Catherine Gammon

Jennifer Vosters (@JAVosters) has just reviewed my collection Beauty and the Beast on Grab the Lapels (self-published with lulu.com in 2012), and I couldn’t appreciate her response more.

Please give her review a read and consider picking up the book — directly from lulu.com or from Amazon.

After five weeks in England with the Dancing Mountains U.K. sangha, offering a series of retreats and talks, and meeting again with many old friends — a photo album.

First we had a cozy weekend retreat at the Sandymount Retreat Centre in Crosby (where Antony Gormley’s “Another Place” Iron Men walk into the water) – ending with a quick photo before we said goodbye.

The next evening I joined the Chester Zen Group for their regular sitting, then had a bit of rest and walks at the River Dee with Kath Bennett  and in the woods near Frances Collins’ house.

Next stop was Hebden Bridge, for a series of events including a half day sit, an evening discussion session, a Writing As A Wisdom Project day, and a formal day of sitting. Here are the WWP retreatants, at the door of Hope House.

South to Totnes for a talk at the Golden Buddha and Writing As A Wisdom Project at Harbour House, Kingsbridge, then to Glastonbury for a day of rakusu sewing with Devin Ashwood and company—

In London, with Diana Gerard—

and with Lucy Ellis seeing me off —

—to land at the Grange in Norfolk for a magical Writing As a Wisdom Project weekend retreat, beautifully organized by Carol Hunter and tenzo’ed by John Preston.

Thank you again to everyone in the U.K. who helped to make this such a memorable journey of teaching and retreat.

Love and gassho to all.

More to follow here in the next few days, with dharma words and photos from my Dancing Mountains visit to England.  But first —

Back in the USA … with Flo and Angus in Montauk, before heading to the Cape to pack up the car and move to Brooklyn for the summer …

And slowly working backward, at the end of the dharma travels, I shared a few long days in London with an old college friend, Nancy Stenson — here in a brief crossing of paths at Paddington Station with another old friend from college, Ken East — last time all three were together was 1974,  and in London then too.

*****

Some much younger pix of the three of us, with Rich, Carl, and Karen —

and one with Paul Devore and baby Heather (that’s me down in the bottom left corner) —

*****

After the nostalgia, Nancy and I had a busy two days of London touring — a few highlights follow — but thanks to “improvements” at WordPress I’m not able to control the layout or the relationship of words to images … I had it all worked out in the old style publisher but made the mistake of editing once in the new one … now I cannot access the old style at all … once upon a time WordPress gave me a choice… but in complaining, I digress, and digression allows me to get the next set of words in more or less the right place …

from the National Gallery …

the Tate Britain … then a walk along the water, with views of architectural contrast…

and a post-election tunnel …in Peckham Rye …