Mietzke's Holden Adventure

I love coming home to the crackling sound of the fire.
We burned through the old dry wood in the basement and are now burning the second pile which is wood cut this last fall and only dried out over the last few months.
The smell of this new wood is heavenly, sweet and sappy, like the wood in a warm sauna. The whole house is filled with this sweet smell and it easily sets me in a relaxed mood. I sink down into this old couch that bows and bends and creaks as I settle myself, taking off my boots as an after thought. I let my bag drop and listen to the sound of the kid’s voices in the other room.
I feel warm and sleepy and my book beacons from the coffee table. I pull the blanket round me and bask in this moment of home. Dave is typing away on the computer the girls are playing an imaginative game in their room and I feel so thankful and content.
I was able to immerse myself in work today. I cleaned the library and the common area in the dining hall and re-alphabetized the children’s section of the library. I spent time going through new books and catching up on little things here and there. It felt so good to work and to have time to put things together without interruption. The dinners have been nice in the village and everyone seems to be letting down after a busy couple of months.
I have been so thankful for the presence of the guests and the students that were in the village, and also thankful now for the quiet of the last few days has been emptiness, good solid emptiness that makes you breath in deeply and take a minute to think, to reflect and to enjoy this moment where the movements are just a little more subtle, but still present.
It is funny how having dinner with fifty other people can feel so intimate, quiet and fun. It feels like having a good meal with family who jostle and joust and can sense when you are not in the mood. As I looked around tonight I realized how very much I have grown to like and love the other villagers. They are quite and amazing group of people. My friend Daniels sister had a baby today and the whole village celebrated with him. I am often touched by the kindness here by people’s willingness to go out of their way for one another, and for how intentional people are with their time and their actions. People are always ready to participate in others joys and support them in their sorrows. There is a quality of genuineness that is the life of the village and it is good.

Yesterday was another stop day, which means it's like a holiday, every one including the kitchen staff have the day off. They put out food fixin’s last night after dinner, and we were all on our own for meals today.
Ang and I had planned to go hiking today because the kids still have school and we would have the whole day to play. Nyrie stayed home from school Wednesday with flu symptoms, she still wasn’t feeling well this morning, so Ang decided to stay home with her. I decided to go on a short hike and come back for lunch with the family.
I decided to go up to Copper Basin, it’s fairly steep but short hike up, and a real pretty (as if it’s not real pretty every where up here) vista once you get there. The conditions were abysmal; the trail was an ice chute from railroad creek all the way up. I struggled up to the second level and then half way up to the third level I ended up putting on my snow shoes just to have the traction offered by the crampons. As soon as I could I got off the beaten (and icy) path. It was much easier off the trail on the snow shoes. Once I got to the basin it was well worth the effort. I dug a seat on the side hill, and sat back and just relaxed for about a half hour. I wished I had thought to bring a book along, next time I’ll remember. On the way back down I walked out on the third level tailings, called Ang on the radio and told her to go out on the porch so I could wave to her.
When I got home I discovered that Nyrie was feeling much better, but Ang was down for the count. She had the living room up to 80 degrees and was huddled under three blankets. She spent most of the afternoon that way, and then she got a little loopy. I couldn’t make sense of what she was saying. I woke her up and put her in a warm bath. That and some ibuprofen seemed to do the trick. She perked back up and was able to have a little dinner and pack and prepare for her week in North Vancouver. I think I’m going to sleep on the couch tonight.
Jordyn was great this evening, we had planned to barbeque with some of the other families for dinner. Since Ang was feeling so bad, I decided to stay at the chalet with her. Jordy took our chicken breasts to the barbeque and ran all of our errands for the evening.
Nyrie was a great comfort to her mom all day, caring for her and just snuggling up with her and watching movies. She was running back and forth all afternoon with cold rags for Ang’s forehead, or a hot compress for her chest.
It was great to see the whole family caring for Angela while she was out of commission.

The power is so low now (~40KW) that we're using household coffee makers in the dining hall for the rest of the winter. We will probably continue to lose power for the next couple of weeks and then it will hopefully start coming back. The record low (over the last twelve years) for power was 32KW we might get there this year. We’ve also given up out commercial toaster, and replaced it with a two slicer, that still uses 800 watts. Today's high temp was 53 degrees according to my thermometer, so I expect the melting has really begun. The weather forecast is for rain for the next few days as well. Get that water in the creek.
The last of the college kids left today, about 35 kids and professors from Augustana, along with four of the short term staff. We only have three guests and three short term staff in the village (two of whom leave on Wed). It was very quiet at dinner tonight. We're coming into the real quiet season now; I don't think there will be more that 70 people in the village at any time in March.
It’s great here we are at the end of February, and four or five of the Chalets still have their Christmas lights on at night. I don’t think that anyone who had them up for Christmas has taken them down yet.

A quite has fallen over the village after our last crew of college students head back to school. At one point I was one of three people in the dining hall. It feels strange and restful. I spent the day cleaning the library and going through papers and re-organizing.
One of the amazing women up here is named Nancy and it was her birthday today and in celebration of her life several of the villagers headed down to the river to go for a freezing dip. I went down to watch and I was glad to be an observer and not a participant.
We ate dinner in the dining hall by candle light and the last of the sunlight through the windows. It was strange not having the hustle and bustle of guests filling the room with an abundance of life. I am looking forward to the quiet of the week but I will miss the college students and their laughter and strange ideas of fun. Before the students left they made a hilarious video about their time here in Holden village. It was so well put together and really captured the sense of fun here in the village. It was amazing to hear and see how much they had gotten out of this experience, and we will miss their presence here.
Jordyn and a bunch of the village kids set to digging a very deep hole. They Dug and dug in the snow until they reached the grass. The hole is about six feet deep. They plan to dig another one and connect the two with tunnels. This is such an amazing place to be a kid! Nyrie is up with her friends making beaded crafts for gifts for the recent birthdays.
Dave and I are taking a bit of quiet after our meal and before the vespers service tonight. It feels nice to be warm and at home.
Love, Angela

Today I heard a joyous chattering of birds and followed the sound until I found about twenty birds all in different colors hanging onto the side of a chimney. They were red and orange and yellow with a touch of grey. They were so beautiful and strange! One bird hit a window and fell stunned into the snow. I picked it up in my hand and cradled it while it came back to its senses and I thought: this bird is me, stunned and coming back into myself, cradled in the hands of a beautiful stranger that means me no harm. As the bird came back to itself I set him in a tree branch yellow grey and ruffled. He began to move around and I knew he would be alright and would fly again it the blue sky with his fellows. I thought again this bird is me. As I unfold and ruffle, I too am getting ready for flight, I too will soar in the blue.

It is so strange how these things keep coming to me these visions of myself painted in picture form in my mind. I want somehow to share these pictures and these changes that are happening to me. Every Day here opens me to something within. I am compelled and inspired by everything around me.

It is a good thing to have surprises stashed away for your kids. After the sudden death of our fish it was a melancholy heartfelt morning. Both of the girls were really sad. I remembered stashing away one of their Christmas presents and I thought the situation could use a little cheering in amidst the sorrow. So out came the hammock seat and the girls swung and spun in it on the front porch for a lot of the afternoon.
Then Jordyn and I went to the river where the snow melt has left a small bank and we gathered rocks and built dams and tossed rocks into the river. It was good to be together just being quiet. Then we used the rocks to form words on the snow that you could see from the bridge. We wrote gather, light, and hope. We stayed at the river until our hands were too cold and then we came back to prepare Grover for cremation.
Nyrie carried Grover’s box all the way up the hill and sang little songs. Both Nyrie and Jordyn decided that they wanted to remember Grover as the happy fish he had been. Nineteen people gathered together for his service at the incinerator. We read a poem, and a couple of verses and the pastor even said a prayer. The girls each wrote a little letter to him. The walk back was nice the sky is so blue and on the mountains more rock ledges are starting to peek through the snow. Many of the pussy willow and red alder are pushing out small buds. The feeling of spring is in the air.
When we got back from the fish funeral Nyrie and I read books and snuggled on the couch. What an amazing kid! How did I ever luck out so much with my offspring? I love that Nyrie snuggle time!

