Sometimes there are signs. Guideposts that are so unmistakably clear, their clarity is as jarring as being hit on the head with a 2 by 4. Like this mural, for example…

It started innocently enough. We were moseying north from southern Virginia looking for the perfect Harvest Host to spend the night and the Universe delivered, taking us to Janis’ Ridge Valley Alpaca Farm in Fairfield Virginia. Janis is a weaver and fiber artist and 14 years ago she thought it would be fun to have a few alpacas for wool. It’s a lesson in following your joy and pursuing what’s fun, as 5 alpacas “for fun” led to Janis and her husband John moving to a gorgeous hilltop farm overlooking the Shenandoah Mountains where they tend around 35 alpacas, breeding and showing and winning awards, in addition to providing the wool.

We arrived in time for a stellar sunset over the mountains and a farm tour with Janis where we met the alpacas and learned about shearing, different qualities of wool and how the older boys pick on the younger ones and need to be separated. Janis tells us they are really easy animals to tend – she only had dogs before alpacas and I found myself mesmerized by how exotic and approachable they were, fantasizing if maybe a few alpacas had a place in our life.

We pulled out the next morning – and I suddenly had a hankering to stop at a farmers market. We didn’t need food, we had a long drive ahead, but something told me to find a farmers market and ogle the vegetables, so Serenity Rose made her way through the rolling farm fields to downtown Staunton (pronounced Stanton) on this cloudy Saturday. A soft playing cellist greeted us at the market, and there amidst the heirloom tomatoes, plump juicy peaches and rustic home-made bread, was Janis with her alpaca wool and products.

*Janis from Ridge Valley Alpaca Farm, aka “Alpaca Mom” spinning alpaca wool*

We went over to visit and met Gretchen and Randolph whom we had an immediate connection with – both of them having moved to Staunton a few years ago and loving it. They were so friendly and welcoming, sharing their experience of moving there…offering to be of help in our future explorations in the area; offering to host us for a meal on our next time through. I said “Wow! Yes! Thankyou!” and thought “Is this a Southern Thing?”

Growing up in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania which is also called The Valley with a Heart, I grew up in an outwardly friendly, easy-going community. Unaware of the cultural difference at the time, I experienced a different vibe moving to Boston…more reserved, more cautious, wary even at times, wondering- what is UP with this “Boston cool” as I initially found it challenging to make connections. Now in the South, Dave and I must have exclaimed a dozen times, “Everyone is so Friendly here!”. I’m fascinated by this. Having studied earth energies with a master dowser in England, I’m learning how and why the energy of the land differs from place to place and how it can affect the beings that live there. And as an intuitive, I can tune in and sometimes absorb the energy of different places I find myself.

So, living in New England for 30 years, some of that Yankee reserve had unwittingly seeped into my bones. The open-hearted friendliness in Staunton was so delicious and, a little unfamiliar. Trying to find a red flag, my ego thought, “yeah, but is there even a yoga community here?”. In less than a minute, Lynette joined our group; Gretchen introducing her as a local yoga teacher holding class in her front yard during the pandemic. She too offered to stay in touch and help with any questions or concerns we might have about the area. Whaatt?

As we walked back to Serenity Rose I asked myself…could I actually live here? I mean, I’ve lived 30 years surrounded by the delicious inclusiveness of rainbow flags, not confederate flags. We’d never considered Virginia, even though this land in the Shenandoah Valley, held by the Appalachian & Blue Ridge Mountains is as pretty as pretty gets, and graced with charming small towns including groovy, progressive Charlottesville. A split second later I raised my head and was practically assaulted by this mural. We both burst our laughing, Dave saying, “How much more of a sign do you need?!”.

Some say cardinals are messengers from the ancestors; or more accurately, Are the ancestors. A few months before my father died, I asked him if he was afraid of dying. He shook his head and told me, “When you die, That’s it; there’s nothing else”. This from an 89 year old devout Catholic who went to church EVERY Sunday his entire life paying homage to “Life Ever After in Heaven – IF you’re good”. Stunned, I blurted, “Ok, but if there’s something else, come back as a cardinal and let me know, ok?” He looked at me like I had three heads, shook his head like he wondered where I came from and mumbled “yeah, sure”, whereupon we sat down to lunch and proceeded to pretend that Death does not exist, and certainly was not lurking around the corner.

The year after his death, there were cardinals Everywhere. I mean Everywhere. When I was really stressed out, or sad, or confused, there was a male cardinal, often in the most unlikely place. I was dive-bombed by a cardinal riding my bike on the first anniversary of his death. Last year when my mother died, the females started appearing too. Now, here was the pair holding “You Belong Here”.

