In the fall of 2012, I went on a one week retreat, alone, to the Nada Catholic Hermitage. There was no program to follow, no company for me, and no plan. Is this a suicidal plan for an active extrovert? No, I simply wanted to find out 1) could I stand my own company, undistracted, for a whole week? 2) Could I figure out what to do with my time? 3) Would I have any kind of spiritual experience? 4) What was the daughter of a Jewish atheist doing in a place like this? When I drove west, towards the mountains of Creststone, a double rainbow arched over the town. And when I cruised into the parking lot of Nada, wondering where or not I had lost my mind to have planned such an out-of-character experience, I looked backwards and saw the scene you can see at the top of this blog post. I don’t think I’d ever seen a horizontal rainbow before. “Maybe I’m supposed to be here,” I thought.
Later, heating up a microwave dinner alone in my little hermitage, I said out loud, in the kitchen, “I want to go home.” Immediately, a doe appeared beside the floor to ceiling picture window right next to me, stared at me, and began to munch grass right outside the window. My dinner companion, who arrived, just as I expressed my need to leave. Hmmm…. The week passed. Me, myself and I did well together most of the time, and I talked on my cell phone whenever I wanted to. (I wanted a new experience, but not a torture chamber.) I hiked in forests of aspen, listened to spiritual CD’s by Richard Rohr, and wrote the song “Sacred Ground,” which I will include in this post. Life is full of surprises.
Sacred Ground
Susan Rose: Singing Grandma 
I’m, so, so, happy I found your blog! “Bloom at any age!”
Hi Susan – this blog is great fun! I had a similar solo retreat experience a couple of years ago. I was in upstate New York, having to pass a few days between one commitment and another. I had thought I would find a B & B or something and spend a few days hiking in the fall colors. Turns out that lodging in that area was around $250 a night and up … hmmmm… not exactly what I had in mind … OR … the local Buddhist monastery rented rooms with 3 vegetarian meals a day for $90. It was beautiful, quiet and they had acres and acres of land. I took myself and my new camera to my room at the monastery, got fed 3 times a day, read a few pages of the camera instruction book and then went out and tried the things mentioned on that page, came back, read some more, took more photos, etc. and even went to some of the “services?” “meditations” at the monastery. Very fun, but like you, I didn’t find it to be a compelling lifestyle – just a fun side trip for me. The people were not very interesting, seemed to me their lives were tttoooo sheltered for my taste.
Bonnie Carol