Mietzke's POST Holden Adventure

I have cloths pins in my pocket,
I am hanging the laundry out to dry
I hang and pin my heart on the line
Here with these damp clothes
These cloths seem to hold all of my secrets…
The breeze lifts the bottom of the sheet
And sends it
A flutter round my head
These wet things need airing
Out in the open where they can be seen
And will not hold that damp smell
And mold
Sometimes I prefer putting them in the dryer
It is such a private affair…
Where no one ever wonders
About my despair
Until I hang the laundry out to dry
Until I hang my laundry out to dry


This Poem was inspired by a line of writing on My friend Gail's Blog.

It is Nyrie’s birthday today and we had a fancy English tea party at our chalet. Dave made a cake and I made Donuts from scratch with a little help from my friend Melissa who is better at following directions than I am, Thank God. We had all of the kids from the Elementary and high school over to join in the festivities. It was a fun party. Nyrie got nice cards and gifts and a stuffed chicken which made her day! The donuts turned out really yummy and I dressed up like the maid servant who served the guests. I can’t believe she is ten! She got a little bit of vanilla and a cute outfit and she looks so grown up. She has been in an anxious twitter about turning ten, but she seemed to relax into it as the day went on. The Holden community sang Happy Birthday to Nyrie, at dinner, to the tune of “There is no Business Like Show Business.” All and all I think she had a pretty good day!

Dave and I went up to the third level today to look out over the valley and get some time together. There were many puddles that were frozen over and we played around with getting air bubbles under the ice and seeing where the air could find places to escape. We also stomped on some of them sending cracks all the way across. There is something satisfying about breaking ice. It was good to get some time together. Just the two of us.

There is a fire burning in much of Santa Barbara right now, and it is hard to be at Holden and not have current information about where it is and if people I know and love are in danger. My folks just moved back there this last month and I don't really even know where they are living, but they are currently out of the country so I know that they aren't in the path of the fire. I don't however know about my brother and his family or my cousin JJ who are also living in SB. I am waiting to hear from someone. I did see that We know many people in the areas that have been devastated by the fire and I am praying for them and wishing I could do something to support them right now.

It is absolutely breath takingly gorgeous outside right now! The moon is full and filling the valley with light. The mountains all around have white peaks stark against the dark of the sky. It has been so rainy and dark for the last few days the gloom threatening to take over. The sky clarity feels like breathing in fresh air. The wind picked up last night and blew hard knocking down trees and sending flurries of snow that danced but never settled around Holden. At lunch we watched the flurries out the window during our noon service. The dry cold feels good after all of that wet bone chilling rain and I feel that winter piece of myself awakening, call it soul, call it inner light, I have a new eye open, awaiting snow and quiet. The crisp clear air feels like a promise of rest, inner quiet, and resolve. The moonlight is a reminder of snowshoeing in the brightness through the patterns of blue shadows and silver light. Anticipation of the inner spiral of light lives in me with such longing. It the summer I live so far out of myself with my eyes always directed outward never settling, and though I do not have leaves the fall has been a time of release and turning my focus inwards. Now I can feel the gesture of coming into myself, of being, and I am ready.

The village has been working on lanterns all week for our lantern walk which will happen tonight as our vespers service. We will tell the story of Saint Martin who was known for his gentleness and his compassion for the poor and suffering. He was also known as someone who worked to resolve conflict without the aid of the sword. In walking with our lanterns through the darkness we are practicing and thinking about how we might be light in the world when darkness abounds. The lanterns have turned out beautifully! We made tin lanterns and glass lanterns covered in tissue paper. It has been pouring rain all week and I do mean pouring! So I think we will do our walk through the Village center and then end it at the dining hall. We will sing lantern songs as is traditional in the Waldorf Schools. Lantermas has been one of our favorite celebrations in our family it feels like the first part of preparing for the holidays and acknowledging the change in season and the change in the light, as well as entering into our own inner experience of light. I love that Holden is open to these traditions.

After school today the girls, Ellie and I went down to the "creek" to see how the rain has changed it. The water is flowing higher and faster than I have ever seen it. Its power was deafening! We stood on the bridge and I actually made the girls hold on because the rough movement was disorienting. We all got soaked, and I found myself wishing that the rain was snow and feeling ready for that blanket of white. The rain feels so heavy and it makes me want to climb into bed and sleep. The clouds are low in the valley and sometimes it feels like we are being swallowed by the gray. I am ready for winter, but it looks like fall is sticking around for at least the rest of the week.