Sanctuary and Adventure

A sanctuary is a place of welcome, safety, and refuge, particularly for anyone who is in danger, or is a target of hate, due to immigration status or any other difference. The word sanctuary comes from the Latin sanctuarium - "a sacred place or shrine". I create sanctuary for oppressed people by challenging hate in my community, and by rooting out biases in my own thinking.

But we all need sanctuary. I hope to create that kind of space in my home for myself, my family, and friends; and also a safe place for birds and wildlife who visit us.

A sanctuary is a base from which to venture forth into the world and seek one's way. Venture is a shortening of the word adventure, which comes from the Latin adventura  - "a thing about to happen". Every day brings a new adventure!

Agenda:

1. Read "Repacking Your Bags"

2. Creating sanctuary (plans)

3. Having adventure (plans)

4. Our huge garden project update

1. Read "Repacking Your Bags":

I'm studying the book "Repacking your Bags; Lighten your Load for the Good Life" by Richard Leider and David Shapiro, third edition. 

Chapter 3 - 5 are about how to Repack. (This is a big leap - it seems like I just started UNpacking ... I guess the point is that we need to unpack and repack in close succession, or maybe even at the same time.) 

Chapter 3, Repacking Your Place Bag, asks "If you're given the choice, now, to move to anywhere in the world, where would you choose to go?" The authors talk about a sense of place, and contact with the earth to feel grounded. Also about Always Going Somewhere, Never Being Anywhere, and finding a Listening Point - "places of quiet where the universe can be contemplated with awe."

I do not need to entertain the idea of moving. I am home, now and forever. This house in which I've lived for 37 years (and now own) is my listening point. I don't need to get in a car to drive to the woods to feel contact with the earth - I get it by kneeling in my yard to look closely at all the tiny plants that are pushing up.

2. Creating sanctuary (plans):

I create sanctuary for my family and friends with clean and inviting spaces, and a calm environment; for my neighbors with a visual openness and beauty in my yard, and by greeting them when they walk by.

Creating sanctuary for the Earth is a bigger project. It takes a lot of research to be sure that I'm using the best gardening practices, and making safe purchases. The more I study, the simpler my choices get - simpler as in "back to the basics".

Lately I've been seeing correlations in society between oppression of people who are different and how we treat the Earth and all creatures. Our society believes that consideration for people and our livelihoods comes first, and if there is anything left over we will take care of nature; we will create a few small sanctuaries for them between the clear cuts and pit mines.

What a world it would be if the Earth had equal status and was given equal rights! What if the whole Earth was a sanctuary from hate and indifference?

3. Having adventure (plans):

Even though I'm a home-body, and I don't own a car, I have a whole shelf of camping gear and a rather large camping mattress, in case I want to go into "nature". Do I want to do that anymore, and how often? Is all that gear a real need for us anymore?

One of the areas of my life I wanted to unpack this month was camping, adventure, and travel plans, so we are beginning a dialogue about summer vacations in our senior years, and how to simplify our gear. And next week I will begin to sort through my shed full of supplies, but not today!

4. Our huge garden project update:

Since our beloved old apple tree came down we've been working on reconfiguring both our back and front yards.

The vegetable beds in the shady front yard came out, and we've put in a wall (almost done!) to hold plantings that will shelter a new patio that I call my Sanctuary Garden. Eventually I envision a fountain and tea parties under the dappled shade from the hawthorn trees.

In the newly sunny backyard we sculpted out vegetable beds and paths from the piles of soil. We've been planting - you can see lettuce, onions, collards, and peas on the tepee - and it's starting to fill-in and look lush.

The duck yard is also beginning to fill in and the grape is climbing over the new arbor.

The small family lawn area has recovered from the ducks, and is now used for toddler pool time! (You can see the little clubhouse to the left, that used to be a duck coop.)

The current project is a small brick patio going in to the area between our back porch and the duck yard. (Hopefully this will help keep down the amount of mud we track into the house.) We have it all shoveled out and leveled and are now adding layers of gravel and sand, and placing the bricks, mostly fireplace bricks from our old chimney. 

And Grandson is helping by sculpting the big pile of dirt that has been removed! (I will move that dirt, little by little, to other locations but it's a fun play area for now.)