This was my second silent retreat – this one for two days, not four – and Maria and I both needed it. We were in silence from Friday to Sunday afternoon (I returned, as all of us do,  to a blizzard of bills, e-mails, messages, packages, chores) and this is a valuable, precious experience. No cell phones, Ipads, computers. No conversation, not even during meals. I looked inward, and saw a person in transition. I gave thanks for the great progress I have made in moving beyond the fear that gripped me for so much of my life. I remember awful fear during last year’s retreat. Sometimes, in the silence, fearful things bubble up, old things.  I return to a world that is changing for me, and for Maria. The farm is on the market, change and rebirth are everywhere. In the morning, I will post the news about the New Bedlam Farm – just making sure the owners say it is okay for me to do that.

I wrote some poems at the retreat – it is very good for that – and I will post one or two of them also. Poetry, like photography, is rising up in me. Poems dancing in my head. I had a strong sensation of a good creative year ahead of me, and when I got home, the final manuscript for my first original E-Book, “Rose” (we don’t exactly have a title yet) and edited version of my fourth children’s book, “Simon Says Good Night.”  “Dancing Dogs,”  my first short-story collection is all done, and out in September. I am excited about this year.  Glad to be back. More later.