Slice of Heaven

I live in a little slice of heaven on Earth that is nestled upon Morgan Creek and Urieville Lake in Chestertown, a gorgeous colonial Eastern Shore community in Maryland. My spouse, Deborah, and I purchased these 34 acres with a dream to build an organic herb farm, a permaculture food forest, and a retreat center for mind/body/spirit alignment.  Apotheosis is a Greek word meaning, “to elevate the God within,” and there is something magical about this land that helps to transform all who are touched by its medicine.

I love the writings of the Transcendentalists and have always been especially drawn to Henry David Thoreau’s experience in “Walden,” – particularly his declaration that he had gone into the woods, so that upon dying, he would not discover that he had not lived.  I didn’t realize it at the time we bought the property, but there was definitely a piece of me waiting to blossom from having “gone into the woods.”

Between the menagerie of wild animals that grace our land – from eagles, herons, and egrets, to wild turkeys, foxes, turtles, deer, raccoons, beavers, otters, and coyotes – and the old growth forest that surrounds the creek and wetlands with stands of mighty sycamores, oaks, maples, and the ever-wise cedars – to the very earth itself that is a generous mixture of clay, sand, and gorgeous topsoil eager to offer its food and herbs in exchange for loving attention to its needs for nutrients and water… what I have discovered here at Apotheosis is a sanctuary for the soul.  I have found conscious partners in the animals, plants, and earth who have made sure that, upon dying, I would not discover that I had not lived.  They have awakened me to something so much bigger than myself.