5:45am – sunrise, mist over the pasture, brightening sky, dew-drenched grass moistening my ankles, a patch of dirt bearing the imprint of yesterday’s footfall, early lights in the retreat center
8:00am – Lauds, the ‘hinge’ that opens the day, “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.” And then Eucharist…the fruit of the earth, the work of human hands will become our spiritual food…
9:30am – 76 degrees, gravitational pull toward vegetable patch where Sr. Bernadette is staking tomato plants, scattered clouds, sunlight and shadow dodging one another, pasture grasses bowing to variable winds, baby turtle pauses along path near cemetery, committee meeting begins in monastery, I stop to help a Sister with a computer need, then give a tour to a guest…
11:45am – 86 degrees, lunch preparation is nearly complete, Sisters are gathered for Noon Prayer and Psalm 118, “Open my eyes to see clearly the wonders of your teaching…”
1:00pm – 88 degrees, roses under a partly sunny sky, deer tracks along the edge of the woods, robin’s egg on ground at base of tree (cannot locate nest), a single strawberry dangling from planter, cheerful conversation in retreat center, a rake awaits the raker’s return from lunch, a gardener’s overshirt hangs from an apple tree…
3:30pm – 90 degrees (well above average max temp), light breeze, squash seedlings soak up sunlight (about 5-6 weeks to harvest), unseen frogs leap into water as they sense my approach, daisies lean toward the sun, committee meeting is over and I watch Sisters disperse in varied directions, two of us shoo a lizard out the back door, I answer questions from the retreat group, a Sister returns from errands in town…
5:00pm – gravitational pull toward chapel for 1st Vespers of the Ascension, “O King of glory, Lord of hosts, who this day ascended in triumph above all the heavens, leave us not orphans, but send upon us the Spirit of truth promised by the Lord our God, Alleluia.”
6:30pm – retreatants dine on lasagna and laughter, Sr. Therese walks outside with the camera, Sammy the cat lounges on the driveway, sky still blue with cumulus clouds, hours yet ’til dew point, Vigil of the Ascension on the horizon…
7:45pm – sunset, 81 degrees, quiet, barely a breeze, color of eastern sky approaches indigo, two Sisters converse in the distance, I pause at the cemetery and breath in honeysuckle-scented twilight and know that…
…the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord…(Ps. 33)
