Mietzke's POST Holden Adventure

We took our little bird outside to see if he was ready to go. I don't know what we were expecting maybe a flutter of wings and a return to a safe spot, but instead Morgan flew...the breeze picked him up first to the rooftop and then higher. The freedom in his outstretched wings evident from the ground below and for a moment we soared with him. He was joined by two other swallows who chattered encouragement darting to and fro around him welcoming him into the sky, and then he was gone up into the trees. We watched for a while and then went back to our daily activities feeling thankful and a little sad. As I walked up the hill a little later I saw a small bird, flying high above the village. I watched two other birds join the first and one gently nudge the first even higher, and I wondered if perhaps that was our little bird dancing in the sky.
Go Morgan go!!!

A little bird was found
Had fallen out of his nest
was collected up by three passing boys
who were persuaded to bring him to our chalet
to be cared for until he could fly
Wet cat food,
worms,
and ants as long as they have been squashed first
Make up the bird diet
Morgan, the bird, calls out for food often and with a persistence that is startling
The girls have a journal of feeding time which they share with their friends,
and Morgan keeps chirping and growing
The little black journal sits on the table across from Morgan’s perch
Where daily notes are taken by caring girls
Morgan flew today
Morgan is eating lots of cat food but does not like the worms very much
Morgan flew up to the nest we made out of a bowl and branches
Morgan pooped on the curtain
This little bird is a delight to our household and everyone is participating in helping him to become a successful swallow
Tonight he sat on a towel on my lap after landing haphazardly in my hair
and watched a movie with Dave, Rachel, and I
There is something about a little life that is so precious
The flutter of wings and a tiny heartbeat
That brings a different kind of purpose to a day
To my day
I held him on my finger and tried to persuade him to fly
Which he did in bouts and flurries, awkward in this new event
He landed behind couches and on top of dressers
then began crying for more food and rest
I worried… How is he ever going to make it?
Realizing that this is a question I ask myself all of the time…
How are things going to work out?
What is in the plan?
Am I going to be ok?
Has any of the questioning or worry ever taken me anywhere but into fear?
This little bird
Has thrived
In the care of strangers
We too can thrive with the helping hands that are given along our way
Those momentary angels
That lift us up and feed us with gentle hands
Sometimes we just can’t see our own progress.
When we are too focused on the next meal

The rain has fallen steadily for the last two days, filling clay pots and gathering in puddles on the road and trails. People are wearing rain gear and children are splashing in puddles, but mostly the village guests are playing quiet games inside and resting. The whole feeling of the village changes with the wet and a sleepy peacefulness has settled in here. I have been running around here preparing for services, trying to get caught up on Library tasks, and pulling together different aspects of worship and connecting people. Every time I left the buildings today I would pause at the new beauty brought in by the clouds, and the fresh smell of the rain. It reminds me of new beginnings, of life, and potential.
The sun came out for a half an hour today and everything sparkled and each drop became a jewel filled with light. It was so beautiful! There are some days when you can’t help but appreciate the transformed, even if it is only for a moment.

The moon has risen Golden
Against the deep blue of the night sky.
She wears a shimmering cloak of amber that encircles her
Holding her in the sky in glowing arms
She has risen in a blanket of clouds and sits in pillows of rosy softness
They support her as she rises still higher
With deepening clarity

I took some time to gaze at this holy sight
To marvel at the expanse to which her light travels
And to hope that the light that I put out
Will bring joy to someone else on a dark night
Before I go to sleep I will carry the image
of a golden mantel round my shoulders
and my inner light reflected in the night sky

Today is dragging hot and humid. It feels a bit like melancholy, where you can't quite muster the energy to get all of the things on your docket done. Some long term staff friends, Katie and Sue Rhodes are leaving today and I am feeling the loss. They have been here since our arrival, and I have gotten to know them both well. Last night we had a staff social and as a tradition before a long term staff person leaves, they give away things that they will not take down the mountain. It was a fun occasion and it was good to see that although they are sad to leave they are ready for the next step. In the evening service we also have a tradition of giving the long term staff people who are leaving candles and singing a blessing to them. It is a touching tradition and has been meaningful to have that kind of closure.

