A quick postscript to the last blog entry.
I awoke yesterday morning to snow in the hills in the Roaring Beach water catchment area. Across Storm Bay, the distant hills to the west looked like a wintry Colorado scene. Walking to the beach for my surf, there were white pockets of hail scattered throughout the sand dunes. Brrrrr.
Normally, I would be ecstatic over such a dramatic climatic event, with snow not seen this close to sea level in 19 years. Yet, the host in me frets over the contentment of any of my guests and I tend to worry too much over whether or not they are comfortable.
Kabir or, perhaps Rumi, would say something like:
When the guest is happy,
I am delirious with joy.
When the guest is unsettled,
my mood goes dark with anxiety.
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Melanie, arrived from the East coast of America at the tail end of a very hot July only to be hit with a blast of Antarctic air just as she was getting over jet lag. Pity.
The reflected image of the Peace Spiral on the pond this morning as it seemingly caressed the Split Rock made me think of:
Here is a photo of the current Windgrove Resident, Louise Morrison. It’s somewhat out of focus image conveys a hint of the reflective quality she is in as she uses her time here to collate into a visual diary her year in countryside Japan as an apprentice potter. She rereads an entry of four years ago and is transported back to the ever changing mountains, the balanced presentation of the exquisitely prepared food and the temple like quality of her existence among humble Buddhist potters living close to the land.
Brian Che, the current resident Windgrove artist, and I have had a string of slow, easy autumn days; mostly still and sunny with plenty of quiet time to reflect upon and create our respective art.
Looking through the window of Che’s studio (once I removed him), some of the smaller paintings progress along. Outside, a very large “Red” dries next to the bath.
As for my work, I am presently carving a small “still life”. The myrtle spiral, weathered beach stick and four stones will be “set” into a piece of huon. Slow, steady, meditative work. I sit on the saw horse, chip away hundreds of tiny slivers of wood, listen to the sounds of the day, and when the mood hits, head on down to Roaring Beach for a surf. In the evening a shared meal, good conversation and a bit of a read before retiring. Life’s easy.
Brian Che – painter, sculptor, photographer – has been a resident Windgrove artist for the past three weeks. Most of his days (and nights) have been spent working on a number of paintings, but he also prepared on Roaring Beach a Prayer Pole for Peace. 
These moments of quiet reflection, whiffs of smoke drifting by, human art forms complimenting the aesthetic surrounds, purposeful intention of doing good. It all added up to something wonderful and life enhancing. May more people experience such encounters.
For twelve years the infrastructure at Windgrove has been slowly building. A week ago today, an inaugural group of participants arrived from America’s Rhode Island School of Design to move the dream of Windgrove as a refuge for ecology and art into that of established reality.
