Tree of Knowledge

“Ignorance and superstition ever bear a close and mathematical relation to each other.” James Fennimore Cooper.

I remember reading Cooper in gradeschool—fondly stumbling through pages solely describing a tree in The Last of the Mohicans. For some reason I remembered that tonight as I watched the leaves rustle. A pale brown body sunk deep into its home, spreading wide its arms into the night, and the green flapping in a warm sea breeze. The tree was beautiful. But that’s not what made me pause. It was as if I had come to terms with a part of myself.

I felt the ancient pull and connection to the woman known as Eve. Books. Knowledge. Whether she really existed or not, I would have picked from the tree also. (The ancient Egyptians also had a story from long ago bearing a sacred tree and serpent, but the story didn’t stop there.) Knowledge that was forbidden or a life of ignorance…How ironic. What choice would I have?

I have discovered an expanse of wilderness that extends for miles, and before I rest—I will have discovered all of it.