The fog in the mountains made the drive even more precarious at times. The “short cut” that took us down a winding mountain road.

Overall I’m pleased with how the food turned out this year. The “assemble your own” plan worked pretty well again. I’ve created notes and menu updates for next year, so the planning can be nice and simple again.

Lost River turned out fantastic — even better than Cacapon. It really was a happy accident that we couldn’t get into Cacapon this year.

The moment Angela placed the heart in the source and the rain started — well — I wouldn’t have missed that for anything.

Saturday morning, as we drove to the source, I wondered if there would be a pool of water beneath the boulder or would everything be dry like last year. All winter, I have prayed for snow. I have visualized streamlets and imagined saturated mud. Everytime I wanted to curse the inconvenience of snow, I instead offered up a blessing in gratitude.

I’m not hubristic enough to believe that the forces of nature are bent by my desire, but still I teared up when I saw water in the pool. Not as much as years past, but still there.

We lined up along the sides of the stream and made our praise offerings — songs, poems, heartfelt words, waters from other sacred rivers.

“Water for water, music for music, poetry for poetry, life for life, a gift for a gift.
May our offerings be accepted.”

The weather was overcast and foggy as always, but it’s not a Becoming Rite of Spring Blessing until and unless it rains on us. As I stood on a stone at the edge of the pool (thank you, Evan, for helping me climb in and out of the rather large ditch), in order to place our love-charged, heart-shaped stone directly into the pool, we asked for the spirits of the river to accept our love, our blessings, our offerings, and our gratitude. I dug away some of the leaves and mud, and water filled in. The source was there, but under cover. As soon as I plunged the stone into the pool, the skies opened and rained upon us. Yes! Yes! I believe that our offerings were accepted.

There is no shelter at the source, but that didn’t stop us from having a fun time with our lunch. Some of us wandered around the trees, while others sat on the tailgate barely sheltered by the hatchback of Carly’s Element. We ate our sandwiches, listened to music honoring the nature around us, and laughed with each other as we increasingly got wet.

On our way back to Lost River, the clouds parted and the sun shone brilliantly. Again, a relaxed atmosphere prevailed as we wondered the park, listened to the creek passing our cabin, and did Tarot readings for each other. Esther improvised with her violin to tarot cards picked randomly from a pile.

Sunday, we woke up later, had brunch and more wandering through the park, before packing up and coming home.

Oh yeah, and dates for 2008 have already been determined, and we’ve already reserved the same cabin — March 14 - 16, 2008.

Nancy rang the bell. Ashley honored the elements using herbs and foods to engage our senses. Eric led us in honoring deity. Mark blessed the chocolate and wine.

I really liked trying a new way to honor the elements, and it worked, in part, because each person already had the basics down. It engaged the physical senses of smell and taste primarily, and Ashley brought in some of the magical/energetic correspondences as well.

For our working this month, Carly told a story about the search for “well of the sun” and how we should look in the everyday world for wisdom.

Due to the cold, we decided to share indoors with bowls of hot, yummy squash soup.

Nancy rang the bell. Mark honored the elements. Esther led us in honoring deity. Evan blessed the bread and wine.

Our working this month was focusing our attention on the connection between the earth, our foundation, and our feet.

We then shared and fluffed, and welcomed Diane as a new member.

After lunch, Mark taught a class on elemental systems and how they have been used to deepen understanding of the world around us, energy flows, and ritual.