Sacred Work

One of the greatest pleasures and privileges in life is doing work that expresses our passion, talents and gifts. The most fortunate people on earth are those that, first of all, asked for their destiny calling to be revealed to them, and secondly, are able to work their unique calling.

This morning, I woke well before dawn in anticipation of making a spectacular breakfast for several guests who came to Adytum last night for Monday night football and then snowboarding today ~ guy’s night out, midweek. Donn and I have 5 sons/sons in law. Feeding them is so incredibly gratifying because they are so grateful. Even though several are phenomenal cooks themselves, you’d think they hadn’t eaten a decent meal in months. There are abundant compliments, lots of appreciative noises and of course no leftovers. They have proved to be part of the training for my destiny calling, teaching me to love waking early to make breakfast, and now for Adytum guests. It gives me tremendous satisfaction and pleasure to create abundant, healthy meals for others!

When my kids were growing up, we took a family vacation to the Paul Bunyan territory of Northern California. The breakfast we enjoyed, lumberjack style seated at long picnic tables, was enormous. I realized then that starting the day with seriously substantial food was something worth learning to cultivate. Now I know that healthy foods set the blood sugar regulation for the day and start the calories burning.

Even on days when we use Medical Foods Protein Shakes, or if guests request them, they are packed with extras like ground flaxseeds, brewer’s yeast, green drink powder, fiber powder and are blended with banana and frozen blueberries.  We’ve been using them for 16 years now and the anti- aging effects of these lifestyle choices are remarkable; definitely worth cultivating as a lifestyle…We have insurance and we never use it. Our blood pressure is that of a 10 year old. We take no prescription medicines. Our blood sugar level is great. We enjoy great health because we purposefully pursue it in our choices.

Taking responsibility for the foods that others eat has always been a weighty responsibility for me, one that I take seriously. The goodness of the Adytum table, the healthy dishes full of freshness and purity are the foundation of meals here. Creating tantalizing combinations of flavors, textures and giving the eye a visual feast is where great meals begin.

Having been trained as a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, as a healer on natural levels, means that my food or healing therapies should first “do no harm”. I can’t imagine sacrificing the momentary pleasure of a high sugar, high fat meal just to please the uneducated palette of some, to knowing I have just inflicted harm on health. My conscience is clear that the foods guests and family are presented with are nourishing, healthful, beautiful and delicious. The food has integrity and it is cooked, as my East Indian son in law would say, with “the scent of the hands”- which is love.

In 1666, there was a monk named Brother Lawrence working the kitchens in the monastery. He became famous for one thing: practicing the presence of God while he worked among the pots and pans, chopping and preparing food. He didn’t divide his life up into worship and prayer times segmented into different scenarios. For Brother Lawrence, it was all work, all prayer, all worship and usually all at once.

In the early predawn hour when I am working in the Adytum kitchen, trying hard to be quiet so guests can sleep, I too am practicing the presence of God. I am praying over the days’ plans for those I am cooking for, asking for guidance, blessing and protection for them. I set the atmosphere in the house with softly spoken words asking for peace, love, joy, harmony and connecting at deep levels. And of course, the food is prayed over before it is set at the main table or carried up to their suites.

The fruit of all the extra steps that go into meals at Adytum is well worth every bit of effort and extra focus that it takes to create it. The results of consciously setting the atmosphere here is interesting…even the young adults who are usually set on “getting out there” to the mountain or the lake are always reluctant to leave. “It’s so relaxing; it’s hard to leave…” I hear this often. And often I watch their plans abandoned to simply following their heart’s desire to stay here for the day to relax, use the hot tub or saunas, to read, to rest…some choose to stay on another day and those who don’t always say they wish they had planned another day at Adytum.

Adytum is sacred space and I do my sacred work here.  I love the expression of my destiny calling: caring for others with love, integrity and creating space for healing on deep levels that go far beyond the body’s needs. The impact of the natural beauty all around, the 75 windows making it hard to define the line of inside/outside, the soft music inside, the water and bird music filling the air outside…the fresh, clean air and territorial views…the enormous sky filled with brilliant sunshine, misty clouds or star shine…Adytum meets deep needs in the human heart, mind and spirit.

