Visit to St. Vladimir's

We ventured south to the city of Crestwood, Yonkers, New York, to visit AJ at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Christian Theological Seminary. He is in his second year there and this was my first visit. The park-like setting and old stone buildings are very lovely and the garden coy-pond is the perfect place for meditation. AJ took us on a tour of the dorms, library and sanctuary, which is covered with paintings of the saints. Mother Mary dominates the ceiling, as she is revered in Christian Orthodoxy as the vessel who gave birth to Jesus. We went for lunch at the Blue Moon Mexican Cafe in Bronxville, AJ's choice as we used to frequent Cochina Del Sol in Frenchtown so often when we lived in NJ. After coffee at the Slave to the Bean shoppe we went back to St. Vlad's and transferred Mia's Christmas present to her car - my Les Elements la Nature suite by the Spanish artist Alvar. She needed pictures for the walls of her apartment and I decided to hand over my fancy stuff. They look a lot better on the high walls of her apartment than my low-ceiling barn apartment, and I don't want them to burn up in the event of a barn fire. I still have my Peter Max prints, much smaller and appropriate for an old hippie. We drove home to the farm in the dark, dodging deer on the highway. Matt is headed out to a retreat at a hotel in Saratoga next week to help determine the direction of the organization he works for. Pretty good gig if you ask me. It's 4:50 now on Sunday afternoon and pitch black dark, which doesn't help anyone's mood. When he leaves I will hold down the farm, my job, and somehow get ready for the Plowshares Crafts Fair on December 4 and 5. My Tea-Tree Lavender soap set up too fast and didn't pour right. I hate when that happens. Back to school for two days then five days off of that job to work on things here. I'm waiting on lambs, have to get more hay in, what else is new?