A Writer’s Retreat

The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow in Eureka Springs draws writers from across the United States (and Canada, I’m told). The enticement is the uninterrupted hours for writing, reading, respite from the rat race, spiritual nurturing, or all of the above.

Rather than a B & B, Dairy Hollow is a “bed and dinner.” There is coffee in each suite. Add a granola bar and that is enough for me. It is much preferred to having to wake and be presentable at 8:00 am for community breakfast. As a contrast, it’s nice to stop after hours of work and walk down to the dining room to meet with fellow residents for a gourmet meal.

WCDH consists of two fifties-era houses – one in the Usonian style – and both built on a hill with entrances on all levels. What I euphemistically call a suite is a bedroom with private bath and office area with wifi.

The bathroom in my suite, Spring Garden, has a pink tub and lavatory (no shower). The tiled walls are pink, yellow, and lime green. The space is rather narrow and one day, exiting the tub, I touched my bare backside to the rather cold tile wall. Quite an attention-getter.

The room includes a four-poster bed with the most comfortable mattress I have experienced away from home and a large chair for curling up to read.

Besides needing to make some strides in my latest fiction project, I used this time as a spiritual retreat. This year I completed the study Not a Silent Night, by Adam Hamilton. This unique take on the life of Mary (the mother of Jesus) stretches the mind a bit and allows us to see Jesus from Mary’s point of view.

The trip was made with my BFF Pat and we are very good co-travelers. We agreed totally on the stop at Ferguson’s on the way for a huge cinnamon roll and coffee. Coming home, lunch was at the Daisy Queen in Marshall for a fantastic burger and shake.

I arrived home on Saturday, October 31. I gave my loan trick-or-treater (a five-year-old friend named Cameron) a Slim Jim from a partial package I had in the pantry, then turned off my porch light.

Today, Sabbath — day of rest, I rode the church bus, attended Sunday School, assisted as liturgist in worship, took communion to the nursing home, picked up the dog at the boarder, put out the recycling for First Monday, and attended a Church Council meeting. Tomorrow back to my day job.

My re-entry to reality.