Beth Kephart's Into the Tangle of Friendship: A Memoir of Things That Matter offered a fresh treatment of a well-worn subject. She brings the same magical prose to this account of a special place. At 41, feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the writing life and the demands of others, she decides to make a weekly trip to Chanticleer, a peaceful and luscious 30-acre garden outside Philadelphia, as a mini-retreat. Over a two-year period, Kephart opens herself to its teachings: "I was drawn to the changeability of things. To how the clenched fist of a bud would grow suddenly generous and unfurl. To how something limp or pale in color would take a stand and intensify. I was drawn to the birds that were drawn to those trees and sang songs they never sang in my own back yard. I was drawn to the murmur of the people passing by, to the shameless, even vulnerable way they spoke of their own wonder."

Chanticleer is located in the part of southeastern Pennsylvania known as the Main Line. This land was once surveyed by William Penn, later became a working farm, and then was set up as a pleasure garden for an estate. Sitting regularly in this meditative place, Kephart recalls the little girl she once was. She chats with strangers, delights at the gracious work of the gardeners, and spends some quiet time with the seeds and the flowers: "I would say that I was learning to surrender. To stop warring with myself, to stop needing to be right, to come to terms with shifts and change, to sit on a hill and count my blessings."

Reading this delightful book, we wondered why we hadn't thought of making the urban park a block from our home into a spiritual retreat. We don't have to spend a fortune traveling far away to nourish our souls. Nature spreads out her wonders right in front of us and yet we often fail to partake of this visual feast. Kephart is refreshed by her experiences in Chanticleer and she learns to see more clearly, a gift she passes on to her readers.