This Weekend

Allow me a few minutes of self pity.
  This would have been the day we left for our fall quilt retreat and we aren't going.  We aren't doing much of anything organized and collectively this year, some things I took in stride and didn't go on about.   In the grand scheme of life right now the people I personally know have been lucky with the effects of this pandemic.  There are millions who have lost their jobs, their lives, their way of life.  I have merely been inconvenienced and so very, very lucky and have no room to complain.  The clock is still ticking and that may change, but while PH and I have done a few things this summer, we were always careful and diligent, and so, lucky.

 Losing this quilt retreat weekend hurts.  Our group is spread out  and even though some of us email or text or follow each other on Instagram, it's not the same as five days together truly catching up.

                                                                   This is the place

 

These are the people

 

And this is their philosophy.  

 

 Here we are cosseted and cared for and spoiled and treated as human beings worthy of our time on earth. We are given  sumptuous rooms in a gorgeous setting that invites me to walk for an hour after lunch through pine forests, along lakes and labyrinth, following paths, and sometimes not.   For me, half of the weekend is just the being here with these people in this place.

 

 We are fed to maximum body capacity

Happy hour is on the porch, enjoying the view, the wine, the company, the peace of the place.

Sometimes happy hour starts a little early and sometimes in the spring it snows a bit so there's that.

Our workspace is a place where we visit, solve the problems of the world, share ideas and help with stitching problems.  Everyone has their area of expertise, everyone's taste is different, everyone's technique is their own.  And it's all shared.

 In my moment of self pity I will miss this place this weekend, I will miss the peace of the Inn and the women who open their world to us.  I will miss these people.  I will miss it all.