May 4 2023
Musings on a summer night at the Chaparral Retreat:
'I listen to the whippoorwills chirping in the background of the sounds of insects flitting in and out of the luminescence of the patio light while Sadie finishes her survey of the yard and tries to sniff out the presence of other animals daring enough to venture out of the darkness while she is on watch. Not that she would do anything about an intruder other than snarl at it and maybe chase it back into the woods, but she is smart enough to know what her duties are. To warn and to protect. She is, after all, a shepherd, with the instincts of the breed but without a regular herd to manage.'
We are having a somewhat mild beginning of summer, with some rain and daytime high temperatures in the 80's. The grounds are lush, and we are working to remove layers of fallen leaves from the garden areas, trim branches from trees and shrubs, and move around some perennials that have outgrown the spaces they are in.
We have hosted several private events over the past few months, including some art workshops using oils and watercolors. I planned an art curriculum for the Kiwanis Club's summer youth program that runs through June and was happy to have twelve children show up for the first session. They worked on a pop art project and also made cookie-cutter figures out of clay. I have a couple of printmaking projects planned and another clay activity, and we'll do a collaborative painting that I think they'll have fun with.
