Adventure In Adventure OutTemenos Fund Raiser – Full Moon Paddle
In May we helped out with a fund raiser for Temenos Retreat Center, where we went on a full moon paddle.
We congregated at a small community gathering space by the water at Lake Wyola in Shutesbury, MA. Around 10 participants trickled in bearing additions to the potluck dinner. In preparation for a cooking fire, we demonstrated how to make a friction fire with a bow and drill. It was a low key, low pressure learning opportunity for anyone who was interested. We roasted hotdogs on sticks and participants took turns reading and reciting poems and other readings pertaining to the moon.
It being fairly close to the summer solstice, the sun was slow to set, seeming to reluctantly drag its heals somewhat as it sank away over the hills, leaving lengthening shadows and singing frogs in its wake. As dinner was cleaned up and the fire extinguished, people gathered up to begin the endeavor of getting the kayaks down to the waters edge, helping each other launch out over a beautifully calm liquid sunset.
There was no strong agenda to get somewhere but rather to be somewhere. A small lively girl of about 5 brought a steady stream of questions, exclamations, and epiphanous cries of joyful new awareness. We all felt the sense of childlike joy, though maybe just a little deeper below the surface. We paddled some, floated, talked, and took in the evening transformation as stars came into view and the moon rose in all of its full majestic glory. There was a sense of awe in the group and a sense of joy – and maybe even relief that awe itself can be so accessible.
If you haven’t floated on water on a breezeless spring night in the light of the full moon, reading poems inspired by the moon, you should change that as soon as you can. The warmth between the participants and their sense of closeness from their shared endeavor was palpable as we loaded boats, said goodbyes and parted ways in the bright moonlight.