I was away at the weekend, here.

For the first time, we needed two boats, with 17 people coming on the retreat. I worried about the size of the group being a too much, but in the end it worked really well.

The highlights this year for me;

• The usual experience of a small space expanding and holding me.
• Spending time with old friends
• Making new ones.
• Emily coming for the first time
• Significant contributions from others in leading things
• Listening to Mozart’s requiem in a candle lit cave
• Sharing the journeys of others
• The stillness we find before an ever moving sea
• The laughter of naughty boys.

I am back home now, picking off ticks and allowing photographs to wash me in the warm water of recent memory.

I am deeply grateful.

Apart from the aforementioned ticks, one other thing that was less than welcome was the huge amounts of plastic on the island. We filled bag after bag with the stuff to carry away, but it seemed as if we hardly scratched the surface. A powerful reminder of the need for us all to change our ways.