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Bald Mountain Retreat (Vermont) July 2010

"You have a paradise here."
"This whole area is incredible."
"I loved my weekend visit!!!!"

Water Irises
The irises arrived
a century and a half ago perhaps
their brief blossoms gracing the gardens
of those who came
also briefly
to raise sheep on this mountainside.

Now they thrive just above the lower pond
and, I imagine as they never have before,
in a patch sixteen feet across
right in the middle of the meadow
hundreds of delicate purple-winged blooms
improbable continuations
graceful remnants of intentions long ago abandoned.

Wild Strawberries
At night fireflies spill across the meadow
flashing like a heaven of blinking, wandering stars.
By day wildflowers overrun it.
Wild strawberries blushing close to the ground
coyly offer themselves
partly hidden among the leaves.
At their deepest red
ripeness visibly oozes from the tiny fruit
once turgid sweetness
now overflowing flesh
suddenly made soft.
Such perfection cannot be contained.

www.baldm.com 802-659-4347

Or maybe they were brought
by the wife of the suicide banker
in the happy decade before the crash of twenty-nine
to adorn the camp whose scavenged remains
we found and cleaned and plowed under.
They survived neglect and the rape of the loggers
the boggy mess
made by creeks turned from their beds onto the field,
survived even our well-intentioned restoration
the leveling and seeding of the big machines
life preserved in the root.

Human Disturbance
Stepping inside I hear a droning
and worry that I have let in a bee.
Listening I realize that it is an airplane
buzzing overhead.
Human disturbance
here so pleasantly rare
becomes an object of wonder.

Come see Nature on her own ground.

Bald Mountain Retreat

Westmore, Vermont

June 2010

"I wanted to express my gratitude for the attention, kindness and openness you showed me during my recent stay.
Thank you so much - I experienced healing that I haven't felt since I was in my grandmother's arms, decades past."

Dandelions down along the nearby Clyde River.

Woodcock eggs in our meadow.

The apples on this tree, just in flower now, are the best in the meadow.
The bear has beaten me to them two years in a row.

Impersonal Permanence

It is plain
simple enough that we miss it
painting it over with our ridiculous ideas of being
indefensible cultural stereotypes
childish psychopathologies.

It is the canvas that takes this paint and more
the hemp that weaves the canvas
the seed from which the fiber grows
the earth that receives the seed
the flower that bears it

the ground of being
in-out, in-out
the living pulse of a cosmic heart
that does not need our recognition
lub-dub, lub-dub
open-close, open-close...

It is exotic
foreign
strange in the most comfortable way
an immersion in quiet
suspended in an alien medium
like breathing underwater
or floating through the air
timeless
without urgency or falling
buoyed by the moment
the eternal instant
not needing our efforts at prolongation
all right
perfectly here and now
free of concepts and considerations
of worried plans and preparations
of yesterday and tomorrow
an impersonal permanence in a personally impermanent world.

Stroking the hairs on my legs as if they were leaves on a tree
the breeze caresses my sunbathed body deliciously.

Bald Mt with our wobbily ridge to the left Mother and child out our window.

Wish you were here.

www.baldm.com

802-659-4347

Bald
Mountain
Retreat

Westmore
Vermont

May
2010

Snow-covered Mount Washington, New Hampshire, seen from our cliff.

Our neighbor's horses down the mountain. The horses' view.

Room

Here is room for things to unfold themselves,
shunyata, the Buddhist emptiness,
a compassionate space
free of distractions and urgencies,
the usual definitions of self.

Emotions unfurl on the mountain breeze,
losing the panicked insistence of confinement.
Stretched out across the meadow
thoughts untangle.
In this quiet vocabulary,
murmuring brook,
woodpecker's staccato,
coyote's midnight wail,
hidden motives are revealed.

Effort is overdone.
People try too hard.
What is the use of searching when nothing has been lost?

Mt Pisgah plummeting down into nearby Lake Willoughby. A close up view.

