The Holy Mountain

We have arrived. We are at the Holy Mountain. Sewanee. And it's not too bad! I wasn't sure how I would manage out in the woods. We are in a house on Rattlesnake Road. The day we got here a girl was bitten by a snake. It isn't as hot as home,but it's pretty darn hot.Our hike the first morning was ...hot. Considering the fact that I attended Bikram Yoga (an hour and a half in a 105 degree room) with Esther the day before, I had something to compare it to.I wasn't THAT hot, but the humidity was thick. We got to our destination--Bridal Veil Falls--and turned around and hiked back. PriestHusband carried a spider stick to catch cobwebs. Looked like a genuine verger. We got caught in a lovely rainstorm on the way back. We took cover under a limestone cliff (rock?ledge? precipice? I don't know what you call it, but it kept us dry.) lt was a lovely place to be, but I kept a wary eye out for Mr No-Shoulders.
Yesterday, I got PH settled at the library, (truly what I said to BrideGirl when she called as we arrived--just like a little child!) He is in heaven. He and the archivists are new BFF's. He has read Dubose's original account of his capture in The War (complete with bumbling pistols caught in capes) and is now deep into his memoirs. And I think he touched the originals. Not supposed to do that. I spent yesterday trying to catch up on some work, and browsing through Sewanee. My theme seems to be mothers and daughters and women "of a certain age". As I hotflash through my days, without looking for it (the hot flashes or the books) I have stumbled on book after book pertaining to us midlife women. I am relishing being drawn back into Greek mythology with Sue Monk Kidd's Traveling with Pomegranates. I have sort of a love /hate relationship with her books, but it is drawing me back to a place I have missed nourishing.  Several quotes I'd like to take note of-later. And she writes with her daughter who is about to get married. It is definitely a story of privileged women.With problems only privileged women have time to think about. Guilty as charged. But don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Thistleberry Farms (Magdalen Project, I think?)--I bought their soap yesterday. And Blue Monarch. I bought their granola today. Connected to Blue Chair Restaurant. I'm about to go buy a cupcake. Two nearby organizations that help women get out of bad situations. Both have websites.
Now I am sitting in the cemetery. I've been painting and now I'm blogging. What a fabulous office! I have a picture, but I'm not sure I can get it on here.
Last night we had dinner with my best friend since 9th grade. I am so grateful for our friendship .We lost touch for years and years. We've kept up the last 10 a little and more in the last 5. We will spend the weekend with them.
A hummingbird visited us on the porch this morning. He just came by to say hello. We had nothing to offer him. and a deer was munching out our window.
BUT--lest I sound like a true nature lover, let me tell you about our hike. I turned around .WAY too much nature for me. Too overgrown. I like my nature a bit groomed.
Okay. Gotta go. Dinner with the priest who celebrated Nathanael and Carrie's wedding. Then a reading by Beth Henley (Crimes of the Heart).I haven't even told you about the Sewanee Writer's Conference....