collecting as tiny marbles on a living gameboard.

Through a macro lens, the tiny world became surreal, some abstract model that would be at home as a background in a Dali painting. Some of the droplets were yellow-orange, reflecting nearby Maple leaves; others were pale white, coloured by a moody winter sky. I made photographs until it was nearly dark, then made my way out of the park and joined my companions, arriving only a little late for the Christmas party.