Dragonfly New Years Retreat

(Left to Right back row) Ruth, Linda, Carla, Paula, Dawn, Holly. 

(Front row) Me, Meredy, Patti Sue, DJ, Sharon, Melody, Maria. Liesa is in the hot tub and Laura home exhausted!

This post is a bit on the right outside my door side of Life In My Backyard. It is about amazing women with such strength and power that my life seems so very small and insignificant after just one weekend of sharing our lives and journeys with each other. Dragonfly is a Yoga and wellness retreat center of sorts that is offered and hosted by Linda Long. Linda is an amazing facilitator and over all incredible human. She has a giving intuitive heart that seems constantly open to others and what  her path lays out for her. After a very long stretch in my journey of keeping the rubber side down and the sunny side up, I crashed and burned, biffed it, chin dove into the gravel and big time. Just lost my vinegar and got tired. It was one day after that that Linda came up to me and said "I really want you to come to the retreat this weekend". Well, I knew that wasn't something I was to ignore even though I wanted to retreat into my cabin and hunker down in the coming storm swimming in my own pity pool. Linda offered a way for me to join in without wreaking havoc on my unemployed pocket book. Wow. Bloody well better listen up when the higher up prompts, and I knew that was what was going on. I've said "no" before and learned what a B-A-D idea that was! I knew I was in for it, but never expected to be surrounded by some of the most admirable women I've ever come to know. No kidding, these gals have lives and are forming lives that floor me! Here are some highlights of the weekend (sorry guys, the hot tub was off limits for the camera!)

Friday evening we started by getting to know each other over an amazing dinner prepared by Chef Liesa  followed by a smudging ritual upon entering the yoga studio for some personal growth and good yoga. Once inside we were given homework to document our "intentions" for the year and be prepared to share them the next morning .

Linda opens her home and her heart for people.
Holly is no doubt telling Her and Liesa
about flying a helicopter, being an investment
banker, or climbing El Cap.
The girl is a maniac!

True bliss comes from each moment embraced

 Liesa is passionate about her cooking and her life. . 

        

 

      We all learned so much over the weekend, and one thing I learned is that I have a LOT to learn about taking pics in low light indoor situations! Oh well, the subjects are great!

                                                            Liesa is also one of the totally awesome  yoga instructors at Dragonfly

Dinner was awesome, and as Laura said "not a drop of testosterone in the room"

Maria does the smudging

                    


                 Serenity

Embrace this moment

                 Take joy in each treasured day

Life happens, breath...

Saturday morning most of us walked the labyrinth in the rain and meditated on our intentions for the year. I will try to get a pic of the Labyrinth to add in later. After sharing our intentions (harder than it sounds!) Carla did some talking about chakras and led us in some pretty  sweet yoga. The morning was emotional and full.

 After a great lunch, Paula, Liesa, Meroday & I hit the hot tub. Ahhh, nice, but not quite hot enough, so we turned it up. While we were in there, Holly busted out the door with a humongous grin on her face and a mouthful of chocolate pie. She announced something about baking brownies with nuts, cherries & coconut in them. They turned out to be a staple for me that night! Holly later shared with me in email how spoiled she felt being fed pie and all!


This gift, this treasure, this day...

Regina contemplates the teaching

Carla gave us all plenty of food for the soul. She had us laugh out loud on prompt. I agreed when Paula said she didn't get laughing for no reason. I get a great amount of belly laughs in life and Paula seems to as well, so I guess it's ok if we don't laugh on promt!

"I don't get it"

Paula is another awesome Dragonfly yoga instructor.

Saturday evening Ruth taught us how to make a very tasty ayurvedic meal as well as all about ayurvedic principles, digestion and showed some of the essential oil products she makes & sells.

Chef Ruth and helper Meredy

 The meal was incredible even after we chose to eat dessert first and chowed Holly's brownies!

Sharon agreed that dessert first is a good idea!

The chakra candles burned through the evening

  

Ruth is a natural at cooking and teaching. She will do great  things with that gift! Patti Sue (next to Ruth) is a Dragonfly  yoga instructor and an impressive Master Gardener (my neighbor! S-C-O-R-E!)                    

Passion                                                            
                                                                                         

 Learning and growing over brownies and good energy! 

 When one door opens we often look so   

 long and so regretfully  

upon the closed door that we do not

   see the one which is open for us."                                                                     

         
Life happens...breath

Beautiful women

Lower...