Fools Gold at 6:00 A.M. Holden Lake Trail.

The bear wasn't interested in keeping me company
I wasn't interested in annoying him
So we parted quickly

I with my stick, tentative
My feet in his tracks up the muddy path

He with berry stained lips, boldly
a trot then a pitch down the hillside

Bu before that
(Before I pretended tp track him)
I saw the sun crest over the shadows:
Light up his brown bulk with a glimmer and swoosh

I heard the light laugh at the fog on the mountain
Turning
For one moment
The snow into gold

By Christie Tarman

The light is strange,
a golden fog has settled in the valley
If you pause and pay attention,
You can smell the smoke, faint but real
The golden light has coated the village
a haze has settled on the hillsides
it is beautiful and eerie
Down at the water bodies appear golden brown
tanned by angles
even the trees are holding the strange glow
as if we all are ablaze

Last night the light held into dusk,
the
golden
deepening into orange
then pink
Standing firm against the darkness of the trees and mountains
as night moved closer
the colors embraced the whole sky,
then in an instant they were gone,
but the hint of smoke remained through the night

Yesterday was our Day off and we rode the bus down to Lucerne and swam at the lake all day with friends. We all brought food and feasted on smoked salmon and cilantro lime cream cheese not to mention sweets. We then found a large old hollowed out log that could hold six people and used sticks as paddles and paddled around the lake taking turns diving in. It was so much fun! The lake feels very swim-able now and in the heat of the day it was exactly what was needed. Jordyn is getting braver and braver about swimming and jumping off the dock. Nyrie is still a bit timid, but mostly because she gets cold really fast. She is such a skinny mini. I love to swim and could be in the water all day. When we were out on the log we went over a sand bar and saw some huge fish below us. It is time to get that fishing license.
It was a really relaxing day, and felt nice to be out of the village for a stretch. When we got back to Holden the preparations for the Abriendo Caminos Fiesta were well under way. There were hand made tortillas, fresh salsa, beans, horchata, carne asada, chili’s, pasta salad, and deep fried tortillas with cinnamon and sugar for desert. There were decorations galore and six home made piñatas one for each age group. The mariachi band played and ten little girls danced traditional dances in flowing floral and black dresses. To kick off the festivities there was a soccer game which was staff verses the guests. The guests won, but I heard it was a close game. After dinner and entertainment, and piñatas, we gathered for vespers and did a walking vespers blessing the village singing Alabre’ a Mi’ Senor. There were blessing read and prayers said, and it was a joyful occasion all the way around. We went back to the ark in the center of the village and the mariachis began to play again. When they were finished there was dancing late into the night and the fire alarm went off in the middle of the celebration. It was the alarm in the Village Center and I got to be the one who searched the Attic, which was blasted hot and awkward to get into all of the search able spaces.
When the search was finished and cleared we all went back to the celebration, and Jordyn and I danced and Danced! There were moments when I felt like I was back in Santa Barbara, or Guatemala. This whole week was such a blessing. I had the unique in of getting to know the children through their parents, so many of my conversations in Spanish and in English went to deeper places than I had expected, and I felt like I had the opportunity to get to make some real friends.
I wish all of you could have seen the little girls dance in their flowing dresses, holding their skirts out to the side, twirling and swooping and doing fancy foot work. They were all under ten and had obviously practiced a lot! Abriendo was so festive and it was like a breath of fresh air to be joined by a new and different culture in this village. I was amazed at all of the hard work that went into the meals and worship and daily sessions, including those for children. What a gift it was to all of us here.

