Study Leave

Today is the last day of my study leave. I've been studying under the oaks in Texas.

Of all the things I've come upon this week in my reading and my thinking, I've been most affected by the sight of the live oak. It keeps its leaves, even now, in mid-winter. Its branches are gnarled and knobby; they spread low and wide; ready to climb, should you be inclined. I imagine crawling under their shade in the heat of summer.

A good place to rest; to study; to meet wisdom, should she happen by.