The Oak Tree - "We will never understand why"

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Originally uploaded by pdbreen.

After the ride, there was time to explore the 300+ acres that the hotel was located on. It turns out that 300 acres is a lot of land, so I actually only explored a small portion of it.
The gently rolling land included horse stables & trails, grape vineyards, olive tree orchards, the beautiful owners house perched on the top of the hills and an old lone oak tree perched on the top of another. In his introduction to the hotel & property, Allesandro mentioned that this was a favorite spot for meditation and reflection and that there was a small sign beneath the tree that he encouraged us to find & read. It was a simple wooden sign with the following phrase chiseled in "We will never understand why". The sign was created after Sept 11, but placed in a setting like this it could just as easily refer to our existence and the natural world that surrounds us.
The tranquility of sitting there on a wonderfully warm evening with a 360 degree view of the landscape in all directions, the hills dotted with small towns, listening to the birds sing and reflecting on the wonderful rides of the past week was magical.