I Smell Fall...

This is the big tree near my house that turns wonderful shades of red, yellow, orange and brown as it morphs from full and green to brown and naked. It's a beautiful tree to watch each Fall and I estimate it's over 100 years old. This is a tree that I think I'd be tempted to "tree sit" if anyone ever tried to cut it down.
Wednesday night I walked to the Library to view "Born Into Brothels," an Academy Award-winning documentary co-directed by Zana Briski, who is a major player in the documentary itself. She'll be on campus next week for another screening of the documentary and a book-signing. I'll try to get there. It was filmed in Calcutta, India's red light district and was about the children born to prostitutes in this neighborhood. Because of India's caste system, these children are not able to attend good schools or possibly school at all. Some of the family had generations of prostitutes and it was understood that the young female members of households would someday "work the line." The children talked openly and frankly about their families. Briski gave a group of the children cameras and taught them the basics of photography. The result is a wonderful documentary about "the resiliency of childhood and the restorative power of art."