There is a many-branched birch tree outside my window. I’m obsessed with it. I knew I would be when I first saw it. The branches swayed gently, diffusing the light and casting shadows on the wall.

Through the day, with the shifting light, I saw a new view, a new delight. I was fortified by the beauty of the tree.

And the changing season shows itself in the changing leaves, the changing colors, the changing tree.

Many evenings, lit by the light of the setting sun, I have been grateful for the shadows dancing on the wall, grateful for the tree through the window.

-Eyes wide open, Chinwe