To be able to do the work I love, that gives me such a sense of living a fulfilling life, is a rare privilege. To be able to combine it with writing and working with my soulmate at our Optometry clinic, offering Nutritional Therapy to those there…well, let’s just say it’s all a dream come true and the Castle Adytum is part of the fairytale of my life that I’m so happy to share with all who come to this magical destination…exalted space.

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The Christmas Machine and The Child of Wonder

Like the earthquake we endured only 3 miles from the epicenter this month here at Adytum, my heart was shaken hard yesterday as I tried running with the herds in the malls for a few wretched hours. I will take control of this Season of Light and let the shaking open the doors of my heart once again to sense the Wonder Child’s residing there, offering hope to the world and forgiveness for our failings. This is the Gift of the Season, no matter what ends up under the soaring Christmas tree in the Tower Room.

Thanksgiving has accomplished the majority of the goals of the season: the ingathering of family and friends after their diaspora of summer life. We kept the meal simple, time in the lovely Adytum kitchen to a minimum and lots of emphasis poring over old photos that showed how long we’ve all loved each other. It was rich and noble. Enduring.

The next day for the first time ever, my daughter and I tried joining with thousands of Black Friday shoppers at the mall while some brake work on her Honda was being done nearby.  What a jolt from the peaceful, deep time we’d just had at Adytum. The complete lack of parking, the flood of people, overwhelming scents in the shops, the red “sale” signage pasted everywhere seeking to manipulate shoppers into overspending for fear of missing a deal, the inability to walk a straight line at a decent pace…never again. My senses, my mind ,and my spirit were so effectively overwhelmed that it took a lot of time to recover from the experience. It left me frazzled and exhausted emotionally. Not only that, but it just felt wrong deep down. I walked out with nothing except some supplies for a box we were preparing for a solider and a sense that I was compromising my integrity and the vow to never do it again in this way.

Arriving back at the sanctuary of Adytum, seeing the lovely bright lights Donn draped over the little evergreens and around the entry were calming and full of hope as the darkness increases yet another month before the Solstice. Our dear friend left a tree in my absence at the entry; over 15’ tall, and we joked as we tried to drag it with all our power up the stairs and into the Tower Room. Wresting it into the special tree stand designed for enormous trees was risking our lives, literally for me at least. One wrong move and I’d be crushed under the weight of all the beauty and glory that resided in the tree plantation just hours before, as it had for the past 7 years preparing for this day.

How appropriate to live out the story that my spirit sensed in the city’s mall earlier by coming home to struggle with this Behemoth Christmas tree: life is full of fine lines and delicate balances. Ignore this and risk being crushed under the assumed glory and beauty of it all.  Later when I saw a humorous face book posting about entering this religious season where everyone seeks out the mall of their choice, instead of place of worship of their choice, it all fell into place…

This season I will not be consumed by the Christmas Machine with all its assumed glory and beauty that just ends up in percentage gains posted on the financial market boards post season. We have a large family and I’ve felt such a sense of responsibility making Christmas “happen” for everyone. Like a cloak I am shedding, I am not going to pick that up this false sense of responsibility again.

I’ve been known to be a late bloomer…Donn laughs and says, “You’re just now figuring all this out?”  He’s been on this journey longer than I and avoided the holiday crush long ago. I thought his avoidance was a “man thing” and took up the slack with renewed vigor not realizing I didn’t have to do it either. We will give the great gift of Christmas to ourselves this year. What’s good for us will be good for the rest of our family.

I will retreat into the simplicity, beauty and peace that will define the next month at Adytum. Instead of focusing on all the parties, gifts to yet buy, meals to plan and shopping to get those meals on the table, the focus will be on one thing:

The birth of the Christ Child, The Child of Wonder being born once again in our hearts. Taking our humble offer of room in our “inn” and turning it into a palace fit for the birth of a great King. The twelfth century Persian Sufi poet Rumi taught: “…only the unsayable, jeweled inner life matters.” In order to remain true to my matrix, the core values that make life meaningful, creating sacred space in this Adytum of my heart to know this Child of Wonder more fully is the emphasis and gift of the season.

