I leave today for England, followed by a visit to Italy to see my daughter Kellin.
The first part of this trip will be spent in the Lake District in Northern England, just south of the Scottish border. I will be staying at the Lodge, in Ivegill, a place that has been masterfully magicized by dear friend Kathryn Kimball. As the gate house to the mansion that once stood down the lane (now a picturesque, overgrown ruin), it seems to serve many of us as a portal, a means of access to other dimensions of ourselves and our reality (not unlike those envisioned by J.K. Rowling.) Ivegill is a place that opens me up to powerful feelings as well as powerful peace. It is a unique brand of halcyonic inebriation, one that can hold both the dark and the light. It was here that my husband David reconstituted himself after a long and very difficult season in his life. It was here that we first learned that our friend Morris had an incurable case of colon cancer. It was here where I have been able to feel an unexpected and deep sense of calm in spite of swirling concerns of every stripe.
I’ll be posting only occasionally during the next two weeks, but will return to a more steady schedule once I am home on May 26th.
Kathryn in Keswick
David at Ivegill
Garden view of the Lodge and yoga sunroom
The “Big House” in a state of poetic decay
View across the lane, a meadow filled with two-toned cows (only in England)
Slow Muse 
5 comments
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May 13, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Elatia Harris
Bon voyage, Deborah! Will fondly await your return. From the photos I agree it looks like you’ll be traveling the curve of space to a reality that is — well, not quite concurrent.
May 16, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Deborah Barlow
Well put E! All true.
May 21, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Sally Reed
Two toned cows — Belted Galloways — are all over Groton, Mass. They are beef cows, first introduced to the U.S. from Scotland in the 50s. The local children call them the Oreo cows. Come visit anytime!
May 24, 2008 at 2:45 am
DeAnn
I was going to say exactly the same as the commenter above about Belted Galways and the nickname of Oreo cows. My cousin raises them in Hoytsville, UT. You can see them in the field along I-80 between Park City and Coalville.
May 28, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Deborah Barlow
I stand doubly corrected, but don’t tell the farmer in Ivegill. He’s convinced he has the market cornered… They are amazing creatures, and very oreoesque.