Monday, April 4, 2022

Return from Luther Springs

 In some ways, it seems silly to write yet another blog post about the retreat.  Do I really have that much left to say?  I realize I haven't yet included much in the way of pictures when I've written about the retreat.  This morning, as I looked over my pictures, I wondered if any of them merited this final blog post about the retreat.  Yes, I realize this prewriting period has much to say about the mental space where I spend too much time for my own good:  is it worth it, any of it?

I'm also worried about the washing machine.  I put clothes in awhile ago, and it didn't seem to be moving through the cycles properly.  Now I've moved the dial to the spin cycle, and I'm realizing that I don't know how long the machine usually takes in the spin cycle.  Grr.  Yes--another glimpse of my mental space that seems far too common.

One of my church friends posted her retreat pictures, and I felt bad that I didn't take more walks along the sandy paths, that I didn't explore the grounds more in the one or two hours when it wasn't raining.  Her pictures made me realize that there were some cool places that I didn't even realize were there.  Why didn't I go and find out for myself?  Again, this head space is familiar, and unhelpful.

Let me try to write myself back into a righter frame of mind.  Let me remember that one reason that I didn't want to leave my room was because it was cozy to be there during a rainy day.  Let me remember all the handmade quilts on all the beds in every room.  Here's mine:



Let me remember doing various arts and crafts projects in the room with the windows open so that we could hear the thunder and rain.


Let me remember the sand mandela that I made, and how easy this project would be to do with a bowl of sand and objects found on a walk:



Let me remember that even when it's too rainy for a regular campfire, you can create one with a string of lights and colored paper:




And then you can sing around it:




But most of all let me remember the friends that brought me along with them:





No comments: