A few months ago Annapolis Friends, Sylvia, Nancy Jo, and Angela, shared a mid-summer’s visit to the Friends Wilderness Center in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Center is overseen by the Benson family, who, we are told… “take care of everything, they are the managers, incredible hosts, and creators of all the exciting events” for which you can register on the FWC website or connect with them via email center@friendswilderness.org.
And in the afternoon our group of 9 enjoyed Sacred Chant & Dance on the sunny patio in front of the China House. Wonderful Saturday night for the group–now expanded with more guests–to lie out in the grass on air mattresses and look at the night sky filled with gazillions of stars – and we even saw a couple meteors! The beauty and fun of that night passing hours “under the heavens” together — chatting, singing, telling stories, and dozing off at times!
… And the animals!! 4 dogs (1 was a guest), 3 cats, 12 goats and lots of ducks and chickens running around loose. Each and every human and animal knew its place and its job and enjoyed their beautiful home and family. Osage, their sweet Golden Retriever, led Angela and me on the trails Sunday morning and it was so much fun. Kim, referring to him, said that when Osage goes to bed at night he’s always so happy and says to himself: “Wow! This was the best day of my life!”
I think it would be amazing for anyone to go there, stay overnight in the cabin or bunk house and join in the life of Friends Wilderness.”
~ Sylvia O.
Friend, Nancy Jo writes...
“Starry night ~
The night was warm, a soft slightly moist breeze cooled us as we lay
in the meadow, looking up in anticipation of seeing July’s shooting
stars. There were about 15 of us lying on blankets, quietly sated with
the evening’s meal: gazpacho…crimson with red pepper, homemade
goat ricotta from the family’s goats, bread and cheese, fresh peach
cobbler, creamy cheesecake with fresh blueberry sauce , and a
celebratory birthday cake. Filled to the brim with dinner’s bounty, we
lay on air mattresses, and chairs that shifted to horizontal. As the
oldest in this gathering, I got the prized zero balance chair and was
gently covered by a light blanket. We settled to drink in the ancient
brilliant silent stars, not yet dimmed by a late moonrise.
As we waited , our city eyes got more accustomed to the joys of
mountain darkness unspoiled by artificial lights.
Our urban ears became attuned to the gentle sounds of friends speaking in low
voices, punctated by an occasional quiet giggle or guffaw, or
spontaneous singing, or a shared poem. Our human sounds were a
background hum to the growing chorus of mountain cicadas, with an
occasional percussive screech owl, the bark of a dog, or frog-song
from the pond.
It was a glorious, symphony with the more distant
cicadas, providing rushing soft waves of sound… except for the single
cicada in the tree directly behind my chair… a too close, too insistent,
slightly unpleasant solo. I unsuccessfully hoped for his silence so I
better hear his softer kin at the edge of the forest.
We are all kin the critters… both loud and soft… Kin to the stars, and to
each other. As the evening deepened and the night sky dazzled, we
sang:
‘We are born of the stars and the earth,
The universe sang at our birth,
In the heart’s smallest spaces,
the universe faces itself
In wonder and awe’
~ Nancy Jo
Friends at Friends Wilderness Center waving goodbye, saying…
“Come again!”