"So the pain of emotion comes from this conflict; the relationship is always ambivalent. However, if a person is actually able to relate fully and thoroughly with the emotions, then they cease to be an external problem. One is able to make very close contact with the emotions and the war between your emotions and yourself; you and your projections, you and the world outside, becomes transparent. This involves removing the dualistic barriers set up by concepts, which is the experience of shunyata, the absence of relative concepts, emptiness."

"But having seen the emotions as they are, we have more material with which to work creatively. This makes it quite clear that the notion of samsara is dependent upon the notion of nirvana, and the notion of nirvana is dependent on the notion of samsara: they are interdependent. If there were no confusion, there would be no wisdom."

Chongyam Trungpa, The Myth of Freedom, pages 65, 68

A strangely beautiful exposure. Relief !

The wonders of the retreat continually amaze me,
more so when I share them with you.

Dr David

www.baldm.com

802-659-4347

Bald Mountain Retreat

Season Opening

April 2010

Spring at last!

Bald Mountain, in the distance, seen from the Clyde River.

Two moose seen from our second floor.

Maxfield Parrish-ish clouds.

Snow patches cover the meadow one day and...

... the red evening sunlight covers it the next.

The nearby Passumpsic River.

A sunset over Canada seen from our third floor.

Arriving

Arriving, the heart is full of worry.
Sitting to meditate
the mind brims with thought.
Yet, how beautiful the moon appears
full, rising over the ridge.

www.baldm.com

Reflexive

Anger consumes the angry.
Hate destroys the hateful.
Generosity enriches the giver.
Beauty beautifies its beholder.
Love loves the lover.

802-659-4347

	Bald Mountain Retreat March 2010

Driving in towards Lake Willoughby and Bald Mountain

Ice fishing on Lake Willoughby

Looking north into Canada from the start of our half-mile "driveway".

Looking up the "driveway", the old town road.

Dr David chilling in front of a cabin (in need of trim.)

You are Welcome

802-659-4347

www.baldm.com

We didn't get a lot of snow this winter, but what we got is still around. They're calling for rain this week and that will set the melt into high gear.

If you use your imagination, you can see the buds on the poplar trees beginning to swell.

April is the beginning of our season for guests and outdoor work. We're looking forward to working on the cabins and to visiting with you. -Dr David

***

In the least populated state
ours was the last area settled
and then only briefly.
Higher up the side of the mountain than farmers would cultivate
a few people raised sheep
until the Civil War decimated the male population
and John Deere's steel plow
opened up the soil of the Midwest.
Even the Indians preferred the milder terrain
down along the Clyde River.

We opened up the old town road
a half a mile through the woods to get here,
cleared the old meadow
and from trees we harvested off the land
built some human habitation.
You may have hiked somewhere as remote as we live
but probably didn't spend the night
at least not with a roof over your head.
The nearest neighbor is only a half mile back down the road
but in the other three hundred and fifty-nine degrees
there are only a few within a few miles
and not many after that.

We are surrounded by state and private forests
a gateway to the wilderness.
Coming up from anywhere, we are primitive
comfortably rustic,
a retreat from the modern hustle,
but the perspective you get coming into our meadow
down the trail from the top of the mountain
or from bushwhacking the surrounding forest
gives you our true measure;
we are a human place in the wild,
a retreat from, but still in, nature,
up close, but with amenities.

For some we are too far away from it all
not geographically
(modern country life is just ten minutes away)
but in spirit.
There's nothing to fear,
you're safer here that where you are,
but the awe will grab you.
Some folks are overwhelmed by the size of the mountain
or the density of the Milky Way,
the quiet
or the lack of what some take for civilization;
most cell phones work,
but most people leave theirs off,
we have internet,
but it's beside the point;
surrounded by actual reality you won't miss the virtual version.

Ours is one of the prettiest places
in the prettiest state (on this side of the continent, at least,)
an oasis of authenticity
in a manufactured world.

