Uphill idealist

Entrance to Kirkridge from Columcille Megalith Park Cistern on the mountain, you reach so deep - past the clay and rubble to the fountain I seek. Your depths go further than my eyes could ever see. The digging to your source makes the mountain top green. This place that you come from is seated in the world below, with the hurry and bustle of the daily show. Without the well to reach it, the high place would not be. This thin place would be lost like the vapor of last night's dream. Cistern on the mountain, help me to see you everyday, in the streams and creeks that feed you - as you have fed me in this place. T.L. Eastman July 2011

Stone alter in center of Labyrinth connected to Kirkridge property. Journaling was a big activity for the circles of trust session last week at Kirkridge Retreat and Study Center. Somehow, I had two brand new journals waiting for me to use - in the trunk of my car. Some of those entries will end up here on this blog, but some I'm sure will stay safely tucked inside the pages of that newish red leather journal. Thanks for reading. I hope what you read here inspires you to pick up a pencil, or keyboard and write a little yourself - simply for the love of it. Peace, T PS. The meals and company were fantastic too!

Kirkridge Retreat and Learning Center is located in the hill (some say mountains) of Bangor PA. I will be heading there on Tuesday to attend a Circles of Trust Retreat to learn more about Parker Palmer's philosophy on living an "Undivided life". Here's the blurb explaining what this is all about: This retreat is for anyone seeking ways to live an undivided life, to live with wholeness. It is for those who care about their community, their planet, and are seeking a place for personal renewal. It is for those who are troubled by injustice and violence and are struggling with their own sense of powerlessness. It is for those who, in Parker Palmer’s phrase, are experiencing “the politics of broken-hearted,” facing the seeming divisiveness in our democracy, and looking for ways of responding that are creative and life-giving. Taking Heart Once More is a Circle of Trust® retreat where we can explore our own most profound questions at the heart of our many roles, including ...

Image from thehotzoneonline.com Salsa, guacamole, Mexican pizza and three good friends make for a great night! Last night I had the great opportunity to have dinner with my friend Sue and Sally. It's been over a year since we had all gotten together. Sue and I live in the same community, but Sally spends majority of her year with her family serving in mission in Ethiopia. If you want to check out the work she and her family are doing there, go to Baer Essentials. While I love a accessibility and ease of communication that comes from the internet and facebook, there is something totally lovely about sitting down to dinner with dear friends: the kind of friends that you're amazed to be sitting with over nachos and celebratory margaritas, because they are such wonderful people. I've been thinking a great deal about friendship lately, especially those friendships between women. Having gone to school in Pennsylvania and having most of my extended family from the Pittsburgh area...

Image from "My Wedding Dresses etc blog". Switching your purse can be a daunting task. You have to find a replacement for the one you've been carrying, and even though the tearing straps are evident - a part of you wants to keep using it. It's a hard choice, when you change purses. Should you choose the casual one with lots of pockets (like you usually do) or do you choose the shiny sleek one that you can almost see your reflection in? Once the purse is chosen, you then need to work out what goes where. What do you transfer over from one purse to the other? How do you organize it? What season can you and can't you use the purse in? Then theres the question - would your mother approve of the purse you've chosen? Most importantly, just how much is this new satchel going to cost you and is the cost worth all this effort? Purses' are complicated business - I suppose that's why they make such a business out of making, selling and marketing them. Purses, we...

Image from blog: HeartReach . A long time ago, I planted a small 6 foot by 6 foot garden at an apartment complex I and my family were living in. The caretakers for the grounds told me that the soil was impeded by a complete layer of clay about 8 inches under the top soil. If I did not remove the clay from my garden plot, my tomatoes, zucchini and morning glories would have no chance of growing. So, upon taking the caretaker's advice about the clay, I proceeded to dig up the topsoil and grass. As they had told me, the clay layer was fully blocking access to the soil beneath it. All day long I chipped and dug and removed wheelbarrow-full, by wheelbarrow-full of clay out of my small plot of land. At the end of that day, I was soaked with sweat, but I knew I was making progress to break through to good soil. After all the top soil and clay that had been removed; it was necessary for me to refill the 6x6 plot back in with about ten bags of gardening soil. The soil was filled in. my star...

Abundant grace...like a green meadow drenched in dew at misty mornings first light. Tara