Be the Leaf 

2026 is upon us, here’s a thought that may help connect you to the trees.

Three years ago, I took this photo of a tree in Yonkers that inspired this story. Do you see the leaf?

Later I wrote:

A cold, crisp winter’s day. Naked branches against the perfect sky. Miraculously, one lonely leaf clings to an extended branch of a towering 100-year-old oak. It somehow survived last week’s ice storm. 

The Internet tells us that such a tree can have up to a million leaves. So, the odds of a leaf being the only one that remains in winter might be a million to one. 

What an awesome leaf. Am I the leaf? Again, the Internet proclaims that I have about a 1% chance of living to 100. 

Beat the odds. Be the leaf!

* * * *

Appreciate your neighborhood trees.  It will improve your life.

Happy New Year!

This story is the eighth in a bimonthly series about trees in Yonkers. If any reader knows of a particular tree that they feel is worthy of an exposé, please contact me through the Yonkers Ledger at [email protected]