stuck in lawrence, kansas

as we left kansas city and headed west towards our next destination, lawrence, kansas, ''lilly bordeaux'' my beautiful camper van started making strange sounds and starting stinking as if something was burning. oh no!! we finally found a gas station and pulled off the highway.  the guy at the gas station knew nothing of cars so after reading the manual and checking all the fluids we thought we might need transmission fluid because it was down pretty low. so we bought some at the gas station mart and following carefully the directions of how to do it, we poured the fluid down into the transmission. it did not help. we finally gave up and called AAA and got a free tow 20 miles into lawrence. 

oh my!

chris the nice tow truck guy

a few days before kienda had contacted some people from the 'prairie moon waldorf school' and had asked if we could stay a day or two, meet them, see the school and be on our way.  lucky for us the people from the school are all amazingly sweet and welcoming and helpful and wonderful!  the first family we stayed with was the eichler family. david and monika eichler are two of the founders of the 'prairie moon' school and are both inspriational people. their two daughters, lauren (9) and elyse (4) are beautiful and sweet children. 

the eichler family

elyse and i

the eichler's live in a self built 'straw-bale/post and beam hybrid house'.  it is absolutely beautiful with much care and love put into the design, the building and the decorating. there is tons of light streaming in the many windows on the main floor and the kitchen is beautiful with custom ceramic inlayed art. there is a wonderful calming atmosphere when ones enters this beautiful home.  please visit their website to see how they built their straw-bale house.  this amazing house is also for sale at the moment so if anyone is interested please contact the eichlers. (www.chrysalisfarm.com)

the view

chrysalis farm

the back patio

the frog pond

view from the frog pond

stucco makes lovely texture

the screened in porch

the straw-bale viewing door open

viewing door closed

ceramic kitchen art

the main floor

beautiful words

david does a form of energy body work he calls 'integrative bodywork'. i had two sessions with him which were very healing for me. he is very intuitive and very learned in different forms of therapeutic bodywork, mixing different types of subtle energy work together to make his own style.  reiki, cranio-sacral, aroma therapy and working with guides and angels are a few of the different ways david works. he helped me to look at some personal issues more clearly and now i can begin to clear my energy field and move into new states of being. for this i am very thankful and i know that one reason for getting stuck here in lawrence was so that i could have time to do these sessions.  everything happens as it should!

visiting the baby goats

lauren and the goat

elyse and the goat

me and the goat

 kienda and the goat

the waldorf school that david and monika co-founded is called 'prairie moon' and is about 5 minutes from their house. we went and had a tour one day and loved what we saw. the school goes up to 5th grade and seems well established. we met many of the teachers and parents and of course lots of wonderful children.  they have an exciting gardening program where the food from the gardens are sold at the local farmers market and the local co-op called 'the merc'.  its great for the children and it brings the community together.

prairie moon school

school garden outreach

the playground

this is real!! 

the dye garden

5th grade gardeners

sports class

the kindergarden

the preschool

the banner

the sweet waldorf gift shop

david and monika were having other guests come on wednesday so we went to stay a night with melissa, matt and angus. melissa works in the office at 'prairie moon' and matt is a sculpture professor at kansas university.  angus is their darling 7 year old son.  unfortunately melissa had already left the house when i remembered to get my camera out, so i only have a photo of the guys. these lovely people don't have a lot of space, so we had a lovely but short one night visit here.

matt and angus

the next great place we were welcomed into was the hacienda of mr. rick mitchell. rick is also a founding father of 'prairie moon' and is now the gardening teacher and master gardener at the school.  we spent the remainder of our stay at his big rambling house in town. rick is a real 'lawrenceien' having grown up here, went to kansas university here and moved back here after living in new jersey for about 20 years.  lawrence is his home and he was proud to show us around and tell us interesting tidbits of information about the town and outlying areas. rick was a great host, very welcoming and easy going, we had many wonderful and interesting conversations

rick

rick's back yard

ricks front yard

the view from my room

my room

ricks awesome truck

ricks awesome flower bed

ricks awesome library

ricks awesome kitchen

lawrence is a university town. kansas university has a very large campus here and there is one of the few native american universities, haskell university, here as well. 

ku

track and field event

art

green campus

the stadium

haskell

the stadium

indian chief

his medicine is wolf

haskell warrior

the campus

the medicine wheel

the medicine wheel 

medicine

sacred ground

lawrence has a sweet downtown area. here are a few images of the town.

court house

mass street

mass street

mass street

laurie, ricks lady friend's house

the kaw river

the town tipis

it is!!