Einstein said, “A coincidence is a small miracle when God chooses to remain anonymous.” Even so, I found myself thinking of all the reasons this Shenandoah Valley is Not where I belong. This tension between the head and the heart – between logic and inner knowing is something I’ve been playing with a lot through meditation and the third eye. Do you know what the third eye is? Writing this, I asked my brother-in-law if he thought most people know what the third eye is (an esoteric point between the eyebrows considered to be a potent source of intuitive insight, wisdom and perception; some say when you access it, it leads you to the highest form of intelligence and higher consciousness). He said “No Way”. What do you say? I just know that life is a lot more playful, joyful and smooth when I tune in, trust and go with the Magic of Life instead of analyzing and worrying over it. And when I can get my third eye to talk to me, fun new ideas pop into my brain like fireworks.

*We hit the jackpot - peach harvest at Preli Farm*

So the seed is planted and the Staunton/Charlottesville area is on the short list for more exploration. Heading north and a little high on the serendipity, we asked for the magic to continue and ended up in Italy, except we were in Connecticut.

Joseph Preli Farm & Winery

Joseph & Rose Preli came to South Glastonbury, CT from Rompeggio & Roccon Italy in 1920. They bought a farm in a community where other Italian immigrants were also settling and started making wine from the grapes on the property for friends and family. Their 6 daughters carried on the farm and 100 years later, Joseph & Rose’s grandson John Yushkevich (a little Lithuanian thrown in for hybrid vigor), is now the loving steward of his ancestors’ farm. Farming with antique tractors he’s restored and using old-world farming methods, he makes small batch wine with fruit grown on the property as well as selling beautiful vegetables.

*Third generation farmer John Yushkevich*

We felt as though we stepped back in time and there’s an inexplicably European feel to this place. The fact that a few suburban homes visibly surround the farm only made it feel more enchanting in an oxymoronic kind of way.

We set up camp facing the peach trees, then sat with John in the tasting area as we sampled a flight of his wines made from raspberries, peaches, grapes of course, and even tomatoes as he told the stories of the farm, his grandparents and his current wine making. John’s love for this land, for his ancestors and for simple, old-fashioned, heart-centered ways of living came through with his gentle and enthusiastic manner. He has an old-world, generous sense of hospitality and as we were cooking up a little dinner on our camp stove, John walked over in the rain and handed us the most delicious warm Zucchini Torta – an old family recipe. Friends…this is what you do with all of those huge, end-of-season zucchinis you are tempted to put in your friends’ mailboxes.

Preli Family Zucchini Torta Recipe

4-6 cups grated zuke (recipe calls for 4 cups but could easily use 6 cups or more to make it more zucchini-ey)
4 eggs
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup grated onion
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 1/2 cup flour + 1-2 tsp baking powder (I used Cup4Cup gluten free mix which came out great)
1/2 tsp salt

Mix eggs, oil, cheese, zuke, parsley and onion. Blend in the flour, baking powder and salt.

Fold into 13 x 9 pan or pie plate and bake at 375 for 35 minutes or until brown.

Leaving Connecticut I wondered where the name Connecticut came from and learned it’s from an Algonquin word meaning “land on the long tidal river”. We were heading back to Westport for a re-group before heading towards western Massachusetts to meet with..

Gwyn Peterdi at her Magical Queendom

Gwyn is a Goddess who lives in Mexico in the winter and the other seasons in the aptly-named Magical Queendom (MQ for short) she’s created in one of the small hill towns between the Quabbin Reservoir and the Connecticut River in western Massachusetts. Gwyn lives in a beautifully simple, hand-made, off-grid cottage surrounded by old wild apple trees, wild-flower meadows, medicinal herb gardens and a large brook. All at the edge of the forest where some say the magic lives.

At the age of 21, while she was studying ecology, Gwyn randomly discovered Sacred Circle Dance and declared to the teacher that she was going to devote her life to Circle Dance – a bold statement for 21. More than 30 years later, Gwyn is an internationally known and beloved Circle Dance leader and teacher; leading 100s of workshops, creating and organizing camps and festivals throughout the US, Canada, Mexico and South America. She also teaches the Bulgarian spiritual dance of Paneurhythmy which we were lucky enough to participate in each morning with the Queendom’s neighbors to greet the Sun.

