God spilled a bit of paint while She was touching up a rose in Borneo.
It landed on a maple tree in the Adirondacks.
(She was on a retreat at the Loj–She loves being two places at once.)

The red on the leaves looked so good, She sprinkled brilliant yellow on a birch.
Then She started giggling and throwing colors around.
One of the angels came up to Her and reminded Her that She had already colored leaves as green.

But God just shrugged and said, “Ok, well, I’m changing my mind–for a season.  I can do that you know.”  The angel rolled his eyes and said, “You’re the boss”

God giggled and then dressed up like Shiva (one of Her favorite God costumes), She danced and danced with her paint brush splattering all over the world.  Gold landed in Europe, bright yellow green showed up in Vermont, and the orange in the Northwest lit up the night.

The maples blushed, the aspens turned pale at what they saw under Her dress.  The wind got all excited and threw colored confetti parade and a carpet of twirling leaves.  Gaia grinned in glory.

Written with a grateful nod to Cynthia Rylant’s “God Went to Beauty School”