SOTC 34/365

A patch of snow on the birch tree, a dollop of snow on the ground. It is a beautiful day for snowshoeing in the mountains.

Despite receiving a large dump of snow in Edmonton just a few days prior to my weekend retreat, there was no time to take advantage of it in the city.

And really--what better way to take in the first snowshoe of the season than through the birch and pine trees, with a backdrop of sunshine, blue sky, and the jaggedly majestic peaks of the Rockies?

189/365

I packed along my new book for my retreat weekend, and have not been disappointed in its content. Susan Cain takes a much different perspective in her book on introversion than Marti Laney does in the other book I own and love on the same topic. As I spent my weekend engaged in reading and other solitary activities, I found myself reflecting on the introverted temperament a lot. Both in the context of a group (Susan's perspective) as well as in the context of myself (Marti's perspective).

I had to chuckle on the Friday night--three of us introverts shared a room at the retreat centre, and we spent a good chunk of it in those pre-bedtime hours, each into our own book, not saying a single word to each other. And it was good. Nevertheless, my chuckle lay in the fact that I could imagine watching this scene as an extroverted fly on the wall. How strange any mysterious our social unit must have seemed!

It gave me cause to wonder if there was a single extrovert at this weekend.* There were two other groups, as well as a couple solo retreaters, at King's Fold for the weekend. At lunch, the staff lady commented, "boy, I don't know what you guys are doing, but it sure was quiet out there this morning." We had all split off into separate activities; sometimes alone, sometimes with one or two other people. Socializing at our own pace. Introverted perfection.

I enjoy the group of people that I was technically "there" with, but I sure did appreciate being able to pick and choose when I wanted to interact with any of them. I'm pretty sure some (if not all) of them felt the same in return. And I really admired that this was a safe place to be able to portray the attitude of, "I love being with you, but I feel like being on my own right now," and have it be perfectly okay.

What are you doing today?
I'm being myself.

*Introverts are outnumbered three to one; there must have been extroverts around, and my friends and I could name off a couple we suspected. They sure handled themselves well in what I'm pretty sure was an introvert-concentrated population. :)

Quiet and Contemplative AND 188/365

Our Theologizers group wanted a retreat weekend, where we could gather in friendship and fellowship outside of our bi-monthly Wednesday nights. To lay aside the intellectual book we were discussing, and just BE with each other in a more casual atmosphere. As a result, this entire weekend was spent at King's Fold Retreat Centre near Cochrane, Alberta. And we actually were on retreat.

Our agenda delineated the meal times of the centre, a sunrise chapel service Sunday morning, and that was all that was set in stone (or, more accurately, set in pixel--the agenda was e-mailed as a .PNG). S's remark after the staff had introduced us to the building was, "go do what you want."

And it was SO lovely. I'd say we couldn't have picked a better weekend, but really, we couldn't have been blessed with a better weekend. It got up to 12C (53F) on Saturday, and not a cloud in the sky! I spent the majority of my day outdoors. Right after breakfast, I took some pictures of the view, and then just sat and enjoyed it. The air was fresh, the sun was warm, the view was simultaneously majestic and peaceful.

Partway through the morning, I did venture over to the centre's solarium. It used to be a greenhouse outright, but was converted into a warm sunroom for people to take in the view from an indoor space. The solarium encourages quiet reflection, and artistic creation; there is an art centre set up at the back. I decided to try my hand at a different art medium than my familiar photography; watercolour. My mom has experimented with watercolour in the last several years; I figured perhaps I might have some natural skill in this more than the pencil crayons and pastels that were also available. I kept the art piece simple--the mantra, "stick with what you know" reigning over the piece. I know I love my reds. I know these mountains and its wilderness. And I know sunsets. All in all, I was impressed at my own skill for my first watercolour. I did try a smaller, second piece, but I don't like it as much. Still, I think that if I ever wanted to get into it, I'd probably do all right with watercolour.

After lunch, a group of us were enthusiastic about hiking down to the valley and walking along the shallow river. I had shed my winter clothing by this point, and found myself reflecting that this winter hike in February was warmer than a similar hike I'd taken with friends when backpacking one summer in August. Only in Alberta.

Upon return from the hike, there was still a significant chunk of time before supper. I walked the centre's labyrinth. I sat on the bench swing and read more of my new book. I took more pictures. I pet the cat.


Supper fed us well (every meal fed us well), and by that time, the sun had disappeared behind the mountain. I sat around the campfire until I started to feel cold for the first time that day, and then retreated back indoors to continue reading quietly until I was tired enough for sleep.

Retreat, indeed. :)

187/365

Arrived at our weekend retreat location around 8:30pm. PJs on, book out; let's get retreating already!