We are exploring ways of awakening (or reawakening) to our place in the community of all beings, of repairing our rift with the natural world, by taking our sitting practice to the woods. My wife, Constance, and I live on four acres near Occidental. There are paths and gardens all over it. Parts of it are tended heavily, parts of it wild. This land is available for people to come and sit still, to listen and learn from the other forms of life, in a spirit of emissaries seeking alliance and connection rather than control. On Thursday afternoons, we gather and then go out and find a “sit-spot” and sit still there for 40 minutes in an attitude of open, alert listening. Then we return to the house for a mini council, readings, presentation, or exercises, tea and sharing. We meet rain or shine, understanding that the elements are part of the reality we seek to encounter. If you’d like to take part, please contact barton@sonic.net, or phone (707) 874-1881. I’ll send address and directions.