Mietzke's POST Holden Adventure

My cousin and my brother came to visit along with my niece and nephew. I kept having to explain that no my brother and my cousin are not married and those weren't her children. It felt so good to be together. I had been praying all week that the snow would fall so they could enjoy the skiing and sledding and see the Winter Holden that I love. It has been so slick and icy that we haven’t even been able to sled for the last few weeks. On the day that they arrived we got snow and it was perfect and powdery. There was just enough powder to take the edge off of the ice. The cousins instantly connected and spent the next few days playing and having fun together. All of the adults took a hike out to the avalanche on Saturday and the snow began to fall in big fat flakes and the whole valley was a winter wonderland.
We had a big group up for Presidents weekend and the village was full of children and laughter. It was such a good weekend. There was a talent show and a movie, and good food and games. Everyone seemed to be breathing fresh air. It was also fun to have fresh snow and to be able to sled without killing ourselves or someone else.
In the evenings we played a game called settlers and we had a lot of fun together.
Having my family here was so good for me. My cousin Jj and I are so much alike and it was fun to be around someone who gets me and can laugh at my quirks and help me laugh at myself, that is always true with Jason as well. He can always make me laugh. The cousins were all so sweet with each other and played hard all weekend. I was thankful for the visit and the weather!

The women’s retreat has been taking place this weekend ad has been a blessing to attend parts of it. I went to a session today where they talked about different avenues of prayer and as an exercise we “prayed in color”. In this activity we wrote the name of the person we were praying for and then created patterns of color around their name. It was a good experience for me. I have had a hard time really focusing when I am praying sometimes and this allowed me a positive way to give my concerns to God and begin to picture positive outcomes instead of focusing on what I was worried about I was able to focus on what I hoped for. It provided a good way to really spend time with hope and to send that out for the people I was focusing on.
Yesterday we all made journals together. It has been so fun to be with women who are both vulnerable and take their spiritual process seriously.
We have still up to this point stayed snow free so I have lacked inspiration for poetry, but I have been playing with other creative endeavors. Jordyn, Nyrie and I all learned to do some spinning while the nuns were here last week. They were so generous with their time and materials. Nyrie spun two balls of yarn and is making them into a hat and Jordyn spun some yarn also.
I have started my outward process of seeking for jobs and we are beginning to inwardly prepare to leave Holden in June. We are all both nervous and excited. We have no idea where this next step in our journey will take us. For now I am searching and hoping for something right and good to come along but I have no idea what that looks like yet.

The sisters were here with the whirling spinning wheels bedazzling our village not with gold spun from straw, but with yarn spun from wool. We have gone yarn happy and the living room in the dining hall has been full of swift footed wool pullers. The high school kids were at the wheels at every given opportunity as if the next hat could be their last and they must spin for all they are worth. The sisters are kind and patient and excited about sharing their knowledge. I loved watching them all, eight wheels spinning and balls of yarn being rhythmically wrapped. There is something beautiful about the movement of it all and the chatter of the spinners and the feel of the lanolin in the wool. What a gift to bring a winterized village, the gifts of movement and production.

Little footprints in the snow ascend towards the basin
Laughter and chatter fill the forest as we rise
A few breaks are taken on the steep incline
Hands and eyes busily investigate the terrain
Noticing the subtle shapes and imagining stories
First we are travelers in a foreign country
Trying to escape and make our way to safety
Then we are on a search for the last of the dragons
This magical world is enlivened with each step
After and hour or more
The basin opens up before us white and beautiful.
We hike into a little hill in the center with the best view
And sit amongst a stand of fir.
All the backpacks are shed and the explorers are off
Gathering firewood
And counting the waterfalls
Which lie captive in frozen stillness
The fire is made
Stacking wood atop two sticks
Keeping the kindling from the melting snow
Soon a flicker of flame becomes a genuine fire
Where we warm cold hands
And gather to tell wilderness stories
Stories of tragedy and survival
Our own story is simple,
A pilgrimage to copper basin
Imagination set free
Good sandwiches
Good company
And a tale or two to tell
Before we head back down the path
Towards home

They came,
First one child then the other
To the box with the candle in it
The Youngest knelt, head down
As the candle illuminated her face
A small tear made its slow trek
Down one cheek

The older came
Then stood behind the younger
Standing at the edge of the light
She stretched out her hand
Resting it on her sisters shoulder
Together they were held in stillness
Illuminated
Each child separate in her thoughts
Yet together moved

The older one then knelt down
She began to pick out the pebbles
That lay in the box of sand
She began creating a labyrinth in the box with the stones
The younger lit a candle and placed it
In the center of the path of stones
Then the older took her sisters hand

Together they traced the path to light
And the one lone tear dropped to the floor