Little Druid on the Prairie

*blows dust off blog* (more on that in another post)

I spent this last weekend in the Texas Hill Country at the Texas Imbolc Retreat, hosted by the wonderful Godwins and Hearthstone Grove, ADF. I’m left with many thoughts, none of which will adequately describe the experience of the weekend.

• Hospitality is a pretty amazing thing.
• If you build it, they will come.
• Tell them who you are, and tell them why you’re here.
• Do the best you can, and let the haters hate.
• I’m not crazy for thinking my house likes me.
• I can make up an invitation to the Kindred off the cuff, and do a pretty darn good job of it. (Good enough for my Nature Spirit invitation to be graced with the presence of a huge jackrabbit.)
• ADF’s priests are just as amazing as I thought, and I can’t wait to count myself one of their number.
• ‘Cause the things that I prize, like the stars in the skies, are all free.
• If you tell a flame tender and an Eagle Scout “Build a big fire” you get a REALLY BIG FIRE.
• Other people find Rooster the Paladin just as funny as I do.
• I can sing in a bardic circle and nobody will laugh at me (but they’ll ask for more Rooster stories).
• Sometimes you get to meet people you’ve been “hearing” for years, and they’ll be just as awesome in person as you’d expect them to be.
• Having a community of support is pretty important for pagans in leadership.
• There’s a need for good resources about running an ADF study group.
• We need a name.
• 40 people around a big damn fire, led by experienced priests, can generate a whole damn lot of energy. (Enough to make my head spin and the hair stand up on my arms/neck)
• Nature is good. Nature is very good.
• Be careful about asking Brigid for inspiration. Sometimes you get what you ask for.

I could go on, but I think that’s enough for now. I returned from the retreat recharged spiritually and ready to take my next steps in ADF’s clergy path (Many thanks to Rev. Sean Harbaugh for giving me some much needed advice – I was killing myself on the reading list, and apparently that’s more than a little bit counter-intuitive).

And maybe next year I’ll get out to Pantheacon or Wellspring or Trillium too, but for now I’m just happy to know I can be part of a truly excellent Druid experience right here in Texas.

(Even if it is more than 5 hours drive from my little home in the swamp.)