The Leaves Emerge

You know I must be desperate if I am out shooting emerging buds with my Nikon and Macro lens!  Well, that's what I did this afternoon.  I happened to notice that the leaves on the Japanese maple tree were emerging from the buds.  I don't believe that I have seen this before.  It is pretty cool to see how they emerge - as if they had been folded up and put inside the bud.  I am guessing that within a couple of days we will see these beautiful, delicate leaves that I love so much, fully spread out.  The interesting thing is that the leaf and the bud together resemble a historic drawing that I have seen of a comet that appeared a few hundred years ago.