Lately, I can’t stop focusing on how quickly the girls are growing.

Perhaps it’s Christmas approaching and all the reflection that brings. Perhaps it’s how much the girl’s lists have changed this year. Katherine wants toys she’s seen on tv commercials (terrible things I had not really let the girls watch before this year). Perhaps it’s Caroline’s list, full of clothes, accessories and books. No toys at all save for the one American Girl that bears her name.

In all this thinking, I have found comfort in watching the leaves and the sky. During this month, nothing seems to change faster than the world around us, not even my girls. I see the tree, pictured above and below, on my walking route each day and watching it has reminded me of how quickly life changes.

Some days, I’ve barely noticed it all.

Then there was the day that it’s red leaves against the blue sky were just arresting. I wondered how anyone walked the scene without taking a picture. And then there was yesterday, a skinnier tree against a backdrop of a grey, dull sky. How could one tree look so very different and still be the same?

And there was the comfort. One tree, one girl (or two), one Christmas. They can all look terribly different and still be, at their core, the same.