Mission Espiritu Santo - Part Dos

More from my mission trip this weekend. I couldn’t leave it without showing you some of the mission, because it really is quite beautiful, and all I could do yesterday was talk about fiber. I’ve been thinking about dyeing things all day. So here’s another mostly picture post, just to show some of my trip. Oh, and sheep!

Maybe you remember me saying I love Gregorian chant? Well, here’s a bonus - I found a rare CD of Gregorian chant performed there in the Espiritu Santo chapel! It’s called, appropriately, Gregorian in Goliad and is not really available so much, it just happened to be available because of the place. I’ve been enjoying it very much. I told you I had the perfect trip.

First, animals with hooves! I may have mentioned impromptu sheep herding yesterday? These fine fellows had escaped their pasture on 183 and were trying to wander down the road. A quick U-turn and stop in front of them, and they turned around and wandered back into their field.

Sitting on a cool, breezy porch, sipping blue cream soda, watching the sky. The (newly painted!) mission sanctuary through the arches.

A couple of details. On the left, an exposed piece of wall left over from a wall that no longer exists. This wall was once part of the living quarters of the monks - walls sheltering rooms now open to the sky where young pecans grow. On the right a canon and cacti growing in a carved gourd, familiar elements of this life.

This sort of arched passageway says “monk” to me - whether it’s the interior passageway around the courtyard of a cloister, or an outdoor breezeway like this. I’ve always dreamed of having something like this as part of my house, a deep passageway of shady calm.

When I walked out of the fiber lesson, this is the sight that greeted me as the sun started down toward the horizon. This tree, with inch-long thorns and resident spiders, is one they use for dyeing fabric. The chapel, well - it’s still in use, and in fact was refurbished, refurnished and re-painted using historical dyes and patterns four years ago. You can even get married here if you’d like.

This was my favorite photo of the trip, just a homey, simple scene. Cotton is a bear to grow, a bear to pick (thorns, bugs, etc) but it’s beautiful on the stem or dried. And the quality of light that day just was amazing. I think I would be a happier person if I could choose the quality of light for my life.

Hope you’ve enjoyed my little tour!