	Bald Mountain Retreat

		February 2010 Thanks to the intrepid few who want to come visit during the cold, but there just hasn't been enough interest to keep the retreat open this winter. Next year we hope to have a full winter season, including snow sports and hot chocolate. We'll be reopening in April right after the thaw.

satisfaction the pigeon certain of its roost salmon confident of the way home contentment is the only wealth want what you have don’t want what you don’t have the seeker must disappear keep quiet and all will come to you calm your worrying mind

		almost right snowflakes falling fat and leisurely under the streetlight drifting in from the darkness infinite in number and form face up I receive their wet kisses trying to guess which in the heights will fall upon me following the chosen ones down with my eyes sometimes almost right

decline love falls like snowflakes swirling on the homeless wind like songs that banished angels sing muffledly murmuring beneath the ice of mountain streams flowing ever away. falling as the night also falls from starry heights to wander vast and alone across these frozen fields on trails of years declining like footprints in the snow

You are Welcome

different
the master asserted
"I am an ordinary man"
and continued with a smile
when the questioner shyly insisted
that he was different
"you are asleep
while I am awake
after all that is not such a difference"
there are different kinds of sleep
deep or light
restless or refreshing
sweet or nightmarish.
there are different kinds of wakefulness.
even though we feel alert
most all of us are dreaming
better to awaken
than to try to change the dream

802-659-4347

www.baldm.com

Bald Mountain Retreat

wishes you and yours

Happy Holy-days

and light in the darkness.

www.baldm.com

	Bald Mountain Retreat Westmore, Vermont November's Newsletter "I've never been someplace so remote."	www.baldm.com
	Wild rice by the pond.	Come find: a greater whole, a quiet that informs, an emptiness that fills. a unifying perspective. Detox in Vermont.
	Dr David by the pond.	Come immerse. Let the spirit of this special place reveal the stillness at the center, the truth that stands behind the bother and noise.
	Autumn's first snow.	You'll understand this better with your belly than your head, instinctually, viscerally, in the nerve plexus, the abdominal brain that science just found, that the masters have known.
	The first floor of the lodge.	40 years of study and practice... and a little talent to begin with and this wondrous place embolden me to offer: - a cure for what ails you, -simple solutions for complex problems, -a bit of wisdom gathered along the way.
	Looking up a facet of the cliff.	It is not (just) about you changing your diet or exercising more or managing your stress. It is about the interdependence of being, caring for each other as well as self and planet. Fragmentation = loneliness. Context = meaning.
	Sunset from the third floor.	Soul is not personal. Self is not separate. Healing is not private. Happiness is not owned. Peace is not earned. Belief in a separate self is the problem. A more inclusive holism is the solution.

Winter makes more sense in Vermont.

Come ski without the crowds at nearby, Burke Mountain.

Bald Mountain Retreat

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Home - About Us - Programs - Photos - Staff - Writings - Location - Lodging - Contact Us - Register - Newsletters - Guestbook - Blog - Donations - Internships - Testimonials - Links+ - Natural Treatments for Disease

	Bald Mountain Retreat Westmore, Vermont October's Newsletter "Absolute peace and tranquility."	www.baldm.com
		Stress Kills. Entering the "fight or flight" mode many times each day causes many diseases. Learn more at National Geographic's Stress: Portrait of a Killer
		Learn to de-stress and how to stay that way. Immerse in peace and quiet and take some home with you. The audio-detox is amazing
		Guests have referred to my personality and food as delicious and my conversation as brilliant. After 26 years of doctoring I'm good at matching people with reasonable, acceptable strategies for living. -Dr David
		Make the change you want and need; transform person and planet; heal self and society; find a greater holism. Affordable rates. Internships. Scholarship.
		It is not that we are generous with those we love. It is that we love those with whom we are generous. Be generous with yourself. Be generous with others. Love.
		Vermont is beautiful year around- spring, summer, autumn and the eight months of winter. The wood stove will keep you toasty warm (but bring your longjohns.) I'll make you some wood-fired, air-popped popcorn right on top. Enjoy the sense of harvest, arriving and home.
		Winter is coming and we have idyllic x-county skiing and snow-shoeing on site and excellent downhill skiing at three nearby centers, Burke Mountain Jay Peak Owl's Head

We will exceed your expectations.