The fresh, clean scent of the forest fills Adytum because of the spontaneous sharing of our friend. It is not the manufactured “Christmas in a Can” I was encouraged to pay for yesterday to create a Christmas ambiance here.  We are the fragrance of the Christ Child: our acts of love, generosity and kindness to man and nature, birds and beasts. And to our “selves” as we shed responsibilities that were never ours, but were foisted upon us by the makers of the Christmas machine. In the mall, there was nothing of the Child of Wonder to be found alive.

When Nietzsche declared God was dead it left man with the inability to cope with the need for forgiveness.  “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?”—Nietzsche, The Gay Science, Section 125, tr. Walter Kaufmann

The simple birth of the Child of Wonder born anew in our hearts offers the answer to Nietzsche’s astute observation: we need this Child. We have allowed this season to assume the Behemoth proportions of a Christmas Machine designed to boost the national economy, to crush us under the weight of our frazzled nerves and destroy the fruit of everything that Thanksgiving achieved: the ingathering of friends and family, the increase of our love and the ties that bind us. To find the Child of Wonder and commune with Him in the beauty of our jeweled inner selves, to focus on looking out for the needs of others, whether man or beast, and the spontaneous giving that results; the joy in simple companionship and the gratitude that supersedes it all: This is Christmas.

The "Safe House" is Inside

We’ve put our heart, soul, time, energy and of course a lot of money into opening the sanctuary Adytum. Yet in the final analysis, our energy is best spent cultivating the things that endure, the inner life, the sanctuary of the human spirit and focusing on what we can control…

As the earth shifted under my feet at 7:42 this morning in a 4.2 magnitude earthquake, so my focus shifts back to the unshakable core of life: the strength of spirit, life’s true purpose and the things that will remain standing no matter what hits on the surface – faith, hope and love remain.

If the high winds of yesterday that toppled trees and left many without power, and earthquake this morning had reduced all our hard work of building Adytum to rubble in a moment’s time, it’s comforting to be assured that we would still inhabit the “safe house” of our spirit. We have our personal portable sanctuary well-tended and supplied with all the essentials of a happy, abundant life. Windstorms, earthquakes, fire and flood have no power to destroy the invisible.

Yesterday, the Pacific Northwest sun assured us of her presence for exactly three minutes out of the entire rain swept day, just before branding golden brilliance into the mountainside and sliding away. High winds immediately lashed out at dusk, throwing fir branches from nearby trees like arrows against this house of glass...75 windows at last count. Each November the trees hurl their wooden missiles at the glass, some sending entire branches to break in splinters on the roof. The force is so great that large limbs will be driven like stakes into the ground. A few nights of tree warfare and we were cured.

Yesterday Paul’s Tree Service arrived with their boom truck; a bucket and lift ready to transport them to the tree tops to cut “danger trees” down in segments with huge chainsaws. Grady and Paul guided the precise direction of the fall with strong wires, roping in Donn and Pablo to pull with them on the hardest trees where the chance of real damage to existing structures was the greatest. There is a real art to dropping a tree. They all did a great job; I took pictures from a safe distance.

Danger trees…a new word learned since building here four years ago. Basically there is a fine line between forest land conservation and responsible homeownership. As newbies, we erred on the line of conservation, leaving far too many trees close to the house in our early initiation. Now we have to face the fact that our decision leaves us, our guests and Adytum in danger, and we spent dearly to fix the problem after the fact.

Paul cut about half a dozen trees down, some small but deadly snags aptly called “widow makers”; brittle old trees growing up inside established trees, or dead limbs hung up in live branches waiting to make their fatal impaling earthbound exit. A tall tree of small girth, we learned, can shatter high above unexpectedly sending shards or the entire tree down with deadly impact on unsuspecting souls beneath even in windless conditions. The work was complete just before the high winds arrived last night.

