Some Views

A view from the porch, where I sat almost every morning, drinking a cup of tea and listening to the rooster on the next farm over crowing. Again. And again. And again. You know how in movies the rooster crows only once, and everyone on the farm wakes up? In real life, roosters start crowing at about 5 am and continue until the full light of day. I guess it's rough being the only rooster in the hen house. I also listened to the tree frogs, who make a "shhh" sound followed by a "k-chunk" sound, and listened to the wind in the trees. This is the place that I most wish I could import to my house.

An altar in the yoga building. The room is the third space in as you enter. First, you come into an airy outer room with a long bench for sitting and a table with a hot water urn, tea cups, and tea, and sometimes, thank you, chocolate bars. Nearby, the very popular bathrooms. Next, a small rectangular room for storage of the yoga props: mats, blankets, eye bags, and a table where we signed in every morning. Next, the room above. Not quite this dark in real life, but a good transitional space between outside and the inside that is the beautiful yoga room. Lots of wonderful things to look at on this table as well as a view of nature beyond. Ahh.

Canadian Thanksgiving.

We have four Canadians in the module and much time is spent by our teacher teasing them for their Canadian ways. What does a Canadian do when she bumps into the door? Say "I'm sorry" to the door. Honestly. It's very sweet and quite the antidote to our American tendencies toward rushing and grabbing. For Canadian Thanksgiving, which was early in the week, the staff set the tables end to end so that we could all sit together. Attention to detail is so beautiful at this retreat center that they not only decorated the tables - they decorated them with maple leaves collected from the woods. We did a Canadian-inspired mantra and nyasa, or hand gesture, before the meal, designed by two of the students. Bring your hands to the side of your head and make the Moose Nyasa (moosey antlers), chant Ay-ah, bring your hands to your heart and chant "so sorry" as you bow. Hilarious to see an entire group of adults doing this. Laughter is very important during a 2-week module on meditation.

A chair on the porch with crocheted blankets to wrap yourself in on a chilly morning.

Almost everything in the place has been purchased at a huge yard sale held every fall. Nothing in the bedrooms or bathrooms or kitchen matches, but it all blends together in this beautiful reminder that what is used has history and color.

My favorite sight: a small meditation cabin in a field of trees turning color in the fall.
Small enough for one person. Surrounded by nature.