Everything is pretending to be born and pretending to die.

"One day as I was about to step on a dry leaf, I saw the leaf in the ultimate dimension.  I saw that it was not really dead, but that it was merging with the moist soil in order to appear on the tree the following spring in another form.  I smiled at the leaf and said, 'You are pretending.'  Everything is pretending to be born and pretending to die, including the leaf."

Thich Nhat Hanh

Photo: Elm leaf on frozen Watson Lake, with Bellvue Dome in the background, Bellvue, CO, November 17, 2014