Tree Books

1. Saturday with Ronnie

We sat at the dining room table -- Ronnie, Trudy, and I. He was organizing photos on his PowerBook. She was surfing on her iBook. I was unplugged, reading a book. Each of us was deeply absorbed in the matters before us.

The room was silent. Then Ronnie looked up and over at me and at the book I was reading: The Life of an Oak -- An Intimate Portrait, by Glenn Keator.

I don't think, he said, that in my entire life it would have occurred to me to pick up that book, much less read it. And he pointed out what a contrast it seemed: what I do by day, and what I read at night.

Trudy looked up smiling, and her eyes sparkled.

2. A Week Later with Manish

On the way back from lunch, I told Gregg and Manish something about the book I had been reading: Trees of Central Texas -- A Field Guide, by Robert A. Vines.

I explained how it was a bit too technical for me, describing in scientific terminology the twig and leaf shapes and the nature of the flowers and fruit. But I shared with them how I love moving thru the book family by family (Podocarpaceae, Pinaceae, Taxodiaceae,...), just reading the closing remarks on each species and variant.

Later that day, as Manish and I started off on a run around the lake (runs during which we frequently decompress on software issues encountered during the day), he confessed, I didn't want to say anything at lunch, but that book sounded so boring!

I laughed out loud, being reminded of Ronnie's comments just a few days earlier.

And when we met Trudy later and I told her what he had said, she laughed out loud, too.

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