Reatreat!

It's 8:52am.
I'm sitting at my dining room table, next to an open window, barefoot, wearing my pajama bottoms and one of Lohain's sweaters.
My daughter is at school.
Check-in at my hotel isn't until 3pm.

I have a nice, quiet morning ahead of me in which to make leisurely preparations for my journey to the island.

My packing list includes my regular journal, my priestess studies journal, a short stack of books, a couple of tarot decks, everything I need to perform a Grail Mass (including freshly-baked biscuits), my camera, my body pillow, hiking shoes, and my laptop. If I have free or low cost internet access in my room, or a strong signal on my gadget, you may well hear from me before I return on Monday evening. Then again, you may not.

Please send prayers and energetic thoughts for a_belletrist, who embarked alone this morning on the adventure and ordeal of the 3-Day walk, and who has been gracious beyond measure in her understanding of why I needed to take this time for rest and reflection instead. Between the two of us, we raised more than $4,400 for breast cancer research.

I'm off to check my friends page now, and respond to a couple of recent comments, then I'm going to start packing.

May you all be blessed this weekend, and find renewal and/or adventure in whatever forms best suit you.

Homeward Bound

Today's lesson is to always research the location of a hotel before making reservations.

My retreat lodging turned out to be in the only standard issue small city on the island, which is also the home of a Navy base, complete with fighter jets.

The room was nice enough, but ten minutes after unpacking I knew I couldn't stay. If I was going to be in that kind of neighborhood I might as well have stayed home. And it was far enough from the places I did want to be that it wasn't worth it.

Management very graciously did not charge me the one night's fee I owed contractually.

I stopped at several more hotels on my way back south, but none of them worked out.

So here I am in the ferry line, about to head back to the mainland. I can do the writing and reflection I need to do at home, and do some day trips into the country if I need to get out for a while.

And the Daughter is off with her dad, so I'll still have my alone time.


(And I did complete the one ritual act that needed to be done on the island.)

Not So Good

I am nowhere near as serene as I was when I made my last post. Nothing has gone right since I left the Earth Sanctuary. I'm tired, hungry, and feel alone and vulnerable.

I'm sitting in a Mexican restaurant a few blocks from my apartment, hoping some food, light, and the presence of cheerful people around me will help me feel better.

Home Again

Food helped (and vodka), so did talking to my parents on the phone, jammies, and sprawling on my own bed.

The nettle rash is pretty much gone.

The pool is empty (knock wood).

So far, Maledicte is a pretty good book.

I dislike dramatic mood swings.

However different today turned out to be from what I planned, it still beat the heck out of being at work.

Finally, "Wild at Heart" in Ballard -- and its staff -- rock.