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The lost beauty of the red foliage

The imperfect beauty

今年京都的秋季,櫻花葉才稍一變紅,颱風便來了。不懂風情的颱風,把櫻花樹的紅葉打得漫天紛飛,艷麗的色彩泡在水窪裡,顯得楚楚可憐的。平安神宮旁的岡崎疏水、出町柳一段的鴨川河畔,每年這個時候都一片火紅,今年卻只見一排排秃了頭的樹木。

「今年的紅葉不太美呢。」散步時一位素未謀面的女人跟我搭訕說,特地自兵庫縣來賞楓的她,頗感失望。想來每年紅葉季節都聽到相同的話,去年是因為天氣太暖,葉子紅不起來就枯了,一棵樹綠葉紅葉枯葉混雜的。前年又是甚麼原因呢?好像是因為連日大雨,紅葉都打落了。每年都有各自的原因,令每年的紅葉不太美。

究竟是哪年的紅葉教我們美得感動?大概不少人如我,腦海中總儲存著一片秋季的良晨美景,天高氣爽,藍天白雲,火紅的楓葉與櫻花樹,鮮黃的銀杏。我們口裡唸著「今年的紅葉不太美呢」,懷緬往年的境色,期待著明年,細味著今年的遺憾。

Kyoto did not get to enjoy its best fall this year. The untimely hurricane struck as soon as the cherry blossom leaves turned red, and cruelly blew all the red leaves away; it is a rather saddening scene seeing the beautifully colored leaves floating in puddles. The riverbanks of Okazaki Sosui River near Heian Shrine and Kamo River along Demachiyanagi are usually filled with lines of bright red leaves, this year, however, the trees along the banks were mostly leafless.

“I was hoping for some more charming red foliage this year,” a lady suddenly talked to me when I was taking a stroll. She was rather disappointed as she came all the way from Hyōgo Prefecture to view the fall foliage. In fact, people were more or less let down by the fall every year — last year was too warm, the leaves withered before they got a chance to turn red. The trees were covered by a not-so-appealing mix of green, red and withered leaves. As for the year before, the red leaves all fell to the ground because of the prolonged heavy rain. There always seems to be some reasons that’d affect the supposedly beautiful fall foliage.

Which year has the most stunning fall foliage? Perhaps many would similarly share such an imagination like mine. That would be a sunny fall with clear blue sky, temperature has slightly dropped and yet the weather is still so pleasant for enjoying the view of bright red maple leaves, cherry blossom trees, and the vivid yellow gingko. When saying “I was hoping for some more charming red foliage this year, perhaps we are simply reminiscing the scenery from the bygone days, hoping for a better year ahead, and recollecting the imperfection of the year we had.

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