Today I prepared to clean up all the bits and pieces of last night’s windstorm off the decks, patios and porches when Adytum endured yet another blast – a 4.2 magnitude earthquake with the epicenter just three miles east of us. Maybe the proximity to the epicenter is why it registered with us as an underground explosion rather than the usual rock and roll we’ve all endured. Standing in the Tower Room with glass going about 30 feet up all around, watching it act like it was about to explode into the room…then at the last possible second return to normal was terrifying. Things that are solid are supposed to be solid! What an illusion the notion of any kind of stability is in today’s world is…the financial markets are excellent recent example. The usual “shake and sway” never manifested and we were left in those initial minutes trying to determine if our natural gas line into the house had exploded underground. The news verified the quake minutes later.

Adytum’s construction is sound and true thanks to the careful craftsmanship of Elite Builders, NW – our son’s construction company. I thanked him for that when I called to let him know all was well at Adytum. We’ve watched this castle house survive the tremendous windstorms every November without flinching: like a lighthouse taking a battering from the sea Adytum remains after the intensity has swept over her. Now being nearly on top of the epicenter of a significant earthquake and absorbing the shock with a determined grace, Adytum still stands strong, an example for those of us who read something into everything. Grace under pressure, Kennedy once remarked…

The quake preceded by the terrific force of the wind last night has left a plaque lying face down on the courtyard outside. Putting it back on the wall, Dante’s words read, “Nature is the art of God”. Sounds so sweet… The beautiful sunsets we enjoy at “happy hour” where the skies celebrate day's end in explosions of pure color are a love gift. But there is a flipside to this artistry: the terrible majesty of November’s storms, blowing in off Lake Mayfield to batter against this glass house with torrents of wind driven rain and hail. Ancient fir near the house bending like California palm trees with the gale, shored up by our prayers that they stand firm and spare the house. Now the occasional shifting of middle earth, letting pent up pressure off in an explosion of terrific force. Inside we enjoy nature’s art in peace and safety.

Adytum is built on solid rock. Still the cleansing winds and the convulsive shockwave of the earth beneath my feet remind me that everything I see can change instantly; be leveled or worse. There is destructive power in the art of God as well as artistry that feeds our souls night after night in the moments before dusk. Nature is part tender lover, part terrible majesty.  Rumi reminds me where to invest time, energy and focus, “World power means nothing. Only the unsayable, jeweled inner life matters.”

Just as we had to find the fine line between forest conservation and responsible home ownership, so our outward focus must find the fine line balance between being caught up in creating our dreams on the earth and creating our “jeweled” inner sanctuary while we still have the breath it takes to do it. It’s all we can be sure of in today’s shifting world.

Adytum’s Signature Carrot Cake

We’ve fallen into a celebratory tradition at Adytum: anniversaries, birthdays, lovers escaping for the weekend to celebrate each other again... Champagne on ice, sexy little flutes on a silver tray and Adytum’s Signature Carrot Cake provide the spark that sets these private parties aflame.  After many requests for the recipe, finally the secret’s out ~ so let the celebration begin!

I don’t remember the origins of this recipe, written on an index card with the word “excellent” in parenthesis beside the simple name Carrot Cake. But everyone’s been the recipient of this delicacy at one time or another here. Over the years when our East Indian son in law came into our family, the Cardamom and often ginger and another teaspoon or two of cinnamon found its way into the mix to infuse the Adytum kitchen with all the warmth of India and the luscious warm scent of Indian spices.

Over the years, the sugar and white flour originally inscribed on the little recipe card gave way to honey and have finally elevated into a gluten free healthy gourmet indulgence we don’t feel one shred of guilt about. It is quick and easy to make. The carrots can be grated in a Cuisinart or a simple shredder or mandolin. Feel free to substitute toasted hazelnuts or pecans for the walnuts. This is one recipe that will meld into your own creation with ease to become your own family tradition for healthy celebrations.

Adytum’s Signature Carrot Cake

¾ c honey (local, raw if possible)

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup flour: either Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose or Pamela’s Bread and Pancake Blend (preferred as it makes a lighter cake)

1 tsp baking soda

½ cup coconut oil or olive oil

1 ½ c shredded organic carrots, skin on

½ tsp sea salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cardamom (optional- adds the East Indian twist)

¼ cup EACH Bob’s Red Mill Unsweetened Coconut, chopped walnuts and currants or golden raisins

Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes…until the toothpick comes out clean.

