it started with a leaf

brains are strange organs.

when i started thinking about this post, i thought about how i'd really like to do more with my life. after spending a month or so sedentary, i'm really wanting to do more and be more than a couch potato. i'd like to get out and enjoy the fresh air and do service and read all the "classics" (a list of which i've sought in vain for, but i presume moby dick and the iliad are on it).

so i decided i should turn over a new leaf. and what better way to illustrate my motivated mindframe than to include a picture of a beautiful grean leaf? but since i love paintings as much or more than photography, i searched online for a leaf painting and what i found is what i've posted above.

it's a picture (and a very southwestern one at that) painted on an actual leaf.
which, aside from slightly disturbing me, got me thinking: how does one become a leaf artist? at what point in this man or woman's life did he or she decide that watercolor landscapes or paint-by-number masterpieces just wouldn't cut it -- the medium would have to be a leaf? was it a spiritual moment? did a supportive spouse applaud at this brilliant idea or was there an argument about how leaves would never put food on the table?

for that matter, how does anyone develop a niche?
have you ever seen those bmx bikers who do tricks like massive flips off huge ski slopes? what day did that person decide that riding around a dirt track and taking an occasional leap wasn't enough? at what point did he have the confidence to hurl himself in the air and the take the chance that the bike would come landing down on him causing possible paralysis or even death? was it a sunny day? had he eaten a good meal? what was the difference between that fateful day and the one before?

and how about people who have strange talents or participate in odd sports? i mean, i love yahtzee but what would it take for me to consider a professional career with the yahtzee game circuit? and how do you even get introduced to the luge? do small children instinctively beg their parents to take them to the local luge track? where is the local luge track?

so although i started this post hoping i would do more compassionate service, now i'm just worried that i never really gave ice skating a chance, and that i might be a really, really good potter.

brains!