These essays celebrate the interconnectedness of all things, examining our spiritual lives through the cathartic influence of trees, the fugitive presence of our ancestors, the magical tapestry of the natural world, the deep significance of chance encounters with wild creatures, the beneficence of silence, stillness, solitude and serenity; and the search for meaning in a seemingly chaotic world. Peter Quince is an artist as well as a writer of novels, short stories, essays and poetry. He practises tai chi, meditation and philosophy, grows bonsai trees, follows Buddhism and Taoism, and believes that a quiet cup of tea is the answer to everything...

Brother Caleb, a Cistercian monk,has lived undisturbed in the Monasteryof the Holy Trinity for many years.When the young, alluring, red-hairedRosa stays on retreat, he becomesobsessed with her. But her presence unearthsthe ghost of an old, pre-monasticromance. Caleb experiences a terriblestruggle between his spiritual andcarnal nature, a struggle that canonly end in tragedy....