Cool a bit and frost with

8 oz organic cream cheese

And either 2 ½ c powdered sugar and a half squeezed lemon for traditional frosting

or substitute maple syrup (no lemon, no powdered sugar) mixed in the Cuisanart with the organic cream cheese.

For anniversaries and birthdays…any celebration at all…we use individual heart ramekins for baking the Carrot Cake in.

Arachnid Artistry

There comes a singular morning, often preceded by mists and fogs of early autumn when Adytum wakes to the artistry of the spider world. Silken webs drape every bush and tree while gossamer strings extend to the next possible site of construction. The dance of the arachnids marks the turn from summer to Fall. Arachnid art is on display before the fame of the flaming leaves takes center stage across the nation…yet few truly see it.

Catching this art show at the break of day is the best time, when early morning light illuminates the webs to show every perfectly laid silken line shimmering heavy with dew. Everyone in the spider community participates. In the arachnid experience artists are born, not made.

Mmmm… Perhaps this is true of more advanced life forms, like us as well, who believe only some are creative geniuses. The spider would say, “Don’t you realize that everyone’s business is to create?” True, they are hunting/making a living through creative construction of their web. So too are most human artists hunting/making a living for a paycheck through creations of their own. Spiders have found a beautiful, creative way to make a living.May we all be so blessed.

It is interesting that the highly significant symbolism of the web, in light of the birth of the World Wide Web connecting the whole world, and complexity of execution of design is left to the lowly, repulsive spider. Wikipedia tells us that “the tensile strength of spider silk is greater than the same weight of steel and has much greater elasticity. Its microstructure is under investigation for potential applications in industry, including bullet-proof vests and artificial tendons. Spider webs are rich in vitamin K, which can be effective in clotting blood. Webs were used several hundred years ago as gauze pads to stop an injured person's bleeding.”

While we enjoy the interconnectedness of the World Wide Web, the spider has been literally drawing out that conclusion for us for thousands of years silently hinting at the broader application. While we have sensed that we are all connected, that we are indeed all One, the spider again has been imaging that basic truth for millennia. Rather humbling...

The art of spiders represents tremendous skill, strength and beauty in symmetry with literal healing potential inherent in its raw materials. While I still don’t want one in bed with me as I sleep, it’s hard not to have increased respect for such skilled craftsmen and healers, eight legs or not. Perhaps this autumn I’ll leave a web or two I’d normally sweep away from the kitchen window where they always work. The cobweb is abandoned and needs clearing, but the active spider web is in use. Have I been aware of the need for respect, even a certain amount of reverence and even awe?

The spider and the web will remind me of my own creativity and how the world will be uplifted and blessed when I discipline myself to create and  share my gifts. It will remind me that I am full of strength and healing power; that we all are. That we are all connected, even as One.

Week of Love

Adytum: Sanctuary in Greek: (www.adytumsanctuary.com) has been reveling in love these past few weeks. Starting with the Ward wedding September 18, and including not only Donn’s and my own anniversary, but a 50^th anniversary celebration (both couples from Olympia and Port Orchard) we are now looking forward to another anniversary and birthday celebration this weekend here. Adytum has become a house of love and celebration…

Julia had several wedding venues booked: The Chelan Winery and the Avalon Hotel on the river in Portland before realizing, “Why didn’t I think of Adytum?”  Julia and Chris were here in February celebrating Chris’ birthday and were part of our “soft opening” or trial guests. They came and enjoyed a spa weekend with an onsite massage, champagne and chocolate fondue. In exchange, they shared honest appraisals of their experience so we could bring it to the highest level of satisfaction possible for future guests.

