12. so long and thanks for all the fish

Our last night together we spruced ourselves up a 'wee bit' to quote Karl and went out to a nice dinner at a restaurant courtesy of Amanda and Lance and it was a very fun end to a thoroughly enjoyable week and the time had flown by.

I want to thank Catharine Newell who was our fearless leader and fellow seeker.  She is an amazing person and I count myself lucky to have been able to spend this week with her guidance and company.  

Also to Amanda and Lance Taylor who own and run Oatka School Of Glass and sponsored the residency and made it all possible by arranging for the venue and opening their studio to the residents and for providing not only the Food but anything else we might find ourselves in need of.

And Karl Herron, artist-in-residence at Oatka at the time, who generously answered any question asked of him.  

And to all the volunteers that actually cooked the food and cleaned up after us and helped us find the stuff we needed in the studio and drove us everywhere we needed to go. So thank you Julie, Diana, Betty, Carol, Kristin, Pam, and Steve who did the cooking, cleaning, stuff finding, and toting.

And many thanks to Wayman and Eryl at the Center who generously led us in meditation every morning, especially the last Sunday morning when they usually go to Rochester, and for all the small unnoticed tasks they took care of.

And thanks to all the women who participated for the friendship, support, laughter, kindness, generosity, experience, and knowledge shared, for the inclusive atmosphere extended to all. You made this a memorable experience for me and I hope I managed to give back even a tenth of what I received.

OK. A little pause to wipe away the tears, which, as it happened, welled up unbeknownst while I was speaking at the last morning's meeting.

Well, that was unexpected, I remarked.

To which Cindy replied, welcome to my world.

It was that kind of week.

We took our group shot, though two of us had already had to leave early, presented the bowl to Eryl, and headed back to the studio one last time to collect our makings and clean up our work spaces.

Then it was back to the Center to wait for Lance to ferry those of us going to the airport that day. I was in that group. But before we left, we discovered where Eryl had placed the bowl.

She had put it on the platform with the Buddha in the Zendo.

So off to the airport where Abhilasha, Suzanne, Marti, and I parted ways.

Re-entry occurred in Newark while I was changing planes.

whew!