Dear friends,
It is a joy to be in a place of such natural beauty and… get one’s work done at the same time!
This morning I woke at dawn and was greeted by a moody sky and a fresh blanket of snow. Waiting for the coffee to finish brewing, I stood at the long windows in the dining room of the retreat house and watched for deer. The clouds moved quickly in the sky, promising that they weren’t going to hang around for long and, indeed, in just a couple hours’ time it was pure cerulean overhead.
Fueled by a few cups of coffee another early riser (one of our guests) joined me on a quick two miles up and down Horseshoe Road, a largely untraveled byway that passes a few yards from the house. The firs were heavy laden with the night’s snow and we wondered about an interesting track that a we saw along the side of the road… rabbit? deer? (too small for Sasquatch (-: )
Another guest came in time for Morning Prayer and we joined in the chapel to hear the ongoing saga of the Maccabees and the ending of the Book of Revelation. (We saved the gospel reading for Evening Prayer.). It was lovely to hear the refrains of the canticles in this holy space, recited in unison. I thought of the generations of prayers soaked into these walls.
After church it was into the woods and up to the top of the ridge for another short walk. I wear blaze orange up here. You never know if a hunter is nearby, even on this private property. I traveled with one of our guests, The Rev. Janis Yskamp, who knows these woods well. She pointed out the different tracks left by wildlife (and you can see that we left some tracks of our own.)
Today was a “zoom day” and so it was staff meeting at 10:30, and two one-on-one meetings this afternoon. I finished up just in time to greet Bishop Nichols who is here for his first visit to Brookland. I am grateful for the internet and a good signal to allow me to do work while here… as needed.
Tonight we’ll keep the hours and read Evening Prayer in the chapel and then enjoy a quiet dinner. Bishop Nichols and I have lots of work to do and this is a lovely place to do it! Our other guest who is remaining is a good sport. Fortunately, she has ear buds so she doesn’t need to listen to bishops waxing on.
Home tomorrow night- but not until I’ve had at least another walk in the woods!
Love,
Audrey
Our selves, our souls and bodies 