It seemed so right to have them say their vows here. And of course, it rained and all 37 of us came inside and made a fairy tale come true for Julia and Chris in the Tower Room overlooking Lake Mayfield close to sunset. It was intimate, magical and they looked just like an old Hollywood couple, she with her exquisitely lovely long white gown – when I saw her I nearly dropped to my knees…. and Chris looked exactly like a movie star…

One of the overnight guests mentioned how incredible Adytum was to a Chehalis dental office manager and suddenly we found ourselves hosting yet another intimate celebration; a 50^th wedding anniversary! Champagne on ice, gold rimmed crystal glasses, two dozen red roses in their suite and little heart shaped healthy carrot cakes awaited the foursome…It has been so much fun having all this love contained in the Sanctuary Adytum…This week,  couples from Massachusetts, Vancouver and California come…and again the birthdays and anniversaries and spirit of celebration continues.

I learned a principle long ago from my mentor, author Alexandra Stoddard who has written so many books now. It is called the 5% principle. We all have fine things and they are usually tucked away and brought out a few times a year at best. Alexandra taught me years ago to USE the things that are lovely every day. Celebrate every day. Live as well as we can in every moment and we will end our life with a string of memories like a pearl necklace. This month, Adytum has been the castle in which the pearls of great price, memories that are priceless, have been created.

I hope this inspires you to love…to finding your precious things to spoil your loved ones with. To celebrate your life.  In the end, all that really matters is love.

Every Guest Who Visits Adytum Leaves Something of Themselves Behind

This week Adytum, (www.adytumsanctuary.com) has the great pleasure of hosting Philip Folsom and Leo VanWarmerdam from Santa Monica, CA. Philip is co partner in www.fulcrumadventures.com, and Leo works with him in this international adventure company that has trained over a half a million people with the goal of realizing their full potential. What a worthwhile career… who wouldn’t want to wake up and put a smile on a face and a spring in a step every day, knowing the investments made in the human spirit live on and affect other lives as well.

Philip and Leo are in Mossyrock this week doing a group team building training focusing on adults who work with kids in the after school program. This particular program is specifically targeted for the children who may not be enrolled in after school sports, but they also serve those that are. So many of us just weren’t sports minded…but we would have grown tremendously in self esteem, discipline, self determination and confidence through the experiences Fulcrum Adventures charts out. I’d be willing to say hands down it would have changed the course of my young life had I had this program available.

Philip and Leo are two fun loving guys, with quick witted humor, a casual and relaxed style, and exude fitness, confidence and an “I can do anything” attitude themselves. They are walking examples for the “Do, Risk, Grow” which is Fulcrum Adventure’s motto – an invitation to cultivate potential greatness within by meeting challenges head on- and they supply the helmets- literally.

How do they accomplish it? The idea is to use the challenges they present to realize full potential. We are all so much greater than we believe, and they prove it to us through conquering high rope courses, rock wall climbing and the invitation to take the leap of faith off an outrageously tall phone pole, grabbing life by the horns with white knuckles clinging for dear life to a trapeze bar. At some point, evidentially you think, “Bring it on!” You’re completely transformed…They’re not just fostering adrenalin junkies but fueling people with indomitable confidence and empowerment that will transform their whole lives…

They don’t stop short with their far reaching vision; they’re out to impact the whole world by transforming and expanding the potential of everyone they train which in turn affects the entire planet. If you caught the run up on gold this year, you know how awesome it feels to pull off a winning investment. Imagine repeating that feeling every day with kids, adults…anyone who breaks through and discovers the true reality; that we are powerful beyond measure…making those kinds of investments – aiding in self enrichment in others - are how I imagine they’d spend their dying hour.

We were invited to join in support of this wonderful program when other leaders from the program came to Adytum with Philip and Leo for a tour. Donn and I met two members of the National Guard, Timothy Allan Brown and Le’Juan O’bryan. The National Guard partners with Fulcrum Adventures for the after school program. Erin Riffe, Director of Afterschool and Summer Programs for Educational Service District #113, as well as Miss Washington, Jacquie Brown. Jacquie has as her focus “youth mentoring”. Erin and Jacquie had many ideas for Adytum including fund raising events hosted here and at our suggestion, exposing kids to fine art of which Adytum has a small, museum quality collection. Also receiving actual classes and talks with artists who visit Adytum.

