Stars

Outside my window there is a forsythia bush, about 4-5 feet in diameter. Last week, its leaves glowed with autumn color: reds, golds, oranges, along with the odd green. It's raining today. When I looked outside to see the rain, I saw the leaves were all gone, leaving what looks like a pile of dead sticks. And my crazy, unseasonal forsythia bush? Right before Christmas, it is *blooming*, of all absurd things, golden stars scattered among dead sticks. Because sometimes, life is just like that.