Not really a weekend update.
The last post, cross-posted from my "real blog," sort of sums up the most I want to say about my weekend.
Friday I had off, and the power was out when I woke up, which was odd. All the ridiculous rain and horrid storms we've had and NOW it goes out? I suspect someone disconnected something incorrectly in the middle of another fix. It was only out for a few hours and was barely an inconvenience.
The drive to the monastery was fine, I eventually left the rain zone into a glorious sunny afternoon. There was terrible traffic in Frederick. But I found the place no problem.
I'm sure that bits and pieces of my experience (I wrote extensively in a notebook the whole weekend) will make their way here or to my blog or various other outlets over time. It was a very good experience, one I hope to repeat in the future. Sometime when the vagaries of life and vacation leave allow!
On the drive home, I felt a little let down. I was happy to go back to see my own cats and to my own life, but was wondering how well that serenity would travel with me. As I drove slowly down one of the pitted country lanes that surrounded the place, an enormous grasshopper thunked down onto my car's hood, just forward from the windshield-wiper-well. I was only driving 15-20 MPH, and he wasn't getting dislodged. So he turned around and faced into the wind. I drove like that for a while, slowly, peering happily over the dashboard at my little passenger. Eventually I got to a road where I had to go more than 25 MPH, and the little guy had to disembark. I'm sure he had an awesome story to tell all the new grasshoppers he was about to meet.
Yesterday afternoon was laundry and groceries and back-to-reality stuff. The cats were very happy to see me, maybe as happy as I was to see them!
Friday I had off, and the power was out when I woke up, which was odd. All the ridiculous rain and horrid storms we've had and NOW it goes out? I suspect someone disconnected something incorrectly in the middle of another fix. It was only out for a few hours and was barely an inconvenience.
The drive to the monastery was fine, I eventually left the rain zone into a glorious sunny afternoon. There was terrible traffic in Frederick. But I found the place no problem.
I'm sure that bits and pieces of my experience (I wrote extensively in a notebook the whole weekend) will make their way here or to my blog or various other outlets over time. It was a very good experience, one I hope to repeat in the future. Sometime when the vagaries of life and vacation leave allow!
On the drive home, I felt a little let down. I was happy to go back to see my own cats and to my own life, but was wondering how well that serenity would travel with me. As I drove slowly down one of the pitted country lanes that surrounded the place, an enormous grasshopper thunked down onto my car's hood, just forward from the windshield-wiper-well. I was only driving 15-20 MPH, and he wasn't getting dislodged. So he turned around and faced into the wind. I drove like that for a while, slowly, peering happily over the dashboard at my little passenger. Eventually I got to a road where I had to go more than 25 MPH, and the little guy had to disembark. I'm sure he had an awesome story to tell all the new grasshoppers he was about to meet.
Yesterday afternoon was laundry and groceries and back-to-reality stuff. The cats were very happy to see me, maybe as happy as I was to see them!