Retreat

It was a lovely spring evening, birds singing, sun shining, and Larry and I were on our way to a nearby retreat center for an evening function.  As our car ascended the hill on the winding road, I could feel my pulse slow and my breathing deepening.  We weren't on our way to an actual retreat, but somehow, my body was reacting as if it was. The event was to benefit Durward's Glen Retreat Center, nestled high in the hills outside of Baraboo, Wisconsin.  An energetic and enterprising group of volunteers rolled up its sleeves to save the restful, beautiful spot from developers a few years ago and were now actively generating funds to sustain it.  The event focused on the theme of an evening in Paris.  From French wine to French country music to French cuisine to the pastries and prayers of a French Sister, the evening spirited us to a place a half-world away.  Although we were among some 75 other adults in the lively, chatty atmosphere of a single room, that enchanting evening was my very definition of retreat.