March 21-27

A prominent theme for the week was that of continuity with the recent and more distant past. The week began with an appreciation of our Indralaya elders and ended with the departure of the VW vanagon that was purchased as a ferry shuttle vehicle in 2007. On the days in between various other projects and responsibilities received attention.



Registration Update
On Saturday, confirmations for nearly 150 family week participants were processed and sent. So far, over 500 people have been registered for all our 2011 programs and work parties!

Two upcoming programs are now fully registered, the Self-Healing Invitational with Robyn Finseth and Family Week Two. Wait lists have been started for both these programs. Deep Singing week will also be full soon, as there are just a handful of remaining spaces available.



A Peachy New Pear Cabin
The analogy of building your house on a solid foundation is familiar to all of us. Perhaps it has something to do with the tried and true theosophical tradition of doing things in a somewhat contrary manner that with Pear cabin this concept was turned on its head to some degree, as a solid new cabin has been being built on top of a questionable foundation. This situation was amended this past week as maintenance staffer Thea Patten and volunteer Michael Short established several new footings and replaced much of the old foundation.

new water tap

Life-giving Waters
Some changes to the water delivery systems in the dining hall have also been recently completed. A new filtered water tap was added in the coffee kitchen and a hot water tank for the basement washing machine was installed. This washing machine is used primarily for bed sheets and linens, so hot water is an essential ingredient.

new water heater

Waste Water Systems
While work was being done on altering the library roof line earlier this year (see January 10-16), we learned that the tree that fell between the roundhouse and library a couple years ago had cracked the lid to a waste water tank when it came down. This week the tree was cut so that we could get access to and replace the lid.

Note the hollow tree core above right - soon to be an Indralaya planter!

This holding tank is one component of Indralaya's septic system. It contains waste water that has been pumped up from another holding tank that services the three waterfront cabins (Cedar, Ocean Spray and Kunz). Water from the tank is then pumped to a drainfield located in the meadow. This is the largest of Indralaya's five drainfields. The holding tank is one of 11 waste water tanks that are on the property. Recent county regulations require that these be inspected regularly and I recently attended a workshop for this purpose.

Wake Up and Smell the Roses

In between continuing to plant new starts in several of the garden beds, Chelsea Cates, our new garden coordinator (see the March 7-13 entry for more about Chelsea) also found time to tend to the rose bushes located along the SE corner of the garden fence.

Good-bye Vanagon ~~~

March 14-20

The honor of being an Indralaya Elder was bestowed upon three prominent members of the community this past weekend. Helen Bee, John Levey and Linda Jo Pym joined six others who have received this recognition in the past.

Elders are those who are recognized for their capacity to transform accumulated life experience into wisdom and insight that can be shared with others. In choosing these three outstanding individuals to represent the qualities of being an elder in the Indralaya community, the Board of Directors expresses its respect and admiration for their many contributions to camp life over the years.

Linda Jo Pym & John Levey

Linda Jo, John and Helen have collectively served camp in almost every possible capacity: program leader, crew boss, pot washer, pie maker, head cook, resident manager, camp manager, and on. In addition, each has served as chair of the Board of Directors and their combined service on the Board accumulates to nearly sixty years. Perhaps most importantly, they have, each and every one, given fully of themselves in service to Indralaya.

Helen Bee

Each has been presented with a signed certificate that states the following:

“In recognition of your lifelong involvement, abiding commitment, unyielding devotion and wise counsel, we, the undersigned members of the Board of Directors of the Orcas Island Foundation, do hereby, and with great love and respect, confer upon you the status of Indralaya Elder, with all the privileges and honors attendant therein”

In receiving this honor, these three join a select group to be so named by the Board of Directors. John Abbenhouse, Dorothy Abbenhouse, Austin Bee, Phoebe Bee, John Roberts and Marjorie Toren are the others who have been named as Indralaya Elders in years past.

“ … elders serve a higher purpose as well as a deeper order. Elders lead by remembering back further than others as well as by seeing more clearly ahead. Elders serve as ‘seers’ who can see behind and beyond the politics of the day and perceive the needs of the future .... In becoming wise old souls, the elders more firmly know and more clearly hold the inner sense of meaning and purpose that first surfaced during their youth.”

Michael Meade, “Fate and Destiny: The Two Agreements of the Soul”

UNSEEN BUDS

Walt Whitman

Unseen buds, infinite, hidden well,

Under the snow and ice, under the darkness, in every square or cubic inch,

Germinal, exquisite, in delicate lace, microscopic, unborn

Like babes in wombs, latent, folded, compact, sleeping;

Billions of billions, and trillions of trillions of them waiting,

(On earth and in the sea--the universe--the stars there in the heavens)

Urging slowly, surely forward, forming endless,

And waiting ever more, forever more behind.

March 7-13

Springtime signs continue to emerge from the fertile soil of Indralaya. Daffodils and Crocuses have arisen from the ground and the first beds have been planted in the garden. Registrations continue to arrive at an impressive clip. On Thursday, we left for a few days in Seattle. As a consequence we were not here when the wave created by the powerful earthquake just off the coast of Japan arrived. In Friday Harbor, there was a measurable effect as buoys in the harbor rose approximately 0.3 feet.

