Monday, March 3, 2008

From winter to spring with a weekend between

Hi, Everyone!

My new camera works! And it's compatible with the software already on my computer, so I was able to upload successfully the pictures I took with the old camera and quite a few taken this weekend with the new one. So here goes with catching up:

Here's the snow we had the last week in Feb. From the snow on my compost bin I think you can get an idea what it was like. There are still a few yucky looking piles of dirty snow lying around in parking lot corners, but with another couple of days of warmer weather they will disappear. I hope that's the last of the snow and ice for the year, but around here, you never know. Some of our heaviest snows have been in March, so I will keep fingers and toes crossed!





This weekend was our annual Carbondale Unitarian Fellowship Women's Retreat, held at a camp site on Little Grassy Lake about 10 miles from my house. There are a lot of lakes in our area, and this is just one of many camp sites available for outings like ours. This particular campsite is operated by the Methodist Church, but they aren't picky and rent to us Unitarians just like anyone else. The term "camp site" is somewhat misleading, since there are buildings with dorm rooms, meeting rooms, a cafeteria, etc.--all very nice and not really "roughing it". This is our third year at the Methodist campsite.

On Friday afternoon another gal and I stopped by our church to pick up lounging pillows from the Jr. High classroom and plastic glasses from the kitchen. (We try to avoid using paper or disposable plastic as much as we can.) Back home I packed up my car with the rest of the stuff I was taking--books, clothes, snacks for Fri night, yoga mats, a box of marking pens and pencils, 2 boxes of ceramic mugs, clean rags, hand soap and one roll of paper towels for the "designated restroom"--which I will explain later--and, of course, the timer and other materials for the famous Women's Retreat Saturday Night Charades, which has become a retreat tradition.

I was first to arrive at the campsite around 4 pm Friday, so I unloaded my car and claimed the semi private room closest to the big meeting room where most activities would take place. That meant my bathroom would also be the "designated restroom", since the other bathrooms are downstairs (who designed this building?????)



I set up the "relaxation area", with the pillows and my books. Others would also be bringing books and other items from home for all to share during free moments. I set up my boom box with a "Chieftains" CD--nothing like great Irish music to raise your spirits and get your blood pumping!







The others in the Fri night group began to trickle in around five. There were 12 or so at one point on Fri night, but I think only 8 slept over. This is just the second year for our having the Fri night sleep over option for the retreat. I love it, since we can set everything up in the afternoon and relax in the evening before the main group arrives on Sat morning.




Here's a shot of some of the Fri night group, hanging out, snacking, and decompressing from kids, jobs and whatever else rocks their regular worlds.
Some are working moms, several are retired, more "mature" ladies, like myself. Most are members of the Fellowship, but a few are not. Everyone is welcome at our retreats as long as they are female!


This is the "snack table". Yum. There was also stuff on other tables, including guacamole, bean dip, lots of crackers,chips, and cheeses, and--of all things--a jar of caviar! Do we know how to retreat or what!










Sat morning one of the gals led a yoga class at 7 and by the time we were done, the Sat group had begun to arrive, register, and unpack. We started with an ice breaker activity, since there are always new Fellowship members and first time retreaters in the group. This activity involved choosing a place from among signs scattered around the room as a place you would want to go.
Here's Tammy, one of this year's co-chairs, explaining how the activity works.
The signs included Ocean, Forest, Desert, Fire, Cave, Antarctica, and Mountain. We were to group around the signs and tell each other why we wanted to go there. Naturally I went immediately to the sign that said "Antarctica", since I'd go back there in a New York minute! Only one other person stood with me. She had been to the area on a large cruise ship a year or so ago. Interesting that of all the places we could have chosen, we both wanted to go back there.

After a while we were asked to switch and go stand under a sign for a place we would definitely NOT want to go. I went straight to the "Cave" sign, since I do NOT like caves. I had plenty of company there. As you might expect, several people were clustered under the "Antarctica" sign, and I beelined it over there to ask them why not??? Main answer, "Because I don't like to be cold." I explained I was not really cold while there, since the temperature was in the 30's and I was properly dressed--and reminded them when I returned and got off the plane in St. Louis it was 16 degrees!!! They were surprised to learn it's that warm during Antarctica's summer. Many people have misconceptions about this little known part of our world.

Another short break and we went to the craft tables. We'd been told to bring a white tee shirt or other garment to decorate. On two tables were lots of beads, feathers, fringe, and other interesting baubles for gluing, sewing or tying on--plus markers, glue guns, pins and scissors.
Here's a retreater contemplating what next to put on her shirt. These were to be our costumes for "Celebrating the Body Beautiful"--which turned out to be Belly Dancing!







Let's see...feathers, beads, fringe,
glitter, colored markers, tinsel...so much to choose from.


How can I decide what to do?










I forgot to bring a shirt, but someone had brought extra garments, so I chose to decorate a purple bra.....



...and here it is!




And yes, I actually did wear it later in the day.


And no, I'm not going to post a picture.





After another short break we gathered for Pat to lead us in a "music and healing" activity which involving using tones to do something called "aligning our chakras". Hmmmmm. I don't know if I got mine aligned, but it was fun to do.

I especially liked the "singing bowls". One of our group has been to Napal and brought those along for the program.






After a yummy lunch prepared by the camp staff we sang songs, table by table, according to the song lyrics put on our tables in advance.















One of the tables had "Hava Nagila" as their assigned song. After singing it once, they formed a conga line and all of us sang while they trouped through the room!












After lunch we gathered for the Maori Art Circle activity. First we were asked to draw a large circle on a piece of paper. Then we were instructed to draw within the circle one of each of the following symbols: bird, flower, mountain, snake, path, shelter, butterfly, and tree. That took several minutes; then the leader explained how to interpret what we had drawn. The circle is divided into four quadrants, representing physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental aspects of an individual. Each of the eight symbols represents a facet of life. Where you place each symbol, as well as its size and position related to the other symbols, determines it's relative significance in your life. It sounds kinky but was surprisingly accurate for many of us. Fun to do anyway.
Here's a shot of someone else's circle. (Mine was done in pastels and wouldn't have shown up as well as this one.)














After another break we divided into small groups to discuss our spiritual journeys--how we came to be where we are. It's always interesting to hear the stories of the paths others have taken in seeking spiritual fulfillment and peace. There are often similarities in our stories, but also a lot of intriguing differences. It's another wonderful way we come to learn and care about each other during the retreats.

Another short break--to get gussied up--and then came Belly Dancing! A couple of the women in our group have actually had lessons and they showed us how it's done. The music was great, and there was no one else to watch, so we all had a great time shimmying and shaking our booties! Some women chose not to participate, but at the retreat there is no pressure to do anything, so that's OK.

We have a saying that "What happens at the retreat, stays at the retreat", so I chose this picture because the shadows pretty much make everyone anonymous. The blonde lady in the center has had lessons. I'm telling you, she has those moves down pat--and she's about 3 years older than I am! Sheesh!







The next activity was a smorgasbord of "pampering", including the low impact aerobic class I led, a massage therapist who donated her time for tips, a nail station, and just a lot of general relaxing and schmoozing.

Here's Jan doing her nails.


Dinner was excellent, and afterwards Pat led us in an African chant, which some of us had learned the year before and always enjoy singing. Then it was time for charades!
I didn't get any pictures during charades, because I was too busy to grab my camera. For the past several years I've been writing charades for others to act out and I've been the timer as well--so, I never got to play before. This year someone wrote up additional charades so I could draw from that batch and play along--great fun! It may sound hokey, but I guarantee when a bunch of women let their hair down and have to pantomine various words, it can get hysterically funny--and it did. We laughed until we hurt. That's such a great and healthy thing to be able to do. Laughter, I've heard it said, is "internal jogging". Well, we jogged up a storm Sat night! We played charades until nearly 10. Some of us trundled off to bed, but a few diehards stayed up until midnight, enjoying the snacks and each other's company.

Our Sunday morning started off with another yoga class. After breakfast we had our morning worship service. Each year one or two people are assigned to develop the service, and it's always different and very special. This time it was about Ayervedic Yoga, and began with a wonderful cleansing chant done with a CD. Again this might sound kind of "new agey", but it was enjoyable and felt powerful to do as a group. The speaker taught us about three types of meditation and we practiced each for a short time. Very relaxing. And something I ought to do more often.

After the service, everyone pitched in to clean up, return furniture to the assigned places, and pack to return to our respective homes. I should add that the weather was wonderfully cooperative for us all three days, and it was actually in the 70's by the time I got back home!
As I unpacked the car I noticed my crocuses were up again and really blooming big time! Here's a shot of early Spring in Southern Illinois.
It may get cold again for a day or two, but when you see these bright little guys, you know Spring is definitely on the way! And after the Winter we've had, we are ready!
LATE BREAKING FLASH! My personal weather forecaster person, aka my Mother, just called to ask me if I had "plenty of provisions on hand". Apparently another nasty winter storm is headed our way tonight with snow, sleeet, freezing rain and ice. It's already raining and the temperature has dropped from the 60's to 40. I just took out the trash, and I swear it dropped another 5 degrees while I was doing that. (I just checked my outside thermometer again, and by golly it did drop 3 degrees--so it's definitely cooling off quickly.) Oh, yuck. Here we go again.

1 comment:

Laura said...

I love your retreat. And I would have been at Antartica right there with you.