Guided by the Imaginal, and holding the desire to listen deeply to Spirit, I was called to west Texas, to work in collaboration with my friend Imelda Garcia (from Alpine and El Paso) and my colleague Amber Grey from Santa Fe. We started the year under the clear starry skies with a Continuum Campout called "Stars and Water, Water and Stars." We met along the Camino Real at Balmorhea State Park almost half way between where each of us lives. The idea was to find a new way to be together and include nature and invite students, colleagues and friends to come together and experiment in creating a satisfying experience, while letting go of the workshop/retreat structure. We created a new collaborative shaping, showing up and offering our gifts into the world. There was a blizzard in West Texas so we ended up scattered in various motels, though we had a shared group campsite. When I pulled into our campsite I saw rabbit having a conversation with road runner. I thought it was an interesting pairing, out in the open these two were within 18" from one another. Everywhere I went I saw road runners and rabbits. Road runner came in last summer running up and down the sidewalk. I could see her from my studio at home. She said, "Stop. Go a different direction." She has the ability to use her tail as an air brake and change directions effortlessly. This coincides with how some babies awaken from being sound asleep to full on "pay attention to me grandma!" It is good practice to have such a resilient and flexible system that we can shift so easily. We swam in the warm springs of Balmorhea and spotted a great horned owl at sunset, calling from the tree above the water. Their were 6 of us, participating in this experiment, from Florida, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. We slowed down and soaked in the stars and water and we laughed and played and cooked together. We worked the DreamTechnology and painted with Living Water from Balmorhea and also from Tasmania. It was liberating, a lot of work and totally worth it. We plan to do it again next year! Want to come?

From Balmorhea we drove down to Alpine, through Ft. Davis and some of the most beautiful country I've seen. It was hard not to stop every few minutes to soak it all in and take photos. In Alpine, we gathered at the Kokernot Lodge, a part of Sul Ross University. The lodge has special significance for Imelda Garcia, our sponsor, because her family and ancestors have been gathering and enjoying the area for hundreds and maybe thousands of years. We felt her deep appreciation for the area. The first moment there I was greeted by roadrunner and rabbit again. We saw mule deer, javelina, coyotes, owls and one antelope who had apparently been adopted by a herd of deer. The three ancient cottonwoods were very welcoming and cooperative. It was the perfect setting for creating a warm container for movement, art making, journaling, resting, ceremony and eating. Everyone contributed to our time together and we had 4 dogs in the room! It was truly a 'species inclusive' gathering.