lawrence is a sweet town

so my dear 'lilly bordeaux' (the camper) is fixed up and ready to go and i experienced a blessing and a miracle.  the cost of the new transmission was lots lots lots and i was really going to be hurting after paying for the repair.  three different people had suggested i call eveyln and judy who had sold me the camper just a month ago and ask if they would consider to help me with the repair cost.  i thought about it for a few days and decided that it was worth a shot and that any amount of help would be helpful. i called them up and they were so sweet and willing and went to the bank right away and gave me a huge contribution to the cost of the new transmission. i am so very thankful and i feel so blessed to know these lovely ladies. thank you evelyn and judy for doing a noble thing and helping me to get back on the road!! you are wonderful, wonderful human beings!!

judy and eveyln

our stay in lawrence, kansas was longer then we had anticipated but it was more wonderful then we had dreamed and we are so glad to have met such wonderful and welcoming people here.  we now have lots of new friends for life.  god works in mysterious ways to help us along this path called life. i feel very fortunate right now and blessed and i know i am on the right way. the sun is shining, the birds are singing, i have many wonderful people in my life all over this beautiful green planet, every day i have a choice to live in a more healthy and harmonious way with everyone and everything that comes my way. i am truly blessed and protected, as are you, dear reader, all we must to do is remember that fact every minute of every day and it is so!! 

breathe in beauty!!

unity village

''Unity is a positive, practical, progressive approach to Christianity based on the teachings of Jesus and the power of prayer. Unity honors the universal truths in all religions and respects each individual's right to choose a spiritual path.

Unity teaches that each person is a unique expression of God created with sacred worth. Living from that awareness transforms our lives and the world. Unity emphasizes the creative power of thought in our life experience. We refer to this as the Law of Mind Action. When we take personal responsibility to choose life-affirming thoughts, words and actions, we experience a more fulfilling and abundant life.

Affirmative prayer is the highest form of creative thought. It includes the release of counterproductive, negative thoughts, as well as holding in mind statements of spiritual truth. Through meditation, we experience the presence of God. Prayer and meditation heighten our awareness and thereby transform our lives. 


God is Spirit, the loving source of all that is. God is the one power, all good, everywhere present, all wisdom. God is divine energy, continually creating, expressing and sustaining all creation. In God, we live and move and have our being. In Unity, some other ways we speak of God are Life, Light, Love, Substance, Principle, Law and Universal Mind.''  (www.unity.org) 
 

the fountain

 

main building

unity tower

strength and power

earth unity

the silent unity building

i behold the christ in you

the courtyard

unity doorway

 peace pole

 in 1919 charles and myrtle fillmore, the spiritual founders of unity, bought 58 acres of land about 15 miles from downtown kansas city, missouri.  this land is now the head quarters of the unity movement.  there are beautiful buildings and gardens built on the land and it is used as a spiritual center of learning and worship.
there is a prayer request office here on the grounds that takes over 3,700 calls a day from people requesting prayers. there are many stories of peoples faith being uplifted, health restored, relationships renewed and prosperity realized.

mom and i only had a short time to walk around unity village but it was a very uplifting visit.

ozark avalon

we arrived in the dark after driving through a massive rain storm and then an amazing sunset as we drove out of the clouds.  we went up a steep dirt road full of pot holes and frogs jumping through the head lights. at the top of the hill were some welcoming lights in the windows of an old farm house and other buildings. we found a flat place to park the van in the middle of a field and as mom turned off the motor we heard voices coming out of the dark saying ''hello and welcome to ozark avalon.'' we  hopped out and met alfred and doug.  they brought us to the main house and showed us where we could shower and cook and we talked on the porch for a while. we had found our way to 'ozark avalon and the church of nature' a beautiful wicca community, in the forest near boonville, missouri. 

the shield

our camping spot

 the alter circle

 stone alter

 shell alter

 frog bog shower house

composting toilet

the main house

the porch

the chicken coop

  with willow and susan

their house

goddess psyche

the man in the tree

alter

goddess alter

alter to pan

musical pentagram

ozark avalon's natural laws:

use of this land is extended to beings and spirits of good will subject to the following:

* walk in peace. physical or verbal aggression will not be tolerated. 

* no firearms and no hunting allowed on the land.

* fishing with permission only.

* do not disturb or remove plants or animals.

* fires in fire-rings only. no unattended fires and no fires in dry windy weather.

* limit use of electronic sound generating devices. practice courteous camping.

* no dogs or other free roaming pets without prior permission.

* all vehicles must remain on gravel road.

* no discharge of wastes, pesticides, herbicides or other agents to repel insects or kill 

noxious weeds without prior approval.

* no littering- pack it in-pack it out.

* avoid posted no camping or access areas

* all bills and outstanding fees must be paid as a part of working and playing well.

* the use or possession of illegal substances shall be strictly forbidden. any behavior that endangers the safety of our children and families or the security of our land shall also be forbidden.

* if it happens here, it stays here.

Our mission is to provide access to nature, a safe place for outdoor worship in an earth-centered, earth honoring spiritual context, to promote community among persons with these beliefs and practices and to further environmentalism and appreciation for nature spirits and the earth.

www.ozarkavalon.net