Thursday March 18, 2010 – Final Guitar Craft Course - Day -2

Thursday March 18, 2010 – Final Guitar Craft Course - Day -2

The Guitar Circle I
Guitar Craft 25th Anniversary Completion Course
Special Project: The Orchestra Of Crafty Guitarists III
Convento La Pace, Sassoferrato (Ancona), Italy

11:45pm

We arrive just after noon, and I am shown my room; a luxury suite for solo inhabitant.

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When I arrived for the first Guitar Craft course on March 25 1985 I found that I was assigned to Room 2 in the Claymont Mansion; a single room, the only one, and it had a sink for washing up.

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Here I am for the 25th anniversary, and again I find myself in a single room, one of several so not quite so exclusively exclusive. But it does mean, my own bathroom! And a bathroom with a view, at that. Snow capped mountains to look out upon as I brush my teeth. It’s the small things. I do need to determine if there are showers somewhere, or if I really will be contending with this thing in my bathroom. It is one of those showers that is just free-standing in the bathroom, but it is not clear whether or not the drain on the bathroom floor is functional. The bathroom floor is a step up from the bedroom. What could possibly go wrong? You wouldn’t think that a shower would be such an arcane concept, but there you are. Nothing approaching hot water has made it up to this corner of the facility yet, so showers on this course may become a spiritual exercise.

I get the room provisionally organized. Lunch for 28 at 1pm. In another day or so that dining hall is going to be very crowded indeed. After lunch, hang out with Hernan for a while out in the smoker’s haven just outside the dining hall, happily soaking in the sun and hearing a bit of the history of this place. I take a walk around the property with Carolina, catching up on life, and enthusiastically breathing non-recirculated air. This brings me a bit back to earth, and I feel that I am arriving. The weariness is descending. Thinking “nap”, I return to my room, but further organizing and then cataloging our travel adventures while they are still fresh in my memory takes precedence. At tea, Silence makes a brief but definite appearance, and for a moment I see an angel hovering over the dining hall. It is barely visible, nearly as large as the room, and seems to be traveling at great speed, even though it is stationary within the room.

After tea, I do succumb to jetlag and fatigue. The late afternoon sun pours through the window onto my bed and warms me wonderfully. When the sun goes down, the temperature drops. This is a cold building, though perhaps with some people and some activity this will change. My room is certainly pleasantly warm.

Supper delayed 15 minutes due to the gas going out in the kitchen. To say this facility is underutilized would be generous; nearly completely dormant is more like it. A handful of monks, all aging, live in the adjacent quarters. On Sunday, the church is active with a strong community. But this part of the building seems to lie fallow. Hernan suspects the last time it got a thorough cleaning was the last time Guitar Craft was here, in 2002. That may not be hyperbole. So, the heating system needs attention. The plumbing needs attention. Everything needs attention, and is beginning to get it. Nearly tragic that this stunning place is not getting the life/love it deserves.

Lovely evening meal for 55 now in the house. Silence makes a very strong appearance. If there was an angel this time, I could not see it.

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Silence made a very marked appearance during the first meal of the first Guitar Craft course on March 25 1985, but I did not comprehend its significance or appreciate the gifts that it contained. For me, the word “silence” in a group context was always preceded in my mind by the word “awkward”. It took some time for me to fully feel and welcome the power of the presence of Silence.

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After the brief Silence that presented itself at Tea, I am being a bit watchful about how I am sitting. The chairs in the dining hall tend to promote slouching, and it is terrible to be caught in a slouch when Silence arrives.

I volunteer for cleanup. This is perhaps the most sobering aspect of the state of the house. “Hot” is not really a word you can use to describe the water temperature, and “warm” would be wishful thinking. Tepid, probably best fits. So the sanitization level of dishwashing is also wishful thinking. Not quite as scary as Sant Cugat where the water would be hot for about the first ½ sink full and then go dead cold. But with 100+ going to be in the house shortly, it is a concern.

A little coffee afterward, which may or may not have been a good idea. We shall see. Caught up with Robert on this and that, and shared the photo I brought of Ezra and Deborah, generating uniform astonishment among those who have known them since before he was, at the 12-year-old nearly as tall as his mother.

Back to my room, which is comfortably warm. Intend to change guitar strings and if after that I’m not ready to sleep, I am behind in my SSG homework. Bill fills me in on the shower “procedure”, which is more or less as I expected/feared.

Shortly after arriving, found Carolina already getting the kitchen in shape. We took a walk around the facility, catching up, and along the way ran into Tony, who snapped these.

Evening view from my room.