Kaza's prose and sentiments will strike many as over-the-top. There were times in this book when that included me. But my growing sense of kinship with trees no doubt strikes many as also over-the-top, so I just have to acknowledge that the line's position is personal for every reader. That said, there are some wonderful sections in these meditations. It was pretty much what I wanted when I bought the book. ( )

Reading this beautifully written, poetic volume is like listening in on the intimate conversations between two lovers. At first the experience is titillating but then grows tedious, like listening to a love-obsessed couple talk about nothing but themselves. But then one begins to pine for such a relationship of one’s own. As the reader continues to eavesdrop, more is revealed about the deeper and darker aspects of the relationship. Especially compelling is the chapter delving into fear. What Kaza accomplishes is to illustrate the nature of an intimate ecology. This approach to the natural world requires time, patience, and mindfulness. These are in short supply in our harried, busy society obsessed with efficiency, productivity, and practicality. Such an ecology may have been the reality for early indigenous peoples or for individuals who today are raised close to the land. Or for those, like Kaza, whose professions require a close study of the environment. Reading this book, though, may cultivate a longing within the reader for an intimacy with nature that requires satisfaction. If that is the case and enough people read this book, then perhaps there is the possibility for our species to regain our humanity and right relationship with the natural world of which we are a part. ( )