It is beautiful outside with white clouds reflecting moonlight and the moonlight in patches on the snow. Peaceful and still. I have been studying Rudolf Steiner’s book Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path, and my brain is full, so I thought I would step away from it for a moment breath and listen to the village from the front porch. I love the village at night the lights from the porches yellow on the snow. I love thinking about all of the people that make up this community sleeping soundly in the chalets. It is so restful late at night as if I have this space all to myself. I share it occasionally with the cry of a coyote and the breeze. In my porch thoughts I imagine all of the people I love who are scattered all over the country sleeping and dreaming, maybe getting up in the night for a glass of water or sitting on a couch reading a good book. What will all of your tomorrows look like? What are the things close to your heart that you carry into your sleep with you?
Tonight as I was meditating I was filled withal the names of family and friends and I brought your faces to mind and sent a love letter into your slumber. I have also been thinking about all of the children I had the privilege of being with at the Tacoma Waldorf School over the last few years and their families. Peace to you, I miss your hugs and smiles! I miss making bread with you and singing our circle songs and making fairy houses in the play yard. What a gift I was given by your little lives. How do you all like the first grade? Are those of you who stayed in kindergarten with Ms Sara finger knitting like crazy? I bet that you are all growing like weeds, learning so much, taking in so many good stories.
I wish that I could share the snow with you, and the beautiful mountains. There are little animals called martins that run all over this valley they are thin and quick like a fox and sneak in and out of all sorts of places. There are cougar prints all over a valley near our village and they are almost as big as my feet. I bet that cougar weighs two hundred and fifty pounds! There is a creek that runs past the village down the hill that makes such a joy filled noise and as I stand on my porch I can picture the fairies dancing in the water. I wish I could share with you the crackle of the fire and the laughter in the dining hall at dinner.
We live in a little house called a chalet that is on top of a hill above the village. We heat our chalet with a wood burning stove and every morning and every night we go down into the basement to get wood for our fire. Jordyn and Nyrie go down there and collect big armfuls of wood and bring it up the stairs and stack it next to the stove. Sometimes when we go down into the basement we see the little mouse that lives down there. He sits right at the bottom of the stairs and makes little messes. He is very fast so we have to be paying attention if we want to see him before she dashes into his hiding place. When it is very cold outside we have to get up in the middle of the night to keep the fire going. If we forget we wake up to a very cold house and no one wants to get out of bed. We all get up and dress in front of the fire in the morning before heading to the dining hall for breakfast. When we walk out of our front door the first thing we see is tall beautiful mountains covered with snow and evergreen trees. When we first get up the sun is just starting to rise and the light on the mountains is so pretty.
You would all love the sledding hill that is right outside my door. Jordyn and Nyrie have become experts at sledding and can even sled to their school which is at the bottom of the hill. Nyrie and Jordyn go to school with seven children: Two third graders, three fourth graders and two sixth graders. They all meet in one room and they have a wood stove that helps to keep them warm. Sometimes for their outside time they get to go snow shoeing in the field behind the school. They can also sled at recess. I am lucky because I get to eat lunch with them every day! There are some really great climbing trees down by the road and after school and on weekends Jordyn and Nyrie love to climb them with the other children in the village.
Some nights the whole village gathers together to sing and read verses together. Some people share beautiful poems, others play different instruments creating beautiful music. We often light candles and sometimes we make big bon-fires outside and play the drums.
This is a magical place and when it is clear and the moon is hiding behind the shadow of the sun the stars shine so brightly that you can see their individual colors. Some of the stars shine red, blue, and orange. The white ones shine so brightly. I never knew that the stars came in so many different colors.
There is a special place here that we call the craft cave where you can paint, draw, sew, make pots out of clay and make rugs on a loom. They even have supplies for basket weaving. I have been having a lot of fun dying cloth all different colors. Jordyn and Nyrie have both been learning how to use the looms and are getting really good at making rugs and bags and belts. They also have many different colors of yarn for knitting. The yarn is all stacked in boxes by color and it looks like a rainbow on the wall.
There is also a shop where you can make things out of wood. Nyrie is taking a class and learning how to use all sorts of tools: Saws, Hammers, measuring tapes, a screw driver and much more. Dave works in the shop and helps people make all sorts of things like tables and boxes and benches. There is a big machine in the shop that makes the wood smooth and flat after a tree has been cut down, or has fallen. At Holden Village most of our wood comes from trees right around the village.
There is a big kitchen in the village where many people prepare the meals for all the people who live here. We eat with everyone three times every day. Jordyn has been learning how to cook and loves to help make meals for the village. Jordyn especially likes to help with making pizza and the deserts. When Jordyn works in the kitchen she must wear an apron and a hat and she has to wash her hands very well. Jordyn even helps to serve the meals sometimes.
We have lots of parties at the village. We had a celebration last week when the sun climbed high enough in the sky that it peeked up over the mountains and filled the whole valley with light. At that party we were wearing shorts in the snow and dancing to music we even had a picnic in the snow on the main street in the village. People were dancing and singing and having a really good time.
We get many visitors up here and they have to first take a boat and then drive up the valley in a school bus to get to the village. There is a school bus named Jubilee that drives down the road to pick up people three times a week. That is also how we get our mail. We love the days when the mail comes sometimes Jordyn and Nyrie get fun letters or packages from their Grandma’s or Aunties or their friends and it makes them very happy.
We are pretty happy here in our mountain home but we always think of you and keep you in our hearts! I hope all is well in Tacoma. Is spring starting to visit you yet? We have little glimpses of it here. When we go hiking we have seen that the pussy willows are starting to open up and the snow is beginning to melt. The squirrels are out and busy and there are little bugs on the snow. It even rained a little bit today.
Blessings on all of you! You are in our hearts!

