Uli’s Santa Fe – Photo from Yelp
I’ve seen looms set up at workshops for weaving, and photographs of looms once set up outdoors—sometimes strung from trees—for traditional Navajo rug weaving, and now it strikes me that I have days like Sunday which also seem to be a beautiful weaving of threads: red, blue, and all the other colors of the rainbow.
First of all, I’m discovering that the six people who sit in the first two pews at my church almost every Sunday are the woof. I don’t know their names; I will learn them in time, and so for now I’ll describe them in terms of what seem to me their salient characteristics.
Right behind me, the pleasant young man hoarsely breathing with the help of an oxygen tank (we are at 7,500 feet here in Santa Fe) is always accompanied by a woman who explained to me that he wishes her a happy birthday every Sunday, which seems to me a very good idea.
Next to them, although at some distance, sits a morose man who speaks to no one and looks at no one. Some tragedy may have driven him into himself but he was wise enough to crawl out to church.
Across the aisle, a Navajo man with the gleaming long black hair traditional to this tribe prays fervently on his knees next to his cheerful wife.
Now that we have all become part of the weave, I look forward to knowing them better.
A bright red thread is contributed by the many, many women who have responded with messages of support and hope to my post about the abandonment of Hopscotch House by its owner, the Kentucky Foundation for Women. To know that retreats at Hopscotch have meant so much to so many and that they hope for its rebirth has energized me to begin that process by asking the director, Sharon Larue, to reply to my concerns—and the concerns of the community. My Federal Express letter arrived at the Foundation Monday and I will only wait a week for a satisfactory answer before pursuing other means.
And finally, Sunday included a delightful event at Uli’s, the most interesting dress shop in town, to benefit our Theatre Grottesco, the most interesting experimental theatre I’ve encountered. As its founder, John Flax, told the assembly at Uli’s, it’s “slow cooking theatre,” taking years and sometimes a decade to move from improvisation and rehearsal to production. Then three of his actors performed a slow runway walk, wearing some of Uli’s clothes, and I bought a lively black and white outfit and a green suede hat.
The hat is too big. I think I’ll grow my head till it fits.
So, the beautiful weave: prayer, music, friendship, theatre—and entrancing clothes!
To explain to you the magic times I’ve had at the Hopscotch house is nearly impossible. I have been on retreat possibly 20 times with my friends I’ve been there to write. I have been there to make quilts. I have been there to build the seed of the labyrinth that rests quietly in the side yard. I have walked. I have laid on the ground. I have splashed in the creek. I have sat Stared into the sky, daydreaming, regrouping, revitalizing.
Thousands of Kentucky women Hopscotch house has been a respite a gathering and networking place For healing, for the awakening of dreams, for self realization, communion with nature.
Hopscotch house has been a Haven for me.
And there are thousands of women, thousands, who I believe, will step forward to it. Please, let’s save this magical place.