There were a couple of heavy rainfalls on Orcas this past week, with close to an inch of rain on Wednesday and another downpour of just over an inch on Saturday night. A blocked drain line at the dining room resulted in a 2” flood of water in the basement. With the help of Crystal Mossman and Chappy’s Septic Service, we were able to get the water flowing again on Sunday. It turned out that the blocked line was caused by tree roots that had broken through the drain tile and grown to the point where the water could no longer flow around them.
The following videos will give some idea of what things looked like both in the basement and in the meadow, where there was a large pool of standing water on Sunday. Please excuse the amateur production values - I’m still learning how to use my new Flip video camera - editing is next!
Comings and Goings
Pia Van Gelder, our niece from Sydney, Australia, was on the island for several days just after Thanksgiving and stayed over at camp for a couple nights at the beginning of the week. It had been over four years since Pia’s last visit to camp. In our previous stint at Indralaya, her visits to see her dad (Arthur Van Gelder) had been more frequent and she was able to visit camp almost every year.
Pia, Leonie & Minor
On Wednesday we headed to Seattle for a couple nights. I returned to Orcas on Friday, while Leonie headed to Bainbridge Island for another Sound and Healing workshop with Pat Moffit-Cook. Pat developed a close following at Indralaya through the six Fall workshops she led here from 2000-2005.
Many Indralaya folk continue to participate in Pat’s Open Ear Center workshops, including Lin Bauer, Liba Stafl, Greg and Janie Reboulet, Frances Krygier, Bev Forster, Rifaat and David Fay, Jeannie Chamberlain, Kathy Wilmering, Cordy Anderson, Linda Shockey, Robert Glasner, Nancy Frey, Dianna Blom, Anna Thelen, Carol Krasel, Janet McCully, Marsha McEwan, Claire Van Bloem, Tim Hulley, Deb Seidel, and Anne Walker - apologies to anyone I missed.
While we were gone, Brian Davies, a chief volunteer in the library, arrived and spent several days both by himself and with Phoebe Bee working on their current project to re-label the book collection.
On Sunday, I took another niece, Ian and Kari Van Gelder’s daughter Margot, to the annual Christmas concert of the Orcas Choral Society. It was a wonderful performance. Margot told me afterwards that the hours flew by like minutes. Two highlights were a performance of “The Lamb”, a Sir John Taverner piece with lyrics by William Blake, and “Lux Aurumque”, words by Edward Esch and music by Eric Whitacre. Indralaya friends Helen Bee, Antoinette Botsford, Herlwyn Lutz, Penny Sharp Sky, and Tina Rose all performed with the 58 member choir.
2011 Program Preview
Over the next few weeks, check back for a sneak preview of next year’s programs. It’s looking like a great line-up and we are really excited about the way things have come together. This week, a quick look at programs for the Spring.
The program season will begin early with a Sea Temple Retreat with R.J. Stewart, March 3-6. R.J. is a fairly well known teacher of western esoteric traditions. The Sea Temple is the hidden temple of the West. It is said to be rooted in love and compassion and to hold the gateways for planetary change from within the deepest heart of our world.
Enrollment for this program is limited to 35 participants and there is already a great deal of interest. Early registration will be available through the Indralaya website in the next couple weeks. Please notify us if you are interested and we will let you know when registration opens up.
April 28-May 1 will see the return of Grace Crowley, leading her fifth mindfulness meditation retreat at Indralaya. Past program participants have often expressed appreciation for Grace’s insight, clarity and capacity to set an appropriate tone for the meditation weekend.
Carl Calleman will lead a program on “2012 and the Tree of Life” on the weekend of May 5-8. Carl has authored several books on the Mayan Calendar and 2012. He was a good friend of John Roberts and initially became interested in these themes, which have become very much his life work, when he attended a 1991 workshop at Indralaya that was led by Peter Balin.
May 19-22 will offer Basic and Intermediate Therapeutic Touch with Jane Cornman, Cathy Fanslow-Brunjes, and Cedrun Sterling.
On June 2-5, Robyn Finseth will offer an invitational workshop on self-healing. Robyn is a chiropractor and healer in the Portland area. Robyn is married to Gary Finseth, and is the daughter of Ken and Bea Lawrence. She worked closely with Harry Van Gelder and has been coming to Indralaya for her entire life.
There will also be at least three work parties: President’s Day Feb 18-21, Easter April 22-24, and Memorial Day, May 27-30. In addition to these traditional gatherings, we are considering a Spring Cleaning work party as well as the possibility of a work party to finish up work on Pear cabin.
Next week a glimpse at what’s in store for next summer.
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