Circle Dance is the ancient tradition of dancing in circle with repetitive steps and movements; sometimes simple sometimes highly intricate. Many of the dances are very old and are often done to centuries-old Greek, Turkish, Middle Eastern and Eastern European music. It can become trance-like. Circle Dance is a combination of individuality And community. A combination of head And heart. You have to focus and think about the steps, but if you focus too hard you won’t get it. Focus too little and you fall out of step. You’re in your third eye! You’re responsible for your individual part to keep the circle going, but you can’t do it alone and noone is solely in charge. And when you fall out, as is human, it’s the power of the rest of the circle that allows you to get “back on track”.

Gwyn explains what drew her to Circle Dance… Studying ecology and specifically the Peregrine Falcon, she wanted to know how we find the right action steps for solving the Earth’s ecological problems. There was already plenty of data to support action steps but why weren’t we humans acting on them?

Gwyn passionately explains that if we don’t go through the body and the heart, if we block our emotions to the pain of the destruction of our planet and the loss of species and simply operate from the head, we’ll just get the same-old results that got us here in the first place. But if we can open our hearts and fall deeply in love with this Earth and be willing to Feel the pain of the destruction; feel in our bodies how interconnected and intertwined we are all, then, something new can emerge. Circle Dance is a powerful way to get into our bodies, while still being connected to others.

*(web image - Russian Khorovod - 1000 year old Russian/Polish/Slavic circle/choral dance)*

When we dance with others, Us vs Them falls away – almost immediately. And Circle Dance is in our DNA – every tribe, all of our ancestors had their own version of a circle dance. The circle itself has been a universal way we’ve gathered for millennia, and in my own experience, there’s an almost primal “knowing” and connection when one starts to dance with the group. When we’re in this sweet spot of interconnectedness, there’s a deep feeling of belonging and it’s from this place of peace that new ideas can emerge and new thoughts can be thunk. Not a bad thing, given the way things seem to be going these days.

Gwyn’s life is devoted to her tender and gorgeous love affair with this planet and in helping others to awaken and fall in love too. Bringing Circle Dance to over 35 countries on 5 continents, she’s actively continuing her mission to bring (back) Circle Dance all over the world as an access to peace.

When she isn’t leading people in song or dance around the planet, Gwyn tends her medicinal herbs, making and sharing plant medicine with friends and for fun is learning to speak Bulgarian. Looking way younger than her years, I was reminded of a shaman who once said the best way to lose our power is to stop singing and dancing, and the best way to reclaim our power is to start singing and dancing. Gwyn has clearly never stopped singing and dancing and she is one of the most beautiful, joyful and loving people on the planet.

We met Gwyn in 2017 at her annual Dance for Peace gathering at a kibbutz in central Mexico, through folks I’d met at the bottom of the Grand Canyon which is another story for another time. But when Gwyn learned we were looking for a new place to settle and interested in western MA, she pulled out her extraordinary hospitality and organization skills, inviting us and Serenity Rose to base at the Queendom as we explored the area.

Gwyn was our ultimate tour guide, chauffering us through small hill towns, sharing secret local swimming holes, introducing us to friends and neighbors, hosting picnic supper at her place at the edge of an 8000 acre state forest and enthusiastically encouraging us to move to the area.

We’re intrigued by the beauty of this mountainous area, by the community in the small hill towns and by their proximity to lots of dance, music and culture near Northampton, Amherst and Brattleboro. Are we intrigued because of the area or because Gwyn is so incredibly enthusiastic and infectious? Or both?!

*Birthday finds us in familiar Manchester, MA Harbor*

It seems this area too, is on the short list for more exploration, but for now we’ve turned Serenity Rose east to Hamilton, MA to visit Dave’s stepfather, Linzee, who lives with very old and grand maple and beech trees, and to celebrate Diane’s birthday with beloved friends Jane, Rebecca and Kathleen on Linzees’ boat in Manchester Harbor before heading to Westport to re-group.

*Appreciating Linzee’s lovely Hamilton driveway!*

But there’s magic too in Westport, even as we take care of business in this very familiar place. We don’t lose sight of this. We know there’s magic everywhere when we look. And that it hides when we don’t. And as long-time friend Tim Foley recently reminded me, “As you’re looking, don’t forget what you’ve already found.”

“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.” Roald Dahl

*Indian Pipe hiding in clear view in the forest*

Next leg… The Magic of Westport, MA

4 - Signs in Staunton, Italy in Connecticut & the Magical Queendom

5 - The Magic of Westport

3 - Smoky Mountain Magic, Intentional Communities & Farm Love