Christmas in Amida France

CHRISTMAS IN AMIDA FRANCE

Waiting, hard cold ground

Their always new ancient way

the buds are waiting

Mike’s haiku sums up the feel of Amida France in winter. I left at the end of a balmy November when we had worked in shirtsleeves in the garden. We arrived to a hard white frost, so thick we thought it was snow as we arrived in the evening glow. The garden looked bare but revealed vegetables waiting from our spring plantings and thick ice covered the pond where all we could see were golden silhouettes.

Sneezing, coughing, flu

Hot stove burning

Thawing my heart

We didn’t arrive in the best of health as a sharp and uncomfortable virus overtook us one by one. But stoically we overcame the discomfort and discovered more about ourselves in the process. The house was bitterly cold after three weeks lying empty. But soon the log fires roared and warmed us and welcomed us into the peace and quiet of Amida France. The daily collection of wood from the barn and the coaxing of the fires to life each chilly morning gave us much food for thought. Tangibly we could see how much of the earth’s resources we used just to keep warm. And we could gain a deeper feeling for the many unfortunate people in the world, living on streets or where little wood was available burning down forests and woodland just for survival. I remembered with grief the Roma women and children roaming the streets of Sarajevo late at night; tattered clothes and bare feet curling in the snow.

horses on the frozen earth

icy water trough

quietly drinking

Walks in the woods and wood gathering permeated our days, our neighbour trains horses and a number of these beautiful animals live in the fields bordering our land. Boxing day we had a longer walk, further away, with our friend Derek, around one of the lakes we swim in during the summer. I remembered another winter some years ago walking with guests around this lake composing haikus. Christmas and the end of the year lead us into reminiscing and some of our retreat led us into storytelling our own and imaginings of other lives. Mike led us in a haiku writing session. Where together and individually we wrote a number of haikus, surprising ourselves with our creativity:

The ticking clock, Christmas long ago, frozen in ice

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Silence like a river, courses though our veins, Peace

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Huddled round the fire, Christmas comes closer, Jack Frost awaits…

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Last Spring we had unexpected visitors. A couple came with their aged aunt. The wife grew up in La Ville au Roi and had not returned for 50 years. With great delight she re-explored and pointed out how the house had been and the different grains that had been stored in the attic. The old bread oven now disused produced 100’s of loaves every week for the farm workers. She was happy to see it lived in and still full of a friendly welcoming atmosphere.

a French family lived here

Many years, many Christmases

Many comings, many goings

Gradually we restore the buildings and create anew. Wonderful work from Leo and Phil in the autumn meant the Ecurie (stable) attached to the house had a finished upper floor and was now useable (just, pending insulation), for services and gatherings when it was too cold to use the Amida Hall. We walked with the nembutsu, chanted, looked within and bathed in the light of Amida wrapped up in blankets and cuddled round the gas fire. On Christmas day we visited all the shrines in our Amida Hall making offerings chanting and sharing poetry and writings with all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas.

In the kitchen the fire roared and welcomed us as we ate and celebrated being together.

Lovely sharings

Frosty breath

Warm hearts

Many thanks to Mike Regan for his haikus (the ones in bold italics) and to him and our other retreatants - Sandie and Sally for a wonderful Christmas.

Namo Amida Bu and a Happy New Year to all …Modgala