Transformation

My Japanese maple tree leafed out last week. It was a cold damp day and its newly unfurled red leaves hung limply with raindrops clinging to their tips. The tree seemed sad and bedraggled but this was only a brief stage in its transformation from resting in winter dormancy to becoming a sun-fueled powerhouse of photosynthesis a few days later. On this day I searched through my camera's viewfinder to capture this moment of languid but fearful expectancy.