We were in the garden,
Little feet and hands
Pulling green goodness off of the plants
and popping them into our mouths.
The garden paths are full of explorers
Testing and tasting
Enjoying the God given green
With splashes of red white and yellow
and a dash of purple along the way
"Smell this!" A little voice calls out, soon joined by ten other voices
"Teacher says we can eat the small yellow flowers."
Then the yellow flowers are eagerly shared by all.
Amidst the movement, some bean plants rustle.
Some children stop to peer through the leaves.
It is our friend gray mouse.
He has climbed up the bean stock
and is sitting on a leaf having his lunch,
he looks up at the children with shining eyes, and perhaps a mouse wink
then pulls another bean off of the stock
and down he goes onto the brown of the earth
to snack in peace.
"This is a magic garden." One of the children says…
"How do you know?" Says another.
"I can feel it." says the first as he bends down to smell the Lemon Thyme
rubbing his hand across the rippled surface of strong scented tiny leaves
Then he says,
"See, the magic is on my hands,
and magic smells good."

We spent the afternoon at the river with the children and my brother and sister in law. It was warm and sunny and Jason and I spent a couple of hours moving logs and branches that clustered in a small place on the river and we tried to create a small pool to wade in. Where the kids could jump off the log and dip under the water. The end result was a small wading pool, but the work to create it was a lot of fun, and was the best part of the day for me. Jason and I play very similarly and I really enjoyed his creative company. The children played and played floating their stuffer animals by ropes and built roads and houses with Rocks and sticks and sand.
The mornings have been busy for me. I am helping out with the Narnia program and have really been enjoying the work with the children. I have realized that my views on how to be with children have changed. It has been good for me to see the contrasts between the training I have had and mainstream views on education. It is Abriendo Caminos up here at Holden right now and the majority of the people who are here are Spanish speakers. I am slowly remembering many words and getting to practice some of my palabras with the small children in the Narnia program. They sometimes laugh at me and say “that’s not how you say it.”
The garden has been a magical place for the children, and it is the time when I feel like we can really meet them with something that feeds their souls and their imaginations. Right now we have a patch of beans growing and the children love to find the biggest ones and eat them. Today a little mouse joined us in our bean eating and several of the children got down low to peek at him through the bean leaves. He would pop out gab a bean and then go back down the stock and eat it on the ground below. It gave me a chance to tell a story about our brother mouse which the children loved.
After Narnia I spent the afternoon preparing for Jordyn’s surprise birthday party. Jason and Christie took the kids for a hike to Monkey Bear Falls and I baked a cake, gathered decorations and wrapped presents. Jordyn Got home early and caught me making a cake. Luckily I was a quick thinker and told her that I was baking the cake for Dawn Coffee who just happens to be the best baker in the village. (Quick thinking Ang.) She looked at me really strange and then I came up with Another intelligent lie which was that Dawn didn’t have time to bake because the village was to full, so I was baking a cake for her to bring to an event that was happening that night. Jordyn actually bought it, so after I frosted it I had to walk the cake down to dawns and she brought it back for the party. The party started after vespers and Dave and my brother took Jordyn for a walk and ran into two bears, which way laid them from getting back to the full house that was waiting for the guest of honor to arrive. As she came up the hill everyone hid and when she came through the door they all yelled surprise! She screamed and jumped completely out of the house and then said, ”I am so happy!” I was relieved to hear that she was Happy because she had been saying all week how she didn’t want a party and I was taking a stab at the thought that maybe she really did, and thank goodness I was right! We had cake and ice cream and root beer floats and within an hour people were full and happy and presents had been opened and we had a quiet house again and only a little mess to contend with. My time with Jason and Christie was so good, but it also felt too short. We did get in a few good walks, and had good conversation. After having Caleb and Abby here the house feels really quiet. The kids had so much fun together, and really had a chance to get to know each other in an unencumbered way. I miss them. When they caught the bus down the hill I cried. We are really missing them tonight.
Menagerie