This Old Stove
Last November, we were reminded that those who regularly visit Indralaya in the summer are not necessarily acquainted with the wood burning stove that heats the dining room during fall, winter and spring programs. We felt renewed appreciation for the dining hall stove during last week's Sea Temple Retreat. While there were challenges in heating some of the cabins for the weekend, the dining hall was warm and cozy the entire time. The stove was donated by Chris Senn in the late 1990's. The stove usually makes its annual migration to the basement at the end of the therapeutic touch programs in June and returns during the Plum Pickin' work party over Labor Day Weekend.


Waking up the Garden
Leonie was joined by Chelsea Cates and Mark House in planting the first starts (lettuce, arugula, cilantro, & parsley) of the 2011 season on Wednesday. We were introduced to Chelsea through longtime Indralaya friends Bill and Barbara Humes. Mark is the assistant garden manager at John Jeavon's Ecology Action Garden in Willits, CA, where Chelsea was an intern in 2009. The raised beds in the Indralaya garden were inspired by Jeavon's sustainable mini-farming biointensive methods.

Mark & Chelsea

We are excited that Chelsea has agreed to serve as Indralaya's garden coordinator for the coming year. Chelsea will be working in the garden for 10-12 hours a week through the fall. She is an Orcas Island resident and also the garden keeper for the Orcas Island School District.

Inner Administration
We were in Seattle to attend a weekend satsang with Adyashanti. Adya is a 48 year old Californian who teaches a form of non-dual awareness. He is a remarkable teacher, with a capacity to lead one right to the awareness of the deeper reality that is always present just behind the veil of everyday life. The time was composed of meditation, discourse and interactive dialogue between Adya and participants.

The weekend provided a timely opportunity to step back slightly from the busyness of our responsibilities at Indralaya and to re-connect with the sense of calling and desire to be of service that informs our work here. Among other things, we recognized once again how important it is to assure that there is also time for stillness and reflection in the midst of everything else that happens.

Heading home, we met a pod of Orca in the channel between Orcas and Shaw Island.
(click any photo to see it full size)

February 28 - March 6

A rare early season program provided the ingredients for a somewhat intense week at Indralaya. The below freezing temperatures that had defined the previous week continued into the early days of this week, which meant that the water in the dining hall and plumbing cabins couldn't be safely turned on until Tuesday.

This made for a very busy few days leading into the program as turning the water back on inevitably leads to a few surprises. This year, for example, we learned that over the winter someone had turned the power to the empty hot water tank on in Moss, which burned out the heating element. From Moss it was on to Wisteria, where one of the plumbing lines under the cabin had somehow come uncoupled. Once that was repaired and the water was on, a sour smell began to emerge from the shower drain. Whether that has something to do with last year's installation of a new shower in the cabin remains to be seen.

Cedar cabin was next. At the February work party a crew had installed plywood skirting around the base of Cedar to keep out the otters that have been eating their meals under the cabin. One problem with the project emerged - no human access point had been provided, so when water was heard running under the cabin the only way to get at it was to pry off one sheet of the plywood skirting. Fortunately, once there was access the problem was easily solved. It was also fortunate that turning on the water in the rest of the cabins and dining hall went smoothly.

There was further fortune in having the help of maintenance staffers Mike and Thea during the run up to the program. Mike helped with the water problems and also installed a new filtered water tap in the coffee kitchen, while Thea was busy tacking chicken wire to some of the slippery porches around camp.

On Tuesday, Linda Jo Pym and Kathy Miners were here for an afternoon visit. Linda Jo and I spent some time working with the registration program, while Leonie and Kathy cleaned cabins. Crystal Mossman, along with Kari and Margot Van Gelder also came by and provided much needed support. Crystal prepared bread and granola for the weekend while Kari cleaned up the dining hall and lounge. Margot cleaned up branches and other debris from the labyrinth.

Crystal prepares bread

On Thursday morning it felt like everything was ready to go. It was a bit of a shock, then, to check the morning weather and find out that an 80% chance of sleet (sleet?!?) was forecast for the next 24 hours. However, it seems as if someone had put in a good word with the weather gods, for the sleet never came and in fact the sun was out for much of the weekend. It was hard to deny that Spring was arriving in each moment.

By Thursday night, the 44 participants attending the program had arrived and the 2011 program season was underway! The program was a Sea Temple Retreat, led by RJ Stewart and Anastasia Nutt. Their teachings are rooted in the faery tradition of the British Isles. During the weekend, we were led on a series of inner journeys and visualizations aligning with and attuning to the powers and energies of the Sea Temple. Among other attributes and qualities, this inner temple of the West is said to be the source of love and compassion on our watery planet. On Sunday morning there was a procession to near east beach, where offerings were made to the sea.

Among the participants were Shelagh and John Levey. On Saturday we celebrated Shelagh's birthday. John and Shelagh noted that 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of their first visit to Indralaya. This leads one to speculate on how we might open our arms to a family or families that will visit for the first time this year so that they might still be coming with their children and grandchildren forty years hence.

happy birthday Shelagh!

Shara waits for the bell to ring

This was the first visit to Indralaya for both Mary and Beth. Mary attended therapeutic touch camps at Pumpkin Hollow, Indralaya's sister camp in upstate NY, during the 1990's.

at the beach

offerings

RJ pipes the offerings to sea: