Joy Dare Monday: Home from Retreat

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I spent last Tuesday to Friday at the Mt. Calvary Community at St. Mary's Retreat House in Santa Barbara. Monks from The Order of Holy Cross (they're an Episcopal Benedictine order) run the place.


The retreat house now has a beehive. I'm not going to show you the kajillion photos I took of the bees going in and out of the hive (just one) but it was fascinating to watch and very difficult to take photos of. I also didn't know how close I'd be allowed to get, although I remembered much later an article I read about beekeeping and a post out there in the blogosphere about how close they could get to a hive -- until the bees got partially Africanized.

So maybe the next time I'm up there, I'll go in a bit closer. There was dead honeycomb on the ground that looked just fabulous for a collage piece.

I had a lovely retreat. This time my husband and a friend came along, which meant less quiet time, but all spent in good company.

305. not rushing
306. delivery of book [a gift hiding]
307. Easter candy 50% off
308. good company
309. vibrancy of young retreat group
310. turtles




311. rushing of swollen creek


(this was taken during a break in the rain, not the greatest lighting)
312. sunlight breaking trough rain clouds and filling canyon with green
313. little tiny daisies amidst yellow lilies [a gift budding/blooming]
314. great wisps of cloud moving steadily south -- so small am I; and they but water drops yet magnificent
315. morning bird chatter: "I am here! I am here!" God is here.
316. sunlight hitting the rocky ridge opposite
317. my associate's cross [a gift worn]
318. yellow roses on a fence




319. bees working




320. a moth flexing wings on the gravel path
321. a largish bird hiding in a bush
322. benches that I have not seen before here and yet have been there for a while
323. set in rain
324. lightning! thunder!
325. a break in the weather so I could walk the labyrinth
326. lilacs!




327. blue clouds, reflecting the last bit of sun at twilight.
328, gusty winds like home
329. red throated hummingbird hovering in one place above a tree [gift looking up]
330. bird flying overhead, pumping wings like the breaststroke.
331. boba tea

Am linking this up to Ann Voskamp's "multitudes on Mondays" (or will as soon as it goes up!)

Comments

  1. Richelle WrightApril 16, 2012 at 10:10 AM

    sounds so lovely ~ and that turtle picture was really cool!

    visiting from Ann's.

    blessings!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alida SharpApril 16, 2012 at 5:36 PM

    What incredible blessings...and I love your photos!

    ReplyDelete

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