On the Road Again

In an hour I leave for Lutheridge--it's time for the Create in Me retreat.  It likely won't be as cold this year as it was last year, but there is rain in the forecast.  Maybe I'll get the rain I was expecting from the Portland trip.  I'll put my extra pair of sneakers in the car.

I'm driving up with my church friend who went with me last year.  We travel well together, so I'm not worried.  This year my parents are coming to the retreat, which will change the dynamic a bit, but here too, I'm not worried.

I've been going to this retreat long enough that I have retreat friends--we sink into our friendship quickly each year.  I always look forward to seeing who will be there, and I miss the ones who aren't.  I find myself wondering if we can keep doing this into our old age.  I find myself wondering if we could find a place where we could do this every day of our old age.

I'm not looking forward to the long trip.  These days my back gets sore just from sleeping in my bed.  Sigh.  At least we start on a Thursday night.  That makes the long drive more worthwhile. The retreats that go from Friday night to Sunday are almost not enough time--even if I had a shorter drive, it's just not enough time.  There have been moments when I've thought that a Thursday night to Sunday is almost not enough time.

I love the focus of this retreat:  the intersections of creativity and spirituality, one of my favorite topics.  As always with topics that I love, I wonder if there's some way of having a work life that has more of that as part of it.  This has been a very stressful week at work, and I'm aware of how often I've been saying that this year.

My time grows short.  Let me go finish getting ready.  In the words of Bruce Springsteen, "I'll meet your further on up the road."