Healing Hopes

Sparks of light of a different sort...

After I posted about the Soil and Soul Retreat I attended at Maple Tree Meadows a few weeks ago, several friends expressed interest in learning more about what Karla Kauffman has in mind for the farm.

So yesterday five of us spent the morning visiting with Karla, learning about this wounded farm and the healing place she hopes to create here. The Gleason family were early settlers in the area, and farmed this land for over 150 years. It's been through many configurations, including a state-of-the-art dairy operation decades ago, and years as a horse farm, known as Gleason Meadows.

Eventually it was sold, and over time became more and more wounded. Karla bought 12 and a half acres of it four years ago and has been slowly working on renovating the old farm house and developing plans for the rest of the land.

She dreams of hosting a small community of fellow healers, who would tend to the land, and provide a space where others could come for rest and renewal -- perhaps offering a sanctuary for rescue animals and a place where veterans and others suffering from post traumatic stress disorder could spend time working with soil and soul. But all this is down the road -- for now she would be happy to have a small group of people who could help her consider how to give the dream body and prioritize the tasks.

In the meantime she is hosting once a month retreat days with the Soil and Soul theme from May through October, inviting women who serve in healing roles of many kinds (pastors, teachers, nurses, spiritual directors) to spend four hours in study, soil-work, soul-work, and fellowship.

And we shared many sparks of light -- the laughter and sharing of dreams, the birds singing in the maple trees, and fellowship on a beautiful summer morning.

Some of the maple walnut scones Karla made for us, with maple syrup from her trees and walnuts from a nearby woods.

One of the mature sugar maples shading Karla's yard -- the source for the maple syrup in our scones and tea, and for the name "Maple Tree Meadows."

Some area of the farm are more wounded than others. Karla plans to restore one of the old barns and remove the other. Anyone in need of well-aged barn siding?

Karla already had two silos removed. She's looking for good ideas for what could be done with the remaining one. A friend suggested that perhaps it could serve as a wailing wall -- a place for those who need to weep and howl and rage.