Check out the gallery link on www.fulcrumadventures.com to get a sense of the work they do, some in the form of games. Other types of training provide wilderness skills, increased in mental strength and self determination. Since our character is the only thing we’re taking with us when we end our time on earth, making self investments to increase character makes perfect sense. They are here to help.

They use the BOLD method which creates team synergy through integration of different leadership styles. Who doesn’t need that? “Plays well with others” is a nice statement at any age. Figuring out where you fit into that equation is nothing short of a gift. A short behavior assessment is followed by “facilitated experiential activities”- a nice way of saying get ready to confront some fear – that is if the ropes challenge course is on the agenda. These exercises allow participants to discover the strengths and challenges of their own leadership style as well as how to partner with team members of different styles to create a high performing organization. Their work takes different forms. One way is to work with heights…ropes…trapeze bars…zip lines…think of all the tightrope, high wire amazing Circ Du Soliel acts and then visualize yourself doing them- and loving it- once you realized it was in you all along, anyway! Other methods are games from the Crate that enlarge those who participate.

At Adytum, when they see our giant fir trees, they are thinking “zip line opportunity!” This isn’t the first time we’ve heard that from other adventurous souls. Our retreat acreage is just the kind they create high rope courses on to take participants to the edge of their comfort zone…then beyond. In the strangest way, it dovetails so perfectly with Adytum’s desire to bring healing, peace and wholeness at deep levels although I’m not sure our insurance agent would be excited to hear it…Philip and Leo go right to the source to create wholeness: the mind and emotions, working their transformative magic. The mind is the center of true health, wellness and wholeness. They are psychologists, psychiatrists and healers of another order…get rid of the obstacles and the real self will emerge in all its glory and wholeness.

Adytum keeps evolving in ways we never foresaw. Like the visit last year from Napa, California renowned Impressionist artist Don Hatfield (www.hatfieldfineart.com) Don has a disc golf course on his 15 acres and people come from all over to use it. He got us so excited about it when he was here doing a photo shoot for a commissioned painting that we stocked up on discs for our alpine course. Not only did Don leave his amazing impressionist paintings for everyone to enjoy in the house, but left his commitment to creating relaxed playfulness around exercise with the disc golf. He is one of the possible guest artists that will support the program by holding workshops at Adytum when his busy schedule permits.

Philip and Leo found the discs on the Orion Courtyard, alongside some Bocce balls. Apparently their adventure doesn’t stop when the sun goes down. They were playing bocce ball in the moonlight…on unfamiliar hillside terrain with sharp drop offs. The next night was disc golf over 16 acres before coming in to invent new games for the program until well after midnight.

It makes me so exceptionally happy to see the visions I have for life here at Adytum coming into reality. I love to create space for others to enjoy, creating different vignettes and scenarios and then watching the “actors”- in this case Leo and Philip- enter the stage and go for it, laughing and playing, sucking the marrow out of life like Thoreau said. They caught the spirit- the sense of retreat, relaxation and play- that we know as a vital aspect of this sacred space; the attitudes that foster the creation of wholeness, inside and out.

We’ll see about the ropes course, zip line and fitness course they suggested; bringing more play and personal “metal testing” for personal growth to our mountain. They have shared how much they’ve enjoyed what we’ve created here, and we now possess a new sense of how Adytum lands can to evolve to expand human potential and build character. Maybe we can rope them in (no pun intended) to coming on a regular basis, holding retreats designed to enlarge the human spirit by facing our fear and personality obstacles.

Each guest of Adytum brings valuable gifts that increase and expand the spirit, build health and wholeness in the mind. They come as guests needing a place to stay for a few nights, but Adytum is never the same when each one leaves a bit of their special interests, talents and desires for future development imprinted on this house and land. We all benefit from these investments. We hope you check out these amazing programs Philip and Leo facilitate. Since our businesses aren’t large enough to fall under their group teaching, we plan to look them up when we’re in Southern California next month and try it as a couple.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” Marianne Williamson

“Philip and Leo were both amazing, and we had wonderful time learning from their devotion to make the world a better place. I know personally I will use the training I received to make the Mossyrock Jumpstart Program a better success! Our program does reach out to all students, even those in sports. We have many students who attend after their practice is over.” Jamie Wilkinson

It’s Blueberry Time

The annual Mossyrock Blueberry Festival (www.mossyrockfestivals.com)was yesterday, August 7, and nearby Pan American Berry Farm (212 Klickitat Creek Road) was packed with tourists loading up on their annual supply of blueberries. We buy between 80-100 pounds every year, enjoying some fresh and freezing the rest for our daily protein shakes. Though the festival is over, Pan American will remain open until Labor Day if you want to get some.

