Holiday Wishes from Rockvale
It’s the last month of 2021, as the Christmas song declares, the most wonderful time of the year. While we’ve taken the month off from residencies and retreats, it’s a busy time for us as we plan, repair, and reorganize. We’re settling into the long winter with dreams of a robust and active 2022. Here are a few things we’re looking forward to:
1. Heather is coming back! Heather Burch, Assistant Director from 2018-2020, has been working behind the scenes for the past year and a half as our social media and communication liaison, but she’ll be back at the colony in person starting in January. She’ll help lead the Goals Retreat and play a more active part in the day-to-day operation of RWC.
2. We have a new hiking trail. The “Wounded Tree” trail is almost finished and it’s a beauty. This trail traverses the southern part of our land, meandering through cedar glades and alongside limestone formations.
3. We have seven, possibly eight, brand-new weekend retreats scheduled. Four are open for registration now and the others are coming soon. Here’s your teaser: Goals, Reading, Enneagram, Poetry, Old Photos, Women Veterans, and Grief. Our retreats typically fill up, so make plans to join us if you’re interested in these offerings. Also, these are all-inclusive weekends and we take good care of you!
4. I’ve made some good synchronistic connections with people who know labyrinths. It’s long been a dream to build a labyrinth on the property and now I have a little more guidance. This is a long-term project, but it’s highly possible it can get started this summer.
5. We’re planning our next fellowship contest. If you’re a poet, stay tuned. This may be something you’re interested in!!
Despite the forward focus, I also find myself looking back at the past year with awe. When I think about the writers who came to stay at the colony in 2021, I feel the turning of something bright and meaningful, that perhaps the goal to “put something good into the world” has come a bit closer to fulfillment. That’s because of you, Friends! That’s because we all believed together and the universe said “yes!”
I wish you the blessings of this most wonderful season. I wish you joy and peace. I wish you time for writing and time for resting. I wish you the resolve to believe in the power of your words. And, if you want a place to nurture that belief, we’re here waiting for you.
Blessings,
Sandy