Maya Tree

Have you ever leaned in close to a plant, an insect, a tree, and felt it respond? Once, When I Was Tree is a collection of true short stories weaving interspecies communication, nomadic living, and threshold experiences. From a barefoot childhood in the red earth of New Caledonia to the wisdom of the grandmother vine Ayahuasca, each story is a thread, drawn from different times and places in my life. What do trees remember? Why do bees dance? Whom does Coyote mourn when he sings to the moon? Where do we, humans, belong in the weaving of the natural world?

Visit a future San Francisco in which Golden Gate Park and the Presidio are thriving farms, luxury hotels are the palaces of neighborhood kings and book shops are treasuries of wisdom. This is the world of Taco Del, Merlin to His Majesty, King of Embarcadero. In this world, the young wizard must unravel a great mystery to save his besieged kingdom. King Elvis wants to steal its secrets, mysterious outsiders want to expel its citizens, an ancient and sinister Force threatens spiritual domination.

Two children take in a poor, hungry child one Christmas Eve and, to their delight, the child bestows upon them the most wonderful of gifts: a magnificent, magical tree.

A child listens to Koro and Grandma as they weave a tale about the life and times of of the ancient puriri Burial Tree, Taketakerau, the settlement and development of New Zealand, and world events that happened over the last 2000 years.