When I was young, I spent countless hours up in a favorite Maple tree, collecting handfuls of these tiny pods and releasing them to the ground. I never tired of their whirling journey as they spiraled downward to the welcoming grass below. I enjoyed photographing the fresh pink and green coloring of tender seeds that remains for only a few days before beginning to dry and lighten in preparation for flight. As the deciding moment begins the unfolding of a monarch’s chrysalis, carving the ridges and valleys of the maple seeds breathes life into them. There is joy in holding a maple seed as large as a turkey platter! How I would love to have released them, perched from a high branch… The seeds came to rest on a framed cradled birch panel, contained, but for a moment. Seeing them larger than life serves as a powerful reminder of our ability to propel forward, carrying the great potential that awaits inside us all.