I am home, back in Louisville, Ky. as of late last night. It is lovely being back in Our Treehouse, yet in so many ways I am still at Questhaven Retreat Center in Elfin Forest. So much I could share, yet so much is difficult to put into words. And you all know I love words. I am charged with lots of energy which amazes me as I never did become accustomed to Pacific time, which is three hours behind Eastern Time, and then throw Daylight Savings Time into the mix. So let me take some of this energy and share a few things with you. Some of my thoughts go a little deep, and some come from the spiritual part of me that was so deeply touched from my time in Questhaven. So maybe, for you, take some advice from when I attended Al-Anon, “Take what you need and leave the rest.”

A short time after my plane took off from Louisville last Thursday I noticed a small piece of paper rolled up in the left front pocket of the soft, flannel jacket I was wearing. Curious, I pulled it out and unrolling it I read: “The Power of all the Universe is with you. Feel it. Know it. Then act like it is true.” I stared at the note for a few seconds, very surprised. This was the same piece of paper I had given my surgeon, Dr. Tennant, while I was waiting in pre-op prior to my tongue and neck surgery. I had asked him to read it to me immediately after I was sedated. I knew my soul would hear it. I rarely wore that jacket and I had not washed it, and, well, there the note was in my hands once again. These wise words would become the underlying mantra for my three days and four nights in Elfin Forest. ( Don’t you just love that name?)

In the wee hours of my first night I heard an animal calling into the night very close to the door to my room. It sounded so much like it was laughing! Like a person! I had no idea what it could be but I thought of a laughing hyena! And here is something else. I was the only one on retreat the whole weekend except for Sunday afternoon when another woman arrived to stay for one night. The retreat house holds fourteen people and my room was very clean, charming, and simplistic. A few people live on the campus of Questhaven, scattered about, and I felt quite safe. I also felt very abundant, to have this place to myself. But I had no witnesses to the laughing animal and the next day, Bryce, who lives on campus told me it was most likely a coyote. I believed him but I told him no coyote in Kentucky had ever sounded like it was laughing! Our Treehouse is surrounded by coyote all year long, and it is common to hear the Yip! Yip! Yip!, and at times the sound almost like the high pitched scream of a woman. I decided to look up the spiritual meaning of coyote; coyote is a messenger to relay the importance of personal transformation through self reflection. Coyote is a shape shifter. And here I was on my own personal retreat in the mountains of California!

There is a beautiful statue of dear Christ on the grounds, standing about nine feet tall, hands out in a gesture of welcoming, a smile on his face and his eyes… well I cannot describe his eyes. But I can tell you how they effected me. Friday and Saturday I approached this statue of the Christ two times each day. Each time I could not stop crying. I was not sad or in any way upset. I was overwhelmed by the feeling of knowing I was so very loved. On Sunday I could actually pull up a chair and sit in front of him and tell him about my life, my dreams, my thoughts, my questions. If any of you, dear reader, have any type of relationship with Dear Christ, I highly encourage you to travel out to San Marcos, California and stand in front of this statue. Several times. It is well worth the trip.

I am the type of person that when I travel I become immersed in my surroundings, my experiences. But Elfin Forest was different. The best way I can explain it is that the mountains, the Tall Beings, the Angels, all became immersed in me. Each day I hiked some of the trails in the hills and I would sit or lie on Mother Earth. I knew I was never really alone. I could feel the energy all around me, giving me so much, flowing through me, recharging me.

Flower A. Newhouse and her husband Lawrence founded Questhaven back in 1940. Flower had a very special relationship with the Angels, with all of Life. She became a minister, wrote several books, and traveled extensively, teaching people all around the world there is so much more to what she called “the inner Life.” I met a few people at the Sunday potluck after Sunday service who knew Flower. They all loved her and talked of her special charisma, her tawny, gold colored eyes that seemed to look straight through you when she talked with you. I would have loved to have met that Beautiful Lady in person. In some ways I think I did by spending a few days at her legacy, Questhaven.

The above picture I took this past Saturday. It is a mushroom that grew a few feet from the Christ statue. I can easily see the two angels engraved in the mushroom. I hope you can, too. I am still filled with such gratitude and all the blessings that flowed to me this past week end! I plan to keep them, and pull them up like a photograph in my memory, any time I wish.

c   Love, Joan