As I stood in line waiting to get another 40 pounds of blueberries, I heard snippets of conversation….”they say blueberries are one of the best things you can eat for health…” From my Nutritional Therapy background, it is soul satisfying to see people interested in securing their part of the blueberry harvest and securing greater health at the same time.

Blueberries are one of the richest sources of antioxidants and even prevent urinary tract infections like cranberries do. They are excellent brain food too, “Earlier research suggests that oxidative stress may be a factor in age-related loss of brain function. So, we fed antioxidant-rich blueberries to aged lab rats in one study and to mice with Alzheimer’s-like symptoms in another and found improvement in memory function and motor skills in both…” James A. Joseph, PhD.

It’s interesting to note that blueberries are a rich source of the trace mineral manganese which helps in tendon control. I did a nutritional therapy consult Friday at our optometry office; Medical Vision Center in Morton, with a woman in her early 60’s who had ptosis. Ptosis is when the eyelid droops, obscuring the vision. A drooping eyelid acts as an early warning indicator that tendons are losing integrity in the whole body which can lead to ankle sprains and even tinnitus when the tiny bones of the ear are affected with weakening of tendon control.

Blueberry consumption to increase manganese is part of her answer. She was also advised to take a Complete Mineral Supplement like the one we carry at the office from Designs for Health(www.designsforhealth.com.

We had guests for breakfast Saturday at Adytum who enjoyed dairy free/gluten free pancakes from the Bob’s Red Mill mix topped with blueberry compote fresh from the fields in the valley below. Those fields will turn the loveliest russet color soon so if you want blueberries, come before Labor Day when Pan American closes for the season.

I made an interesting compote starting with blueberries, water and cornstarch to thicken, then adding cinnamon, Mexican chocolate and orange peel shaved thin with a microplane. My husband pronounced it, “Awesome…off the charts”. I added honey also purchased from Pan American. It was the best compote I’ve created yet and everyone loved it on the pancakes. One guest was an adorable six year old little ballerina who sat beside me and pronounced breakfast “really good”. I felt good feeding her healthy, gourmet food instead of the traditional white bleached flour pancake and fake syrup disaster.

Some interesting variations on the pancakes are adding blue corn meal and then topping the compote with pan toasted crushed hazelnuts and more fresh blueberries. We get our hazelnuts from Freddy Guy’s(www.freddyguys.com) in Portland at the Saturday Market. This is another stocked item at Adytum. We freeze 80 pounds last year and enjoy them all year long. The increase in health benefits from these two additions alone is outstanding.

Mossyrock is the quintessential “best kept secret”. When I lived in Olympia for 25 years, I ventured out to Mossyrock once…I didn’t even know it was there until I did…but that seems to be changing. The Blueberry Festival also had a car and quilt show, along with live music. The next festival we’re looking forward to is the Mayfield Lake Summer Tunes! Late Summer. Jazz. Wine. Sunshine…at Mayfield Lake, Saturday, September 12.(www.summertunes.org) More people are discovering that Mossyrock is a beautiful mountain town at the foot of the Cascades, rich in natural beauty and of course, blueberries.

The DeGoedes Bulb farm(www.degoedebulb.com)is located here too. Judging from the crowded parking lot yesterday, evidently there are as many gardeners as blueberry lovers. Since Pan American Berry Farm is just 20 minutes east on Highway 12 from I-5, it’s a fun day trip, for those that aren’t staying at Adytum (www.adytumsanctuary.com)to come out and get your blueberries and something for the garden too.