In the shade of the pine, with pebbles and sand at my feet, I sit on the log barrier to have my photograph taken. Kate somehow manages, even though it is just after noon, to bring the flash into action; it was clever she says later, to the accompaniment of beating drums. The pine brush carries it's own random patterns, the rings of the sawn log gives away it's age, it's full time of life over, before helping to form a new human support venture. Times, and places run their course; where once there was unfettered imagination, and freedom of will, there is now ageing and signs of repetition, which in turn leads to decay. We are all in need of the search of a new beginning, a new motivation; it is no longer sufficient to talk of community, or to dance around the word retreat, or to paint the words of grace and patience onto fine ceramic mugs.