As the evening went on, the chakra candles burned, and conversation tied together what we had learned about ourselves and each other. Each of us on a path, a journey, now with intentions.Linda brought out the Taro cards. As each woman pulled her cards, it became quickly obvious that coincidence played no part. The cards fit the woman and the challenge at hand. We all knew enough about each others path and intentions now to recognise that. Holly went near to last observing in amazement the cards each person drew. When she finally drew her first card her response was "HOLY CRAP!...That's WEIRD!". Our intentions came together more cohesively that evening mushing together like the melted  wax of the chakra candles.  

It's all in the cards

and lower...

                                                                   

Linda's card! Many of us (the oldies!) passed around glasses.

and lower!

  

It's not the breaths you take, it's the moments 

that take your breath away

           

My cards in order of how I drew them. Bricks laid on my

              Peace



 
Not quite ready to sleep on all we had experienced (or maybe it was the wine & brownies?), Regina, Holly & I hit the hot tub. The stars were out, the frost was on the tub cover, but the water was hot! We yaked solving all of lifes problems until after 1:00 am. Getting out in the  frozen air was the tough part! I decided to crash there instead of treking up the hill home only to return early next morning.

Sunday morning was very full and certainly pulled all we had done and discovered together in tidier bundles. Still though, for some more was revealed to make the path a bit more challenging. Linda demonstrated skilled intuitive facilitator abilities and didn't let any of us get away with buckling under to fear or uncertainty. Our intentions were stated confidently in the end and it was evident that we had sisters to hold us accountable and offer support. Yoga was a part of that morning.

Arms up!

 

Love

Bottoms up! (sorry ladies, it was too cute!)

         Joy

Is your life full of temptations? Then be happy, for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. So let it grow, and don't try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then oyu will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete.

(James 1:2-4)

Melody's bridge

Sharon's backbend!

   Wow! Maria wants to try!                                                                This move led Holly to show us her stuff!

         Light

Regina always glows.

Holly's straight, it's the camera holder that's crooked!

 








 

Susie is thinking of trying that move!

 








                 Tranquility

Hallelujah I'm a bum! Hallelujah bum again! hallelujah

give us a handout to revive us again!

(Utah Phillips) 

Take joy in your present situation and embrace it as a gift for it will be different in an instant and never the same again.
Freedom from the restraints of employment is a gift
Turning from the closed door will soon swing wide the open door.
Fear not and enter with confidence, passion and vigor!
(ok, just a bit of lightness on my own journey!)

Beauty and grace!

Sunday morning was topped off by an awesome brunch spread prepared again by Liesa! I had to run in order to meet with some friends and light my stove fire, but Linda prompted me to take a plate home! I gobbled it all the way up the hill. YUMMMMMY! Thanks Liesa! All said and done, the grace and beauty in body, & soul during this retreat weekend left me in awe. Every woman there is an incredible amazing being and leaves me humbled. 


         All Good Things       Have the courage to love 

Beauty and grace                                          Ladies, you all rock!

in every face                                                          

lovely as the flower                                
petals fade, wither, drop         Sweetness lies in.... (please answer this in a comment!)

spirit blooms

light, truth, power

                                                  What if The Hokey Pokey IS what it's all about?                       
                                                     Put your right side out & rock the world!                                     

Clouds Rest in Mid January!

Approaching the summit!

If not for Suzanne, Naoko & I would never have thought to hike Clouds Rest with the short days of winter, but with no snow so far this year, going to the high country in mid January hasn't happened since 1935, so why not? When I got home from the movies at 10:30 pm Saturday night and got the message about meeting at 6::00 am to do Clouds Rest, I thought, well, we'll just see how far we get. I'd never done it (20 years with it in my backyard, and never done it!), but 14.5 miles with mucho uphill & elevation gain sounded like a lot after eating junk and lazing around all through the holidays. Turns out it was great and we were all so glad we took the opportunity! I highly recommend this hike and give it 5 stars!

The first sign

 

 

 

Clouds Rest

Naoko takes it all in

On the razor

 

       

 

 

Clarks Range & Tenaya Lake

 

Rocks & Valley

What's that peak? Star King?

 

Suzanne, me & Naoko on top!                               

         

 

 

 

 

          

 Suzanne was very proud of her new  boots after the big blowout on Yosemite Falls trail! Rumor has it that her old ones are bronzed and used as door stops. 

