As some may know, I’ve just returned from 10 days at Sancta Sophia Seminary in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Herewith are some observations on said trip. (BTW, I think I will tool around some blogs this weekend and get back into the swing of things.I miss reading what’s going on with my bloggy pals!)

1. Um, it was located realllly high up on a mountain. It was 11 miles to the top, y’all! And that means no 7-11’s or places to stop for goodies. Once you went up the mountain, you were SOL for quite a while. This made me long for my “20 minute between hockey periods” runs to Starbucks from back in NoVA. AH! to have things close by once again. Such a fantasy.

2. I am well and truly an introvert. I can be out there for a period of time (say, 6 minutes give or take) but being at “meet-and-greet” events every day wore this kid out. Plus, since I was sharing a room, I didn’t get much of my quality silent time and so couldn’t recharge the way I need to.

3. Probably no one there snarfed as much dessert as I did. Lunch and dinner came with some yummy-licious treats and I snarfed them all. MMMMM MMMM Thems good eats! (I loves me some cake!)

4. As the seminary has distinctly feminine energy, there were almost no guys there. That was kind of interesting. It was nice to be in that particular energy, though. It wasn’t catty or anything - just had a nice flow to it.

5. I loved going to meditation every morning at 8am. It was 30 minutes long and the ministers took turns doing it. During the meditation Carol (Parrish, the dean) said, I definitely went out on a voyage. She has such a lovely voice and it’s easy to just float right along with it. I know most of the prayers by heart now, too. Monday night’s “World Healing Meditation” was especially nice. I felt like I was doing something good and positive for the planet.

6. My meeting with Rev. Parrish went really well. For some reason, I only half believed that she’d tell me that I didn’t belong in that world and that my destiny was to be a mathematician (HA!) or something equally hellish. Fortunately, my natal chart had it pinned right on the nose: teacher, writer, able to take highly esoteric concepts and break them down for others easily, all my learning comes through relationships (ohhh yeah) and an introvert who does all her work internally. She said “You are in exactly the right place, my dear.” Whew!

7. The big excitement was going back down the mountain to the WalMart and then to Brehm’s for ice cream. We did that several times and it was fun. Sort of like coming back to the real world for a moment. (not that the WalMartS is the real world but close enough for me!)

8. Everyone I met, to a (wo)man was kind, gentle and intuitive. They all made an effort to come over to me, say hello and welcome me to the village. That was really sweet and made me feel well taken care of.

9. I want to take all the classes RIGHT NOW! Lucky for me, I will have to take them bit by bit - some here in MD and a few there in OK. This is going to be a very interesting experience for me. And aren’t you all glad you get to ride along?? heh

10. Regina is like a little fairy who delights in each thing she sees: a rock that looks like a dog (WOOF!), clouds out the plane window, dewdrops on grass and noses on kittens. (Tee hee) Actually, she did marvel at the dew drops and even took some pics as we were rushing off to meditation. Often I wanted to put her on a tiny bungee leash so I could yank it and say “Keep walking”. (Is that mean?)

11. The Sacred Geometry presentation on Friday and Saturday was amazing! The dude teaching it is like rocket scientist to the Nth degree and yet he managed to make something rather complicated quite palatable for dolts like me who failed Geometry in high school. It was most enlightening. Check out his website and see for yourself.

12. I had extremely limited internet access because the only place that had computers was the library which seemed to operate on “Maui-time” (as in, whenever they felt like opening, they did). And during an election yet!! The woman we stayed with had no cable tv and no internets. (THE UTTER HORROR!!) But I got the message that I was there without ANY distractions for a reason. Still, FEH on that.

13. It was a good experience because it showed Duty how much he misses me! Usually he’s the one to go away and I stay home. This time it was just him and roommate G (RG) for the duration and apparently my presence was missed. (Not by RG who is having a love affair with TIVO and the movie channels.)