Fallen leaves

When we were still a developing country, the mountains were barren without many trees. Then, with the help of Arbor Day and the New Village Movement, South Korea was gradually transformed into a green country.

These days, there are arboretums and vacation spots with beautiful trees throughout the country, 70 percent of which is mountainous.

However, it is a pity to see that the quality of nature is decreasing due to an abundance of pollution, acid rain, and heavy metals.

Especially the contaminated leaves in the city do not rot or decay easily because the microorganisms capable of decomposing them are also becoming inactive.

Before, we could collect ginkgo berries that fell onto the street, but nowadays nobody dares to gather them due to pollution.

As the weather gets colder, the roots of the plants are so weakened that they lose the ability to suck water. So, in order to prevent moisture loss, all the leaves with an effervescent effect to send out water are dropped. In this way, the trees conserve their inner energy until next spring.

Thus, in autumn, the fallen leaves begin to dance here and there on the ground. When the leaves are piled upon on the ground, it takes time to clear the path.

Two years ago, I tried to sweep the gardens to make them tidy. With a rake, I cleared the gardens without leaving leaves to act as fertilizers.

As a result, the barren earth was revealed. As many sisters passed by often, some roots of the trees were revealed as well.

A serious problem happened when the earth was washed down the hill when it rained hard. Whenever the earth accumulated in the lower part of the sliding ground, I had to remove the earth with a shovel.

Several sisters pointed out the shortage of fallen leaves on the ground. So, later on, I let some fallen leaves be as they were on the ground. One day, to prevent the Earth from being washed away, I gathered little stones to spread them on the sliding path. Then, the Earth remained.

Early this year, I collected pine leaves as well as other fallen leaves from some parts of the gardens to spread them on our little hills. And I found out it looked much more beautiful.

"The Silence Beneath the Bark" (Le Silence Sous L'Ecorce) is a short film of about 10 minutes, presented by Joanna Lurie in 2010. It tells a heartwarming fairy tale of the transformation of two little creatures growing up in adolescence.

In the snowy forest, those little creatures hibernating underneath the bark discover something new in a snowstorm.

They are awakened by the quakes produced by the snowfall that breaks the tree trunk. They go out to explore and discover how beautiful and fascinating snow is. They meet each other and enjoy eating the snow. Looking at their reflections on the lake, one of the creatures realized the transformation. Then, it stops snowing, and he becomes a tree.

The snow was there to make them see reality and grow up. Like them, we grow and transform into a new person that becomes the salt and the light of the world.