The Attentive Heart: Conversat

Readers who feel a kinship with trees will be captivated by these ``conversations.'' Now a professor of environmental studies at the University of Vermont, Kaza bases most of these meditative essays on experiences she had in California. With a Buddhist reverence for living things, she follows the Zen practice of shikantaza --just sitting--to find serenity and inspiration among trees. She observes the change of seasons with a stately gingko, re-visits a commune to renew her acquaintance with a tan oak and madrone, dreams as she leans against a massive blue oak. On Arbor Day, Kaza joins a group planting redwood seedlings; she makes a pilgrimage to Methuselah Grove to see bristlecone pines and to Yosemite for whitebark pines. Other encounters include red firs, alders and sycamores. This is a beautifully written, imaginative appreciation of trees. Illustrations. First serial to New Age Journal; QPB alternate. (July)