Bald Mountain Retreat

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In memory of Janet Rose

	Bald Mountain Retreat Westmore, Vermont September Newsletter "I'll always remember my dip in the pond."
	Our wild Chanterelle mushrooms are a gourmet delight.	www.baldm.com de-stress detoxify delight Immersion in nature reveals the natural self.
	The beautiful, but poisonous fruit of the Blue Bead Lily.	Thoreau-esque, secluded, idyllic; simple, easy living; friendly people and land; wild, majestic nature; overwhelming views and overwhelming relaxation.
	The edible Bunch Berry is slightly sweet.	The peace and quiet and wellness and... that you hope to find is waiting here within you and without you.
	Tiny white Wild Roving Cranberries taste like licorice.	Affordable rates. Internships. Scholarship.
	A guest journals inside the lodge.	Making the change you want and need; transforming person and planet; healing self and society; finding a greater holism.
	True orchids grace the forest.	meditating on the shore . for a moment blissful and brief there is only water trickling into the pond birdsong frogs croaking gentle wind rustling late August leaves then the listener returns
	Jewel Weed flowers attract hummingbirds.	mind . the pond reflects imperfectly this mid-August day green grass and golden rod white clouds and birch blue sky. except for ripples where waterbugs play it is a mirror likeness then the wind blows

Bald Mountain Retreat

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We will exceed your expectations.
You are Welcome,
Dr David

	Bald Mountain Retreat August Newsletter "I've never been somewhere so remote."
	Magnificent Lake Willoughby, "Vermont's most spectacular lake," waits for you a short drive down the mountain. Enchanting woods stretch up the ridge from our meadow, and there is no Lyme Disease or poison ivy. The cabins have beautiful paneling and views. Alyssa brings Bach and Irish jigs to the wilderness. Angel graces us all with his Zen-like elegance.	Personal Retreats Group Retreats Rentals Contact us for special rates. 802-659-4347, drdavid@baldm.com Please email, call or click on any link for more information: Health Retreats Detoxification Retreats Weight Loss Retreats Recovery Retreats Yoga Retreats Recreational Retreats Spiritual Retreats Artist Retreats Home - About Us - Programs - Photos - Staff - Writings - Location - Lodging - Contact Us - Register - Newsletters - Guestbook - Blog - Donations - Internships - Testimonials - Links+ - Natural Treatments for Disease The wild majesty of our natural setting makes some folks uncomfortable. The power of spirit and healing at times overwhelms the casual visitor. Beneath the luxury of your wants lies the simplicity of your needs. Beneath the pretense and show lies the rawness of nature. Away from the distractions of self people get scared. Transformation requires courage and commitment. Healing occurs in the places that scare you. Like it or not the place confronts you. The lack of things human disturbs. Nature dominates and awes. Strategies blow away. Covers are stripped. You are left naked and free. Bald Mountain Retreat in August is the Garden of Eden. We will exceed your expectations. I could promise you less. You are Welcome, Dr David

Simplicity, Sustainability, Sanity

Bald Mountain Retreat is a natural refuge from the modern world and a human refuge in the the wilds of nature. We believe we have struck a good balance between the comforts of home and the rawness of nature. Experiencing a thunderstorm on our mountainside from the security of our Lodge is truly awe-inspiring. Coming back to your cozy cabin after an adventure in the big woods is reassuring. The warmth of the campfire complements the vast starry sky.

Still some folks get spooked. We call it "latent agoraphobia." They might be okay outside in the suburbs, but up here where nature dominates they get uneasy; the quiet gets to them. We're just a half a mile from the end of the road, but people have exclaimed, "I've never been somewhere so remote." It's not the distance; it's the energy, what the Chinese call feng shui. Nature bursts in great waves from the wooded slopes, rolls across the meadow and breaks grandly right up against the Lodge's many large windows. It's like looking through a glass-bottomed boat into another world.

Then, there aren't all the comforts of home. We've traded luxury for a natural simplicity. The knotty grain of our cedar paneling more than makes up for our spotty cell phone coverage. The view out the window is better than anything on TV. One guest said she wanted to get on line, "to see what's happening in my life." We accommodated of course (our high speed internet connection is usually great), but we believe that the best in life is off line.

