September 19-25

Art objects on display during Theosofest

It was a second consecutive quiet week at Indralaya with no program. This gave Leonie and I the opportunity to leave Orcas for a few days. Prior to departing, we began the initial phases in planning and scheduling Indralaya's 2012 program.

Over the weekend, Leonie attended the 100th anniversary celebration of the Theosophical Society in Portland, where she shared a few thoughts about her father, Harry Van Gelder, who was being honored as part of the festivities.

Harry in the meadow, circa the early 1990’s

I was in Seattle participating in a weekend program with R J Stewart and Anastacia Nutt, who were leaders of the Sea Temple Retreat that began the Indralaya program year back in January. It is exciting to announce that R J and Anastasia will be returning to Indralaya next year to lead an Inner Temples Retreat and Convocation from September 20-23.

Fall staffers Kendra, Caitlin, & Jake

Meanwhile, Jake Doty and fellowship staffer Caitlin McKimmy were back at Indralaya, processing the fruit harvest and tending to various other responsibilities.

looking north along the Indralaya shore

September 12-18

It was a quiet and peaceful week at Indralaya as the program that had been scheduled for the weekend was cancelled. This offered the opportunity to catch up on various things around camp that had been waiting until the end of the busy summer season.

Some random statistics from the 2011 season as it begins to wind down:

Number of people registered for work parties & programs: 1,084
People on Daily Staff (3 hour workers): 261 (24%)
Fellowship staff & interns: 14
Wwoofers (garden staff): 5
Resident staff: 2
Program Presenters & Coordinators: 33 (thank you!)
Programs: 19
Sold-out programs: 7
Cancelled programs: 2
Work Parties: 6
Eggs consumed: approximately 15,840 (an estimated 1,320 cartons)
Emails sent since January 1: 2,715
Blog hits since January 1: 5,530
Website visits since January 1: 9,230
Evening gatherings in the Grove: 28
Morning meditations in the Library: 87
Beautiful memories: who can say?

August 25 - September 11

Painting Pictures with Words

It's a well known aphorism that one picture is worth a thousand words. This week's entry will attempt to turn that premise inside out and provide a written portrait of the activities of the past few weeks. This is driven somewhat by necessity, as we were away for some of the time and I somehow wasn't inclined to pick up the camera immediately upon our return.

A Musical Interlude

On August 26, Indralaya hosted a donor's appreciation picnic for the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, with over 80 people attending. Indralaya was chosen for the setting in part because festival co-founders Aloysia Friedmann and Jon Kimura (Jackie) Parker have ties here that go back many years, to when Aloysia would visit for summer programs with her parents. The picnic featured a couple surprise musical performances, first by Aloysia and her father Martin, accompanied by Jackie, performing portions of a Bach Concerto for two violins and piano that Jackie had pulled off of the internet using the dining hall computer just a few minutes earlier. That was followed by a violin and piano duet featuring Jackie and Martin Chalifour.

It was a busy few days preparing for the picnic after the end of the Levey program on the 24th. In some ways, the effort seemed to take even more energy than is usually needed for the transition between programs. Fortunately, there were several volunteers on hand to help things flow smoothly. Thanks to Lin Bauer, Laurie Rotecki, Michael Short, Liz Speorri, Crystal Mossman, Helen Bee, Jake Doty, Marshall Peabody, Ian Van Gelder & Peter Van Gelder!

Work Party Weekend.

Just over 30 people participated in the annual Labor Day/Plum Pickin' work party. Leonie and I were away catching a breather after the busy summer. Several people stepped in to help lead the weekend and by all reports it was a fun, collaborative and productive weekend. Particular thanks to Kari Van Gelder, Jake, Crystal, Megan Barnes, Carol Bee, and Lars Erickson for taking on additional responsibility for the weekend!

As in many past years, the plums weren't actually quite ready for the pickin' that is promised in this late summer/early fall work weekend and we may have to consider changing its name for future years - any suggestions out there among the readership?

Theosofest

This past weekend over 125 people participated in Indralaya's first Theosofest. The weekend was an open house for both local folks and those staying at camp. There were several different elements woven together: an art exhibition in the dining hall featuring local artists opening with a Friday night reception; a Saturday morning open house, offering tours and seven different workshops and presentations; a Saturday evening Deep Singing session in the teepee; and a pancake breakfast Sunday morning benefiting the Orcas Island Food Bank. There was a lot of positive response to the weekend and the pancake breakfast raised nearly $400 for the food bank.

Thanks to all who participated, particularly Régent Pellerin and Sandora Hedrich for coordinating the art exhibition; Deep Singing leader Helen Bee; and presenters Stanton Stevens & Amelia Bare, Dave Rowley, Kim Fairbanks & Susan Slapin, Liz Francis, Minor Lile, Lynne Riley, Kathi Ciskowski & Polly Sanford.