A Women’s Retreat

The salsa was made

Chips and chocolate were bagged

My duffle was packed

My ride soon arrived

We threw my stuff in the back

The car was quite full

Four of us chatted

For a whole hour and a half

As we headed north

We left smoke at home

Only to find the same here

Can’t escape the fires

Others soon arrived

Beds were chosen, gear was stored

The house filled with noise

The soup was quite good

And soon began our program

On “The Masks We Wear”

We shared of ourselves

Some of us had come for years

While others were new

I’m always amazed

At the depth of our sharing

There’s laughter and tears

Bagels, yogurt, fruit

Started us off the next day

Plus coffee of course

The morning program

Concluded with mask-making

Paint, fabric, feathers

Sandwiches for lunch

At free time the group split up

For hike, drives, shopping

The smoke was so bad

That we limited hiking

To reservoir road

We walked and we talked

It was good to stretch our legs

And look at the lake

While on the way back

Ice cream cones were calling us

A delicious break

Good dinner was served

And our day’s program resumed

Each one shared her mask

Morning came too soon

We had breakfast and coffee

Then time to pack up

We cleaned and picked up

In worship we prayed and sang

Car by car we left

Such a great weekend

Fifteen women in retreat

I will come next year