We have been rather pressed to get away this summer and so have taken day trips to get some separation and space. One of our favorite spots for doing this is in Oxford, MD. Over 300 years ago Oxford was a bustling seaport. In the late 1800 s it was an oystering center. Since those days of yore it has remained a quite little town which, unlike much of the Eastern Shore, never seems to change. While we walk the town and enjoy Oxford s historical homes and pleasant gardens, most of our day is spent sitting in a shady park on the water s edge where the Tred Avon and Choptank Rivers merge. We sit and read, snack and doze and totally relax in the fresh breezes, clean air and peaceful quiet of this special place. This is where we exchanged stones tossing our stones from UUCDC into the river and then retrieving new ones from its waters. It is our wish that the serenity and beauty we experience in this special place will be carried forward throughout the coming year at UUCDC.

My stone is now with my beloved Aunt Elizabeth's ashes in a beautiful green spot near the waterfall where Scott's Run joins the Potomac River. My cousins, brother and I honored my Aunt's wishes to not have any kind of funeral service, but instead to have her ashes scattered in the wildflowers along the banks of the Potomac. It was a lovely August morning when we hiked and climbed for 45 minutes to get to this perfect, secluded place. Our farewell was simple, dignified, unique and memorable, just like her. And I brought back to UUCDC a stone we found there at the water's edge.

I will be bringing back the stone that I took. I did not go anywhere this summer. I guess you could say, the ecomony.

I took my stone from UUCDC to a place I know in central Vermont and placed it next to a babbling brook, with the rush of a waterfall just upstream, under the shade of the pine forest on a beautiful sunny day. This occurred just after I visited my daughter at summer camp - the same camp that I went to as a kid and the same camp that allowed me to deepen my connections to nature and deepen my connections with camp friends on those 4-day canoe trips to the Adirondacks and hiking trips in the White Mountains. I expected that she would enjoy the same kinds of outdoor adventure trips that I found so enticing, however that was not the case. I learned instead that she selected activities like crew, weaving, and photography, but the experience of Camp had the same richness, sense of belonging, and friendship that my experience did so many years ago.

During that weekend I re-discovered old friendships, made new connections, and learned (again) that we all take our own paths in life.

I brought back a stone from a special place my daughter introduced me to, at a different babbling brook, near a plunge pool, in a different shaded pine grove on a similarly sunny day. Beautiful!