Answer:
In the night a mountain, in the morning a meadow.
When I get closer my tail grows longer, but when I go away my tail leads the way.
It comes only before, it comes only after. Rises only in darkness, but rises only in light. It is always the same, but is yet always different.
What grows in winter, dies in summer, and grows roots upward?
I am whole but incomplete. I have no eyes, yet I see. You can see, and see right through me. My largest part is one fourth of what I once was.
What do you purposefully put lots of in and on your body, but run away from when you encounter it outside?