wisdom and compassion at The Stone House

On Sunday the 21st of October, Michele McDonald- a longtime meditation practitioner and teacher, came to The Stone House to teach a daylong retreat entitled "Compassion as Vehicle for Liberation."

Our first public event at The Stone House brought in 25 wonderful beings to the land- eager to spend the day in silence and contemplation. They arrived just in time to break in our new meditation cushions and explored each and every corner of The Stone House.

It was great to see people doing walking meditation in the open fields and under the pine groves and eating lunch in silence under the warm sun. A refreshing fall breeze would pass through the meditation hall every so often and help keep people awake after lunch!


A number of folks stuck around for a potluck dinner and a beautiful sunset. At the end of the night we watched a slide show that Michele put together on monastic life in Burma. It was a chance for people to learn more about the country and how they can help foster democracy and support humanitarian work going on there now.

Check the stone circles' website to find out more about our work to purchase and distribute video equipment in Burma. The military regime is trying very hard to prevent images and news content of the situation from leaving the country. One of the best ways we have to supporting the effort of the Burmese people is to make sure the lines of communication to the outside world stay open and up-to-date.

A Feast of Thanks

On Saturday, October 20th, Claudia and Jesse prepared a meal for all our friends in the area who helped make the move to The Stone House a success. The first of what we hope will be an annual "feast of thanks" to appreciate those who have given so much.
Of course, we had a wonderful time with our peeps- eating, drinking and being merry. We fed ourselves on local harvest-season goodies like stuffed squash and cranberry sauce. Claudia pulled off a great sweet potato pie and we ended the night full of food and good vibes.

At the end of the evening, we roamed down to the pond for a little ceremony to bless the land and ask for rain. We all connected with the goodness in our own ways- some frolicking in the water, others contemplating the starry night on good dry land!

our first group arrives at The Stone House

On October 10th we had our first group come for an overnight!

It was great to welcome the facilitators for Making Money Making Change who met for two days to prepare for their roles at their annual conference in Whitakers, NC. Many thanks to conference organizer Tanya Diaz, the good folks at Resource Generation, and RG board member (and Friend of The Stone House!) Chad Jones for making this possible.In addition to meeting new friends, it's always good to see folks we've known and loved for a while, like Omisade Burney-Scott, stone circles Board Chair, and Chad Jones, above - both are Friends of The Stone House!


We spent the week before the event scrambling to get the place ready. New sheets, new mattresses, new lamps, new silverware, glasses, couches, and shower curtains awaited our first guests. We made sure the hot water heaters and toilets and wells were all in great working condition. The event was a complete success and we got great feedback on The Stone House. We made it through with only one glitch- we forgot to turn the hot water on in the lower cabin! Yikes, well, they say cold showers are good for ya!

moving in...

stone circles staff spent the end of September and early October moving in to our new digs in Mebane! Here Margie and Solita contemplate our new reality, surrounded by boxes in the new office on the land.

Jesse and Claudia spent their free time [!] moving into their new cabins at either end of the property- cleaning, painting, and settling down. Friends, family, god children - anyone we could find, really- helped us with painting, packing, unpacking, and more.