Imbolc Waxing Bridgit Moon
The drive home with Frank is over. We followed route 12 back east, away from Blue Cloud Abbey and the snow which had claimed a semi and an SUV on the road away from the Abbey, stopping only in Litchfield for a Chinese lunch, a buffet. We talked as usual about many things religion, politics, women and family history.
Another Woolly retreat has finished, our 24th by some counts. The 25th will break with our two decade long tradition of late January, early February dates and move us into the last days of September and the first of October, September 29-October 2. We hope this will encourage more of us to get outside, walk, hike, enjoy the weather and the place. We’ve opted for our fourth retreat at Blue Cloud Abbey. It suits our sensibility as a place dedicated to the sacred and brotherhood and is far enough away to count as a trip. It also has individual rooms and prepared meals.
We have also developed a relationship with the monks, two brotherhoods with different founding purposes, yet a common focus on the life of men together. We explore different facets of common ground each time, this time the chanting with Father Michael and some time with Father Tom. We will, I believe, prove resistant to their attempts at evangelism, hamfisted as they are, but not done in mean spirit.
Now I’m on my study computer where I’ve just entered the upcoming activities from calendar, trying to spot the time to get back to work on Missing. That will emerge this week, as I plan to get at least an hour a day in until I can squeeze out more. I may still go back out to Blue Cloud for a quiet and solitary place to write.