Also, we're not quite done. As someone said, almost every building in the Northeast Kingdom is "a work in process." There are a few dry wall edges waiting to be covered by molding and some exterior work yet to be done on the Lodge and the cabins also need some finishing touches inside and out, but the place is very habitable, especially when you realize how deep woods we are. What we lack in "spit and polish" we make up for in rustic authenticity. If it's a simpler life you want, we've got it.

The kitchen is clean, but there may be a few blades of grass on the floor. The lawn is cut, but the meadow may need mowing. We are Vermont; the yard has some piles of lumber and a table full of pots where Alyssa plants. If you want a manicured, luxurious vacation, please look elsewhere. If you'd like an original adventure, come on up... and if you're lucky, Alyssa will play her violin.

July Newsletter

"Your food is delicious and
so is your personality."

Sean and Elise came and built us an inipi, a traditional sweat lodge. Rocks were heated until they glowed inside a blazing fire inside the stone circle. Then they were carried inside the inipi where they radiated heat and created steam when splashed with water.

They conducted a ceremony that had three 30 minute sessions with prayers and thanks and invocations. Then everyone jumped in the pond.

Each sapling was blessed before harvest. Each hole dug was sprinkled with corn meal and holy intentions. Many thanks to the wonderful couple, who created such a wonderful ceremonial center to focus the sacred energies of the land. (Here you can see the rocks.)

With all the wetness last month in New England it has been hard to get in the garden. Still, Alyssa s green thumb has been working its magic, here with Jaguar Marigolds

Then Don s three-bin, hot compost-maker is turning leaf mulch, food scraps and whatever else he finds to put in it into dark, rich soil pronto!

awe

it is nature not as you know it
not something in the backyard
or down the street in the park
or at the edge of town
it is not something that needs our protection
but something your ancestors feared
and struggled against
it is the power of thunder and storm
crashing around the house
lightening striking too close
a big wind and torrential rain
exploding against the window
a fusillade pounding roof and walls
it is night s jet black sky
holding an infinity of stars
unimaginable vastness and scale
titanic mountains
unbroken forests
clouds billowing impossibly high
on a bright sunny day

it is big and unrelenting
and though we may ruin our place in it
its supremacy is never in doubt

this mountain is like the sea
not where families swim along the shore
but out where oceans collide
and ships are lost
among gargantuan swells
it is roaring
calling you from within
dare if you will
to listen.

7/8/9

new

innovation may be an improvement
for one who is rooted in the past
but the new without the old
does not nourish or thrive
nature programs on TV
are no substitute for actual nature
one friend of flesh and blood
human or animal
outweighs vast online social networks
virtual reality is not

7/8/9

something different

while you were all shopping at the mall
and painting your toenails
he was searching for the meaning of life
if you can t anymore believe what the television tells you
come on up
he has it nearly figured out

7/8/9

-and the Joe Pye Weed sprouting up in it-

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It just does not get any better than summer in the Northeast Kingdom.

Warm days and cool evening breezes.

Pure mountain lakes and ponds to quench the heat of the day.

Think, Garden of Eden.

Think, Tom Sawyer

Think, Huckleberry Finn.

Come ready for an adventure.

We are passed the end of the less-traveled road.

Walk barefoot through our wildflower meadow.

Meditate atop our 100 foot cliff.

Enjoy nearby Bread and Puppet Theater.

Explore spectacular Lake Willoughby.

Thrill to Alyssa s virtuosic violin.

Rejuvenate and heal.

nothing between

it stands alert
ears pricked in our direction
listening
it has heard me call upstairs
though all the windows are closed
and I spoke no louder than needed
-Alyssa, deer by the cabins-

it stands at the forest edge
all senses trained towards us
who give it neither sound nor smell nor sight
matching our stillness to its own

there is nothing between us
nothing that separates or removes
there is no time or need
it is all now
all here
clouds weaving through treetops
misting down mountain slopes
a sea of wildflowers waving in the meadow
the creek still gushing with yesterday s rain

if you have an agenda you will miss it
if you expect something you will not see it
be still and quiet
watch and listen

the deer relaxes its guard
lowering its head for a moment
into the tall grass and ferns
that already conceal most of its body
then it turns
and disappears into the trees.

