Driving: 1/2 - 1/6
Arriving in Boulder, Colorado on Wednesday, January 3rd, 2024.
I genuinely would have flown to Cottonwood, Idaho to be artist-in-residence at St. Gertrude’s Monastery this month, if it were not for five or six things:
Flying is expensive.
Guitar
Ukulele
Autoharp
Skis
I surprised many people by sharing that I would be driving out here all alone, but the reality is that I saw a few good friends along the way and enjoyed several hours of an audiobook, too. Mom gave me Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner for Christmas, and I thought that a good reason to at least listen to some of it while driving. The images in the book were striking, and Stegner’s portrayals of The West often coincidentally corresponded with what I was seeing as I passed through different topographical areas.
When Eli and I put together this tour, we imagined playing music together in Macomb, Illinois at the end of 2023, and my continuing west from there. This came to fruition, and we had a lovely time sharing music at The Wine Sellers, Wesley Village, and Forgottonia December 28-30. Unexpectedly, my parents were able to be in Macomb that entire span of time, so the two of us had a lot of time with both sets of parents all in the same town! What a treat. We rang in the New Year with some of our best friends from high school, and on January 2nd, I was on my way.
I’ll try not to say too much about every detail of my drive. Those who have driven from Illinois to Idaho know there are plenty of boring parts of the journey. On January 2nd, I drove from Macomb to Omaha, and got to catch up with a dear old friend from high school, Alex. When I arrived in Omaha, it was a moderate temperature. When I left the next morning, it was frigid and the fields were frosty and beautiful. Thus, it was a beautiful drive through Nebraska for me. I was surprised when, in a gas station in the middle of nowhere, someone exclaimed to me joyously that he “had never seen diesel so cheap!” As the day warmed up, the fields got browner, which made my arrival in Colorado a bit ironic:
I didn’t know that it was called “Colorful” Colorado!
I have been to Colorado twice before. Once, I rode in a Youth Group Van™ with Wesley United Methodist Church all of the way to Estes Park! The second time, I flew with the WIU University Singers to Denver, and then we drove into Boulder. I have wonderful memories of both trips. The drive this time held understated beauty. I liked the vast plains that gently turned to rolling hills. Then I saw dark blue clouds in the distance and realized they were mountains. Not two hours later, I was in Boulder. I stayed at a little motel there, just five minutes from where I would play a solo set at Velvet Elk Lounge:
I’m very happy to say two things about this photograph:
More people showed up than were there when I started playing, about five minutes after this photo was taken.
This is the last photo taken on my late Galaxy A12 Android that will appear in this journal.
My set went well, and I enjoyed not only playing music there but also the tasty food and drinks the venue provided. Oh, and getting paid was nice, too. I slept well that night and was on the road early the next morning because my next stop would be Eden, Utah and I wanted to get there in time for night skiing.
Now we reach the portion where there are no photographs for a little bit (maybe my family members who received pictures from me that night can help me out and send me some of my last blurry Android photo memories). I enjoyed a stunningly beautiful drive from Boulder to Eden on January 4th, and arrived at Powder Mountain in time to use my Indy Pass for a little bit of night skiing. Powder Mountain is an amazing place; it seems like it is practically always snowing there. Even with the limited open trails for night skiing, I was grateful to be able to ski out west for the first time. I enjoyed a “green circle” run which felt more like a blue square in the Midwest, and then tried out a few blue squares. I consulted the map and saw a nice long green circle run which appeared to be open for night skiing, too. I hopped on the trail and enjoyed a peaceful ride through the trees. It just kept going, and going, and going… until I realized I had skied into an area where people were staying in condos. I looked at the map and realized I was very far away from the lift open for night skiing. I started to trudge back in that direction, when a lovely ski patrol member, Julie, came gliding down the hill and told me that she could help me get back faster. By this point I was exhausted, and was grateful to have someone help me find a better way back. It was a black diamond run, and more advanced than I would have been comfortable skiing alone. Julie was also a great teacher and gave me some good tips as we descended. At the bottom of the run, happy to be back to my car, I reached into my pocket and realized I had lost my phone. My terrible, always-freezing, blurry photos Android was somewhere resting along that long green circle run. Appropriately, the run that I skied astray was called “Slow Poke.” As Julie and I brainstormed what to do about my phone, I looked high up on the hill at the point where we had met, and could see the grooming machine probably running over my terrible phone at that very moment. Ashes to ashes!
