A Thought or Two

 

This morning Ruth went back to work in the greenhouses and I took myself down the coast towards the village of Findhorn. 

I go home this afternoon.

I wanted to see red squirrels in the pine trees skirting the sand dunes but only managed to see the pointed heads of a couple of seals well beyond the surf .

The Findhorn Foundation has been an interesting experience.

Like everything in the modern world  the community has had to evolve in covid times, with redundancies hitting the staff hard during lockdown and a change  from volunteer staff in key positions to salaried staff who have pensions, bills to pay and corporate ideals to juggle alongside the foundations’ community beliefs and shared objectives for personal growth and a healthy lifestyle. 

I can see the appeal.

There is a warmth and a camaraderie here, even though two of the main public meeting ( and community eating buildings )were set alight and destroyed last year by a disgruntled ex employee, there is still a sense of community very much evident. The new corporate, eco friendly and expensive private housing lies a stones throw from the huts and caravans where I slept last night and in one of a beautifully appointed rental house, I was invited into, I spied a 50 inch Tv alongside the homegrown plants and eco friendly decor .

Findhorn is like any community. You take from it what you want to but unlike every community there is a lot going on at the get go.

That is part of its strength and a little of its weakness, I think 

For its easy to forget the real world that lies beyond the Sandhills, and out of sight of the pine trees and the hobbit houses almost hidden away in the glades of wild flowers.