The Ancient Ones dance this early morning, waving their limb arms in time with the wail of wind. Blasts of pure country air wash over the hill driving cherry blossoms before its power.
Late spring at Adytum is perfect. Most of us long for summer, but then complain about the heat. Today will hold the crispness of early autumn; perfect hiking or biking weather.
But today we have more plants to buy today from an evergreen nurseryman who shows at the local Farmer’s Market. Dwarf Hemlock is on our list for the new planter box near the entry. Things still move slower than I’d like. Getting soil to fill the planter will mean days off from the Vision Clinic spent driving into town and back. Two or three loads, then all that shoveling…
Nothing is quick, easy or convenient about living in the country it seems. But the payoff is extravagant privacy. I’ll take this unusual and rare brand of privacy any day over the convenience that city living provides.
We have ended this week without passing a car on our road or seeing neighbors in their yards. Our closest life is the multitudes of birds we feed every day. We had cultivated these feathered friends for a year before we began building on the first 5 acres so when we finally moved in, we stepped into a party in progress- a fully established community of lively friends and newfound family.
We enjoy utter peace on the hills of Adytum, and our extravagant privacy that is so coveted by others on hillsides in view spot locales all over the world. Privacy and deep peace defines these 15 ¾ acres now. After working with patients all day, we need the balance it provides.
So it’s strange to me, in this quiet place of solitude, to always “see” people in my mind having morning coffee on the patio overlooking the lake or walking two by two on the trail to the Sacred Spot for morning meditation. I “see” children playing croquet on the lawn and bocce ball or horseshoes near the house.
I “see” a whimsical tree house in the maple overlooking the tulip fields where young and old alike enjoy the secretive perch higher than the birds and indulge their imagination. I “see” lovers sipping wine at sunset in the hot tub that we’ve yet to bring over from the old house. I “see” small children playing streamside in the brooks we will create as Donn finishes water-scaping.
I feel such kinship with Walt Disney. He held fantasy in his heart, desiring to bring it to pass for the joy of others. He did in the form of Disneyland… We feel this same drive, to create a fantasy here that fuels the flight of the imagination in everyone, not just children. But it is a fantasy immersed in a rare and extravagant privacy meant to be enjoyed by a select few, not by many.
God has already done so much here supplying hundred year old trees and lovely bleeding hearts for groundcover…I know His heart held the same anticipation for the joy we would get from Adytum while He was busy planting seedlings and putting in all the plants and trees we both love.
Donn is such a huge vine maple fan. This parcel happens to have the most on the entire hill- and right outside the back of the house with views from every window for us to enjoy inside or out. We “see” these gifts that God prepared, and know them as such.
Adytum is our sanctuary and we revel in its extravagant privacy, but we also greatly anticipate the day when that privacy is opened to those that are drawn to share in it with us. We are quiet, private people yet we feel compelled – driven even- to invite others into this sacred space so we can watch their pleasure, feel their tension drain away and witness the rebirth of creativity surging through them. They will leave whole and renewed…
Adytum is a healer in her own right, and on the deepest levels. She is more than the house. She is land, the animals and the elements all conspiring together to renew us. We are working with this entire community here on the hill to bring a fantasy to pass that others will be blessed by.
It is an incredible feeling to be inside this moment, realizing that all our labors are for a bigger purpose. They are our form of service to those that need refreshing, a new perspective, healing, hope…We will all enjoy Adytum’s extravagant privacy….together, yet separately in our own space and in our own way.
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