Half Dome & Yosemite Valley

Rainbow cloud resting

 

 

 

 

 

A rest before heading back                 

Lake on the way

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                         Clouds Rest ice phantom

 

 

 From trail

Frozen Trail

Frozen creek

Over Tioga Pass in January?

After having more than enough of life's curves, I headed off to Ice Skate with good friend Ann's skates on Tenaya Lake. Tioga Pass is still open and that hasn't happened this late in the season since 1935! There is hardly any snow and it was WARM! The only problem was that Tenaya Lake was literally groaning and resonating with the sounds of cracking ice! I've never heard a sound so ominous. A few people were skating, but it seemed risky to me, so I headed higher with a new plan. 

I ice skated (IF you want to call it that!)  for a bit just outside the kiosk heading to the East Side of the Sierras and had a bit of lunch.

Woa!

yikes, backwards!

Aaaaaaahhh!

Oh, there we go!

Weeee

Mono Lake (on the way to hot springs)

 I then went for the hot springs in mammoth! I met an interesting young man 

( shoulda gotten his pic) from near Duncan in British Columbia. He had come back to the spring for his sun glasses. This kid was a real free spirit. He traveled & lived out of his VW camper van and was headed to wherever, maybe Mexico, not sure. He seemed a bit on the "herb", so kept forgetting stuff.  This was a new place for me and after finding that it had only one hole and a lot of people coming & going, I didn't have much time in there

Ahhhhh!

I

The boardwalk to the spring

 I love my backyard!!!!!!

Hot Spring fluff

 

Phantom of the boardwalk, or Shady Lady (moose & squirrel again)

Hot river and boardwalk

The view

Hot River Phantom

Hot snake river

Icy bubbles

 Heading back, I decided it would be nice to get more of a soak and went to Bridgeport, but so did everyone else! Sigh...

This ladies is why old men still find old women attractive! Blurry vision and low lighting are a woman's best friends! Forget the diamonds. I guess that's where Lizz & I differ...

Sometimes it's the little impromptu adventures that make life doable. Cheers and Happy New Year 2012!

Muses from the crisis zone

The day began like any other day in January except that the weather was warm and spring like. It was an unusually dry winter so far, with no rain or snow in the forecast. Denise started her day nervously pressing her coffee and watching the phone. "Surely the restraining order will go through" she said to Rocky the cat who clearly just wanted some of the cream she was pouring into her coffee. It had been 8 months since Denise had left her husband and just as she was getting some momentum on the divorce paperwork, he was beginning to escalate again.

Denise went outside to hang her laundry when the phone rang. She didn’t make it to the phone before it went to message. The message was Kimberly from the crisis center. Denise tried to call Kimberly back, but kept getting a recording that she was calling her own number! While Denise looked in the phone book for another phone number for the crisis center, her phone rang. “Hello, is Kimberly there?” said a man’s voice on the line. “No” Denise answered, what number did you dial? The man reported the phone number of the crisis center that Denise had been trying to call!

Several more calls came on Denise’s phone for the crisis center. All the while Denise had to explain that there was a problem with the line and the crisis center had the phone company working on it. It was difficult to deal with job hunting on line and divorce papers with all the calls!  In the mean time, Denise got the news from Kimberly that the restraining order had gone through and would be served probably that evening, so she should leave home to be safe.  

Tired of hiding and having her life disrupted, Denise decided to stay put and lock up. Later that afternoon, she began preparing locks and boobie traps for defense just in case. The phone rang again. This time it was a woman asking for crisis center. “I’m sorry” said Denise, she then explained the phone situation to the woman. The woman, in a voice that told a story of a rough life began telling Denise her troubles. “you DO realize that I am not crisis center don’t you Dear?” Denise interrupted while stringing trip wires inside the gate just in case her crazed husband made his way over in the dark. “Oh yes”, said the rough sounding voice. “you just sound so happy!”. Denise stopped tightening the trip wire and thought a second or two. “Well I AM happy!” she said. The woman began telling Denise about her trouble at the safe house with trying to operate the hot water heater. The conversation ended with both women laughing, and Denise smiled her way through the rest of the day.

Jeannine Andre    This is a true story that happened the day before my adventure over Tioga Pass. The names have been changed etc, etc...although permission was given fully for printing the story.