A snowy day here in Putney Vermont. A week ago, at Mid-winter gathering in New Mexico, it was warmish and sunny. Marshall and I took a stroll up on a trail into Box Canyon. The colors of the mesas change with the sun’s movement. It was so wonderfully different from New England. The sky was so much bigger and sweeping vistas capture the eyes in a way that doesn’t let go. I’d forgotten how watching mountains can be like watching the ocean, hypnotizing.
We had a slew of folks new to gathering, one of the delights of being nomadic and having a new site. We were about 120 or so people. The pull into the silence was made deeper by the surroundings, I think. There should be a spiritual gravitational meter used to check places out. This place was great for centering.
Clerks did a great job of keeping process clean and clear. The altitude made some of us a bit slow at first. The food was goodish, though I was ready to get back to Santa Fe for some of the really hot stuff, the guacamole at The Shed has chipotle! Wonderful to see old friends and to meet the wonderful bevy of local lesbians who organized so well. The memorial meeting was good and solid with love. Good to get hugs and kisses direct to the bereaved.
Marshall and I stopped by the Santa Fe Meeting house on our way north. I fell in love with it right away, an old adobe home given to the meeting by an artist. So beautiful and homey and a lovely mix of old and new.
Marshall and I are sitting here at home as a large storm waltzes through. In the next 2 days we are expecting snow, sleet, rain, freezing rain, ice, and more snow. Here it is mid-afternoon and mostly I’ve only watched the snowfall. All travel is set aside for now. Marshall got to the post office just as the snow began. I filled the pantry yesterday, nothing like a storm for some good cooking time (unless the power goes out and we end up cooking on the woodstove which limits the menu a tad). I shoveled the roof some yesterday so we’d have some room to accommodate today’s blessing.
Marshall’s just found a new recipe for chocolate cake with no flour. It’s in a new book, The Flavors of Olive Oil, by Deb Krasner, a local author. I think he’ll make it after he gets done with the pot roast. I just finished milk and cookies, my cooking being more basic.
I really loved having gathering at Ghost Ranch. It was large, friendly, beautiful. And the sky was always doing something to enchant. I missed lots of people and there were so many great folks new to me.