This is view from my current office in the Old Quad at the University of Melbourne. The windows overlook Cussonia Court, to the west, between us and the Old Arts Building. As someone raised in subtropical Queensland, deciduous trees are a sign of the rhythms of seasonal change that still surprise me. I cannot help feel just a little that a tree in this state has died, even though I know that it will spring back to its leafy self as the seasons turn and its shade will be welcome as the heat bears down.

Soon I will move from this office on the western side of the Old Quad to a new office on the opposite wing, overlooking a different view. I will miss this outlook on Cussonia Court, but I will not miss the heat of midsummer, when these venetian blinds are kept shut to help moderate the blazing afternoon sunshine as the temperature climbs beyond 35ºC, and the sandstone walls of the Old Quad start storing heat rather than insulating you from it.