I slept hard that night, and in the morning I skied the most beautiful trails I have ever seen in my life. I simply cannot describe the beauty of this place. And I didn’t have a phone to take any pictures. It was heavenly.
I left Eden and bought myself a new phone in Ogden, Utah, at the bottom of the big mountain. Indeed, I finally have an iPhone. Then I set out towards Boise, Idaho. On my way to Boise, I had the great fortune of sharing dinner with a dear friend from FSU, Nate, in Twin Falls, Idaho. That night, I arrived in Boise to the coziest guest room in the sweet home of my old friend Laura, whom I talked with for hours. It was such a peaceful way to spend my last night before arriving at St. Gertrude’s the next day.
Arriving: 1/6
Driving through the Boise National Forest on January 6th, 2024.
Getting from Boise to Cottonwood, Idaho on January 6th was easily the most difficult drive of my week. Fortunately, it was also the shortest distance. As Laura and I chatted and ate brunch, I watched soft snowflakes begin to fall behind her. As I headed out, the snowflakes were bigger and the roads were slushy. I knew that all I could do was take my time and drive slowly. Most of my drive that day was through mountainous areas. Almost immediately upon leaving Boise, I ascended into the mountains of the Boise National Forest (I promise that I took the picture above while driving very slowly…and nobody was behind me). This portion of the drive was challenging but incredibly beautiful, and I took my time.
After getting through the forest, I had a brief respite from mountains and river valleys. Then, it began to snow, and I ascended into another range of mountains. I love the snow, but as it got dark I was grateful that the snow mostly stopped. When I finally drove out of the mountains onto the Camas Prairie, I was a little disappointed that there was no snow anywhere (except I was grateful that the roads were clear). About ten minutes from St. Gertrude’s, I pulled into Cottonwood, Idaho. The sign for Cottonwood was covered in snow, and for the next ten minutes (and practically my entire time here so far) it snowed hard.
I arrived at St. Gertrude’s just fifteen minutes before Evening Praise (which is like Evening Prayer). There wasn’t time to get into my room beforehand, so we walked into the Chapel and settled in for a cozy Epiphany prayer service in this beautiful space:
I wish this image even remotely captured the beauty and peace of this space. Also, I wish I had taken a photo of this room that night when I arrived. The Christmas lights were so warm and inviting in the darkness of the chapel. All of these decorations were taken down later in the week. The greenery and Christmas trees are all from the land on which the Monastery lives.
The prayer service was both joyful and serene. The sisters chanted most of the service, probably because it was Epiphany. I loved hearing them chant, and singing with them, and taking in the beauty of St. Gertrude’s first and foremost in this sacred place where they pray, sing, and worship every day. After Evening Praise, Sister Teresa, who coordinates the residency program and is the Prioress of St. Gertrude’s, helped me grab some of my things and showed me my room. Here are some pictures of it after I unpacked and settled in:
This room has been so peaceful. I did not expect the little sitting room with the desk and counter area, but it has really made it feel like a small apartment more than just a room. I definitely did not expect or remember that I would have my own bathroom, but that has been so nice. The relaxed and welcoming space here in my room reflects the overall environment of hospitality which everyone who visits St. Gertrudes’s experiences.
This was on my door when I arrived :)
Songwriting: 1/7 - 1/14
Sunrise, as seen from my window on Monday, January 8th, 2024.
I am here at St. Gertrude’s until Tuesday, January 23rd, and hope to write at least one more journal before I leave. Either way, I thought I could tell you a little about daily life here at the monastery since my arrival. First of all, here is the schedule:
The “Cohousing Community” includes me, for this brief time I am here. That being said, there are women here who have made a long-term commitment to reside at St. Gertrude’s with the sisters, though they will not take formal vows. Pretty cool!