7/7/9

sun and shade

June was rainy
in the meadow
the Joe Pye Weed
has taken advantage of the wetness
to assert itself
in a way not seen
since it dominated
before we put the creeks back into their beds
repairing the watershed
from the ruin
of the loggers
with their skidders
dragging out trees
in the early 80s

today
the sky is blue in earnest
half-covered with billowing clouds
the kind Maxfield Parrish painted
just over in New Hampshire
the sun so long a stranger
shines strongly
making amends for its absence
the wildflowers
yellow, purple, pink, blue, orange and white
enjoy the heat
swaying in the breeze
half-naked on this bench
I do too
relishing the solar fire after so much gray
bathing in the glow

then as I start to bake
a cumulous mass
blown on high winds
interposes itself
hiding the sun imperfectly above
the coolness is delightful
in the shadow below
like jumping in the pond
on a hot summer day
then sitting in the shade a while
breeze adding to the chill
my flesh begins to quiver

bees buzz by
birds sing from the apple tree
inside Alyssa practices scales upon her violin

sun and shade
heat and cool
June and July
it all takes time
improving the soil in the garden
finishing the cabins
cultivating love

the sun makes a final appearance
before a big bank of clouds rolls in
I look around for my shirt
if the mower were back from the shop
I would cut the lawn
and the Joe Pye Weed
sprouting up in it

7/5/9

June Newsletter

"You cannot put it into words."

Moose and deer are in the meadow.
Apple blossoms are on the trees.

Dandelions are the first flush of the many wildflowers to come.
Wild strawberry blossoms are almost as plentiful, but smaller.

The cabins are coming along nicely.

We have four beautifully sited, tucked neatly into the forest along the edge of the meadow. Each has privacy and a great view.

Each is at a stage of completion, ready for occupancy
...and we are finishing them up more.

A balsam tree at the edge of the meadow blew down in a recent wind. (Nature on this mountain is strong.) The question of whether there would have been a sound without someone there to hear it remains undecided as I heard (and saw) it "snap, woosh, thud."

detox

our lights are the sun, moon and stars
candles and oil lamps
brilliant flashes of lightening

our sounds are only the wind's many voices
water rushing downstream
frogs in the pond
birdsong
a coyote's rare wail...
rare also the sound of an engine
coming up the drive
or some big machine
heard dimly off in the distance
when the wind is just right
soft so you have to listen
rare enough so that you do
"what's that?!"

some are disquieted by the quiet
this flood of nature
buoying them up off familiar ground
this wavy, forest-green sea
covering mountains and hills
breaking where the tree-line
meets the meadow's shore

and even this is too much for some
the huge views
the open space too open
they sit inside our ark of a lodge
and stare out the big windows
like looking through the bottom
of a glass-bottom boat

still the wildness confronts them

it is like jumping in a lake
on a hot summer day
the heat and sweat all washed away
pressure and haste dissolved
"come on in. the water's fine"

but
like a diver rising from the depths
some come up too quickly
separated from the lights and noise
they get disoriented
"where is the hurry? where are the stores?
what am I without them?"

this is not another experience
to be bought, consumed or acquired
not an event you attend
a movie
where you go in
are entertained or fall asleep
and then go out

this is not a state of mind
this is your mind in its original state
it is a meditation
a freeing from distraction
a paring down of senses and thought
to reveal things as they are
the fundamental truth
the awe of oneness
after so much separation

the frog slowly cooking in the pot
jumps out
the fish becomes aware of water
you don't know until you stop

6/11/9

We will exceed your expectations.
Dr David

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Bald Mountain Retreat is a jewel in the crown of Vermont's natural beauty, which is the Northeast Kingdom.

In a region known for spectacular beauty ours is a very special place

Hikers come from all around passing through on their way up to nearby Bald Mountain with its stunning fire-tower views

For its views our third floor has been called "the prettiest room in the Kingdom."

People say, "I've been to Vermont," but now come see a Vermonter's Vermont.

In the heart of the Lake Willoughby National Recreation Area

unique, secluded, spectacular, idyllic, peaceful, rustic, charming...

nature, natural healing, recovery, stress reduction, perspective, belonging...

This year get away from it all close to home.

You cannot get away as quickly as far.

