February finds me knee-deep into winter on Orcas Island, North Western Washington. My seasonal migration has often--until now-- taken me south with the birds. Somedays, when the contemplative, creative, coziness of the island in winter turns to lonliness, stagnation and cabin fever; I wonder if I could catch up with the flock that left months ago. But overall I have been pleasently surprised to find that the quietness of the season has been a space in which to develop visions and hear my own heart beat. I have felt like a seed this winter, dormant with great potential, blessed to be in fertile soil, awaiting spring.
 
And what visions are percolating?

I am working on a highschool program that will run Summer 2008 here on the island. In it the students will study, bio-remediation, permaculture, food preservation, farming, bee-keeping, blacksmithing and more fun stuff, while receiving high school vocational credit.  I am so thrilled by this project and feel a deep sense of purpose as we work to secure funding and do the foot work that will help it run. Our intentions for it are that it will buff up the Farm to Cafeteria program and help students develop a deep sense of place.

I have also been deeply moved by my connection with the Pachamama Alliance and am helping set up an Awakening The Dreamer Symposium here on the island.

I love the medium of theater and ALL art,  natural medicine, practical living skills, gardens, kayaking, backpacking, surfing, getting lost in the woods, writing, poetry, play, long conversations, good food, books, bird migrations, languages, ecosystems, mushrooms, cultures, people. My love of that which takes time, that which we don't understand, that which inspires deep awe, humility and creativity in us is why I feel called to protect that which I love and celebrate along the way.