Our goldfish Grover died last night. He got into one of his frisky moods and jumped clear out of the tank. We found him this morning and there was much sadness to be had. We are going to have a service for him today and cremate him in the incinerator so that in the spring his ashes will help the flowers grow. We all wrote little notes for him and the girls asked Pastor Eric to preside over the service. Grover the big fish will not be forgotten.

Jordyn helped to give the talk at vespers today. The topic for the Lenten season has been Saints and Heroes. Different people get up and share about people whose lives have impacted their own. Jordyn and Sue decided that they would like to share about the life of Saint Francis. When Jordyn was in the second grade her class had studied about Saints and Francis had been their class hero. She had learned many stories about his life and decided to share the story about the Wolf of Gubbio, which she had done as a class play at the Waldorf School.
The wolf of Gubbio is a story about a lone wolf who is terrorizing the town of Gubbio and has been eating the town’s livestock and it is rumored that the wolf has even eaten some of the town’s children. Upon hearing about the wolf Saint Francis is filled with compassion for him and went to Gubbio to try to resolve the conflict peaceably. When he got to the town he went to the town center and began to preach about the love that God has for all living things and in the middle of his sermon has people began to gather around him he asked the towns people about the wolf and offered to go to the wolfs lair to make peace with the beast. The town’s people began to laugh at Saint Francis all but one woman who spat at the laugher’s feet and offered to take Francis to the wolf. The town’s people were astonished and followed Saint Francis and the woman to the wolf’s lair and looked on as Francis approached. When Francis and the woman got within a yard of the opening they heard a low growl behind them and the sound of the wolf rushing towards them. Francis made the sign of the cross over the woman and then again over the wolf which slowed the wolf down.
Then Francis spoke to the wolf and said” Brother wolf, I have come in peace” He looked at the wolf with great love and then said. “I have come to ask you to be the protector of Gubbio. In return, the town’s people will offer you shelter and respect and you shall never want for food.” Then Francis reached out his hand to the wolf in a sign of friendship and the wolf came forward and put his Paw in Francis’s hand. Francis leaned into the wolf and talked with him for a great while and no one ever heard what was said between them, but when they were through the wolf walked with Francis and the town’s people back to Gubbio and the wolf became protector of the town.
Jordyn did such a good job of telling the story and remembered so many details! She then told why she liked Saint Francis. Then Sue told of her admiration for Saint Francis and then spoke of the importance of our passions. That God desires passionate people who are willing to give of themselves in the world through love. The whole thing was really quite beautiful. She used Francis as an example of someone who lived out his passions for creatures great and small. Who went against the grain of society and lived an example of peace and love and challenged the bureaucracy and corruption of the early church. His example led to much change.