Epitome Of Happiness

The ray, then, vanished. As I opened my eyes, the third eye faded into my forehead. I readily felt that I was nowhere but right here on Earth. I found myself standing in the middle of the Japanese Tea Garden located in San Francisco. It was fall. Mother nature had put on one of her most spectacular displays as native flora finished out the growing season in a brilliant display of fall colors.

Then I had a flashback. In biology class that I took last semester, I had learned fall colors are associated with both the plant's genetic factors and the environment. Produced in foliage all year round, carotene and xanthophylls are pigments responsible for yellow coloration. Tannins give tans and browns. And chlorophyll, without much explanation, gives green. Because of short days and cool temperatures in autumn, production of chlorophyll slows down and the remaining chlorophyll breaks down and disappears. Then the yellows, the tans, and the browns that have been masked by chlorophyll show up. These pigments give the ginkgo its bright yellow color. Redbud, hickory, birch, larch, and witch hazel turn hues of yellow and gold. In fall, however, long sunny days and cool nights increase sugar content of the leaves and intensify fall reds. That's what gives foliage its astonishing beauty. In winter, frost and freezing temperatures will stop the coloration process and blacken the leaves. I recalled everything with my photographic memory.

Owing to the heavenly fall colors and the environment, what I had experienced earlier in the form of surreal dream was more like experiencing heaven first hand. I had sensed the epitome of happiness right here on Earth.