Exotic and affordable.

We offer authentic wilderness experiences and the comforts of a lodge.

We offer affordable residential natural healing immersed in nature with a naturopathic doctor as your guide.

about us

we are a home, not a hotel
it is like going to visit
your dear brother and sister-in-law
or aunt and uncle
or the kids
if they had a house off-road
in the backwoods of Vermont
my buddy, Chris, who showed me this land
having wandered it
growing up on Mad Brook Farm
the (now former) commune just down the road and mountain a ways
commenting about a certain house along Lake Willoughby said
"people come up from Connecticut and build houses just like there are in Connecticut"
Farley Mowat wrote in his book, The Siberians (not my favorite of his)
about the simplicity of their country homes, dachas
rustic and plain
how they leave the city behind
and how they complained when they came to America
about our bringing our city ways and things to the country
bringing our city/suburban homes to the country
we are what up here they call a camp
off-grid we make our own electricity with a whisper-quiet Honda generator
but prefer candles and lamplight for illumination
electricity is a wonderful thing
but like most wonderful things in our culture
we use too much
we are excessive in our consumption
your cell-phone might not work
but you can make calls and check your email on our high-speed internet connection
although, internet and phone seem a lot less important up here in the woods
here again, as a culture we are obsessive
most everyone just lets the messages go for a day or three
truth is it is great to watch guests shed the hustle and bustle still clinging to them when they arrive
and let the quiet and peace seep in
the flatlands become more distant
as the mountains and meadow become more immediate
now, I like to talk as much or more than most
still I like to think that I know when to be quiet
I have seen the change, the quiet come over people here
some sooner than others
the nervous energy dissipates
it just seems that there is less need to talk and more reason to listen
to the wind, the quiet
or the occasional story about life in these parts
people are changed
like the fellow who was a lot quieter coming down Bald (Mountain)
after spending time in the fire-tower
than he was going up
meditative as opposed to chatty
less of that illusory self
I actually wanted to talk
but as I say, I know when to keep quiet

we are being in the woods without camping
the luxuries we have are natural
not the kind you buy in a store
we have plenty of convenient, easy living
what we lack in shopping convenience
we make up for in hospitalities
we are very accommodating hosts
and the place is built for guests
we are here to provide for you
to keep you comfortable
to guide and to entertain
and independence is encouraged
private time for reflection and meditation is a big part of the retreat
still we are here to serve you
not like hotel staff
but in a homey, family way
Bald Mountain Retreat is our home
and we would like to share it with you

while I am able and do provide instruction in formal meditation
I am quick to point out that this place is a meditation
the property, the environment, the atmosphere is conducive to meditation
people sitting on the first floor couch
looking out over the meadow, ridge and beyond
get a tranquilized look in their eyes
you can see their brainwaves deepening and slowing
someone responding to my characterization of the place as paradise
volunteered after his first week here,
I know what you mean now, but you cannot put it into words

naked

here nature dominates,
there are few signs of man,
the quiet can disquiet,
the peace may disturb,
humility is a challenge to those craving power,
some people get anxious waking up from the technological hypnosis.

Please call or write:
802-659-4347
drdavid@baldm.com

You are Welcome

April 2009

"Most people have never seen such beauty."

Looking up towards the wobbly ridge of Bald Mountain Retreat (left) you can see that there is still snow on the mountain.

April 1st with some great folks from Burlington I took the last snowshoe of the season around the meadow. It was sunny and warm, strange and fun being out on snowshoes in shirtsleeves. The Burlington folks came to see the facilities because they are interested in offering a retreat this June. They loved the place; everyone does. As I say, When you come, you will come back.

Up on the mountain the snow was still deep enough to need snowshoes, but down along the Clyde it was all but gone. The Clyde River is part of a National Water Trail network coming down from Maine. It is great for paddling, even when it is not swollen with spring melt.

I went north to the border town of Newport to get some supplies. (There are great country stores nearby, but we are 22 miles from the nearest supermarket or building supplies store.) Beautiful Lake Memphremagog straddles the frontier with Canada on its far shore.

The thaw spills in exquisite waterfalls down the cliffs of Mount Pisgah closer to home along the shores of Lake Willoughby.

