This is Coleman Barks speaking at the opening 1st chapter of his book The Soul of Rumi:“In the early 1990s-it was December-I was sitting in meditation under the green dome that houses Rumi’s tomb in Konya. Some one came up and gave me a green shawl. As you might imagine, I treasure it still and use it in my meditation. I love the wrapped, rapt feeling.
Going in, feeling the limpid contentment in being oneself and the endless discovery there: the green shawl is that, reminiscent of a child’s tent-making delight, the rainy-day times when you spread a sheet over a card table and chair, anchored it with safety pins, and crept under the shelter where imagination could flower. How we forget this tent making for such long spans is a mystery in itself.”
Our summer of tent making has come to an end, and the reality of an approaching winter is now very much reality. One last bit of construction we wanted to share with every one is the addition of our connecting deck between our yurts, or our Bridge as we have started to call it. I had not considered what an important role it would play, but it came out nicely, and I can see now how much it will contribute greatly to our home.There is of course still much more to do and projects will continue through out the winter, but a lot of energy was used up this summer and I can feel the need for a little slowing down, to focus more on maintaining our selves nicely through out the winter and regroup to the necessities that are still needed. The summer was wonderful, to build a home is incredible, to have a taste of growing strong in body and sharp in mind is remembered as a kind of birthright I hope every one gets to experience in their own way, and pray will return to me as often as possible through out this life. There is more to do, maybe in any good adventure there always will be and that’s OK because it has been a very good adventure. At times it seems a little crazy to have made a home of tents, I am glad in reading from Coleman Barks that we are not alone in such a longing.