Having arrived on a Saturday, the sisters would celebrate Epiphany on Sunday, January 7th. The services for Evening Praise on Saturday, January 6th were a vigil for the Feast on Sunday. I really enjoyed my first Sunday here, it was a big, beautiful celebration of The Epiphany all day. There was even a concert in the Monastery which I was invited to participate in that Sunday afternoon:
I might just have had a couple of Epiphany-appropriate folksongs up my sleeve :)
In a good way, all of the days since that Sunday a week ago (feels like a month ago, so much to take in) have been pretty similar. I follow the schedule above, praying and celebrating the Eucharist and eating my meals with the sisters. Immersing myself into the rhythms of their lives has been deeply meaningful for me, and I think it’s the best way one could learn about a community different from one’s own. “Hannah, are you really getting up at 6 or 7am every day?” Well, yes, and I just keep telling myself that if I were in Eastern Time (Fort Wayne is ET), it would be 9 or 10am! Plus, the sunrises are beautiful when we get them (lots of grey snowy skies, which I don’t mind either). Also, breakfast always has some tasty options:
A majority of the food here is homemade, and it is so good. I love this “Monastery Granola” and I also loved that Mary, Joseph, and Jesus got to eat cereal with us.
By the way, silence is observed here from 9pm-9am. I love it. It is a nice boundary, especially when living with a lot of other people. So we eat breakfast in silence, and wander into the chapel in silence for prayer. Morning Praise is a peaceful way to start the day, and the chapel is often bright with the morning sun.
After that, it’s off to my studio to get started on songwriting for the day. Here are some pictures of my studio, which is located in the Mary Magdalene room (which I love):
Unless it’s Tuesday or Saturday, we celebrate The Eucharist at 11:30am five days a week. Such a grounding experience, after a full morning of songwriting. Then we have dinner. I thought the distinction of calling lunch dinner was just an older way of saying it, then I remembered that my grandparents did that too and specifically on days when we had a very large meal at noon. It is that way here, too, dinner is the largest meal of the day. Seriously, the food here is so good. Almost everything is homemade and a large amount of the food is from the local region. And I don’t have to cook it! I would have to do the dishes… but a bunch of college students are here on a January term and they got that assignment! Lucky me :)
After dinner, I get out on the trail behind the Monastery as quickly as I can. I am usually all layered up with my snowpants, snowboots, etc. by 1pm:
It was about three degrees when I took this picture today, but look how much I don’t care!
These hikes have been beautiful. I love taking the same route every day, and seeing the subtle changes to the scenery as the snow transforms everything. The hill behind the monastery is quite steep, and taking the full loop up to the top of the hill and back takes me about an hour and a half, especially when I am knee-deep in snow for at least half of the hike. I mostly do this for exercise, but it is also spiritually engaging and has even yielded songwriting (while knee-deep in snow). Here are some of my favorite photos and videos from my daily hikes:
All of that beauty, and when I get back to the bottom of the hill I see this wonderful place:
Then my wet clothes go on the radiator, I make some steaming hot black coffee, and I get back to work for a few more hours until Evening Praise and Supper.
I was telling my friend Anna about my daily routine on the phone the other day, and she responded by saying that it all “sounds very old timey in a good way,” pointing out that most people don’t realize there are even places like this in the United States. I agreed with her. This kind of routine and life does not seem like one that could exist in the hurried and frantic world we live in now. Yet, it does. The women here are hearty, industrious, and at the same time peaceful, still, and warm. Their work and rest coexist in a way which is not only admirable, but strikes me as very sane. I could really keep writing, but I actually really can’t. It is quiet hours now and I have to get to bed so that I can maintain this early bird schedule for just a week longer. I’ll write more again soon. Is there more you would like me to write about? Let me know!
FINALLY, it would be ridiculous for me to write so much and not remind you of this very important thing: we are crowdfunding our next two albums now, for 30 more days. The music I am writing here is intended for these two albums. I would really like to share it with you. Check out the crowdfund on Kickstarter at this link: Our Kickstarter Crowdfund Link
with wintry love,
Hannah