The ice on Pisgah that brings ice climbers from around the world has just about disappeared.

The ice on Lake Willoughby is breaking up. A 300-foot-deep, spring-fed lake it will take a long time to warm up.

But there are a dozen other nearby bodies of water which will invite a swim sooner, including our three ponds. Although, I admit, it would take a blazing sauna to invite a plunge in any of them anytime soon... but then that can be arranged.

clumsy

you must do something different
or it will remain the same
change arises from the observer
put on the robes
extend yourself
go off into the woods to listen and pray

you are the ever-present center
yet all the while look outside
enlightenment searches
frustrated only by your clever hiding

importance misconstrued
the whole forsaken for the parts
the pieces fit together in a way
yet unimagined

winter's snow melts off the mountain
water liberated from frozen form
cascades down rocky faces
singing past ice
yet adorning shaded northern walls

emerging from the barn in spring
after their long confinement
wild agility long bred out of them
clumsy cows
will yet scamper and leap

4/5/9

When you come, you will come back.
You are Welcome,
Dr David

Bald Mountain Retreat is unique, secluded, spectacular, idyllic, peaceful, rustic, charming...

This year get away from it all close to home.

You cannot get away as quickly as far.

Exotic and affordable.

Nature, Natural Healing, Yoga, Recreation, Spirit, Music, Art, Peace, Meditation, Recovery, Vegan and Vegetarian Cuisine, Raw Foods, Herbalism, Natural Health, Alternative Healing, Alternatives to Medicine, Juicing, Detoxification, Weight Loss, Stress Reduction, Alternative Health, Naturopathic Lifestyle, Perspective, Belonging

We offer authentic wilderness experiences from the comfort of our mountaintop lodge. With only a few guests at a time we are able to provide individualized attention. Let our staff personalize programs to your interests or explore on your own. Come share our bit of paradise in Vermont's most spectacular region.

The Northeast Kingdom is where Vermonters go to get away and play and Bald Mountain Retreat is in the heart of the Kingdom. "I woke up, looked out and thought I had gone to heaven." "The sweetest piece of land in Vermont."

Personal & Group Retreats & Rentals

In the heart of the
Lake Willoughby
National Recreation Area
Westmore, Vermont

Health Retreats

Spiritual Retreats

Recreational Retreats

Yoga Retreats

Artist Retreats

Kabbalah Retreats

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Our retreat center offers affordable residential natural healing. Immerse in nature with a naturopathic doctor as your guide. The spell of the wild rebalances body, mind and spirit. The land is the best healer.

Weight Loss Retreat

Find a new metabolic ground.
Let nature support your resolution.

Detoxification Retreats

Purify your physical and emotional bodies beside streams of living water.

Please call or write:
802-659-4347,
drdavid@baldm.com

March 2009

Dr. David snowshoed up to the cliff

with a guest.

The snow was still a couple feet deep across the meadow and into the woods,
as witnessed by this lawn chair left out alongside the lower pond.

...

The peace was beyond words, but the pictures tell a story.

The snow was quiet, pure, pristine.

It was great to come back to the big woodstove on the first floor of the lodge.
We got the stove in place and finished the forty-two-foot chimney
to which it is attached just as the first snows started last November.

Our human nest in the wilderness just gets more and more accommodating,
without sacrificing its rustic charm.

Here you are not just close to nature, you are nature.

My recent attempt to put the atmosphere up here into words:

offering

it is a place where you cannot help but see
floating immersed
amidst the green quiet
like a turtle at the bottom of the pond

the unbroken spell of the wild
turns to a deeper self
a world alive
hills skip
mountains leap
trees raise their voices
the stone on which you sit
imparts a seamless revelation

here away is remembering
putting together
fragments made whole
fractal clouds
spinning constellations
what is it that the wind is saying?
what babbles the brook?

the height allows no coming down
no after
but continuous awakening
and unfettered dream
the unencumbered epiphany of now

below the surface wide currents flow
behind the veil of becoming lies the immensity of being

I could promise you less

Spring is coming and we hope you are too.
You are Welcome,
Dr David

***

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