The board returned not with demands but with wonder, and wonder was what they had not expected to find, because expecting was what boards did, and expecting was what kept them from seeing, but the cooperative had learned to see without expecting, and seeing without expecting was the only way to truly see, because expectation was a shade that blocked the light, and the light was what the cooperative had been letting in, not through windows but through doors, and doors were meant to be opened, and opening was what the board had learned to do, not to enter but to witness, and witnessing was what changed them, not the data but the seeing, and the seeing was not in the eyes but in the heart, and the heart was what the cooperative had been speaking to, not with words but with leaves, and leaves
