3 Sisters Sanctuary Out In Western MA

My back is aching, no make that my entire body. Every muscle is screaming from contortions I forced myself into to clean the pantry, on this cool, grey day, with just a small nip in the air that promises winter is coming. My exhaustion level is pretty extreme. I actually feel some grouchiness,  at others who live here who just dump stuff in the pantry and close the door. Never to think about it again as duplicates pile up also shoved unceremoniously in the pantry to be forgotten. Eventually stuff begins to fall out and hit me in the head. So in addition to my back, my head feels whacked also, cuz it was by a falling box of Finn Crisps. Hard day, it included some heavy lifting, stacking some wood, and dealing with the ancient refuse once abandoned in the cabinet years ago and never thought of again… I have not found time to eat today which is rare so I am feeling that too. But I am finally just about done for the day, and the rest of the job in the pantry I can’t contort myself enough to do. Unless I somehow amass another foot in height, which is not possible. So it will be left for Dr. Farmer Moomin, who will grouch about the lost food stuff abandoned to collect pantry moths… I had no choice but to do a purge. Days like today, full of hard labor and other nastiness, tend to depress me. I think they would make anyone want to cry. But then, I stop and think about my friend Richard, and his beautiful back yard The Three Sisters Sanctuary, located in Western Massachusetts. I stop, and I travel back into memories of a glorious summer day, and the feel of the warm sunshine on my face…. All the way back to that beautiful garden of art, standing proudly in the sunshine, in my mind…

I first came across The Three Sisters Sanctuary, by accident. I was actually looking for something completely different. I wanted to add a really nice old fashioned wood burning cook stove where my large wood stove is now. In my search, I discovered a place called The Good Time Stove Company. I searched for years to find the kind of stove I wanted. It was a nightmare. These old fashioned stoves are unbelievably difficult to find. So when I finally found The Good Time Stove Company, and that it was not all that far from me, I was past elated. Little did I know what I would find there…

The first thing I found, was a friend. A man some years my senior named Richard. A truly kind person, who owns and runs the stove company. We got to chatting. Like me, he is a bit of a story teller. But far superior in skill. He invited me out to see his stoves and to see his sanctuary, where he tells his story in art and nature. So, Dr. Farmer Moomin and I went. 

Usually, I tell tales of Wildflower Farm. It is a rarity that I write about anywhere else. But I am writing about Richard’s stove company and more importantly his sanctuary. Which he opens to the public. In addition to refurbishing old stoves, he is a truly gifted artist using nature and man made objects to create beauty, and a space of joy, built on the foundations of loss. He has chosen to create a place of joy for those he loved who did not survive tragedy. He has made them a home in his garden, an unending art project. But he has done more than that. So very much more. He has built a place to commune with the memory of loved ones gone in a place of joy. The love in this sanctuary shines like a sun, and touches every blade of grass and art object within it. Richard, has opened the joy of his garden up to include anyone and everyone. An act of bravery and compassion, for the world. I find the love, bravery and compassion awe inspiring and amazingly touching.

Walking through Richard’s gardens, my heart filled up so much that I found myself standing in a little space that he has opened to the public to commune with and remember and even place their passed on loved ones in. I found myself looking at the statement of love, joy and remembrance, and I felt my eyes grow wet, they welled up. Standing there surveying a scene unlike anything else I had ever seen before full of color and joy, I began to cry, deeply humbled. The garden, was so marvelous in it’s beauty of sentiment as well as it’s beauty as a garden and as an art exhibit. 

I walked through the whole garden, stopping periodically to cry more. I am rarely touched so deeply art. But the joy is contagious and it just overflowed right out of my eyes. I couldn’t contain it. It was one beautiful scene after another. Colorful, natural, or finding a new use for man’s contribution to the world that might otherwise have ended up in a rubbish heap, but here at The Three Sisters Sanctuary, it got a new life and to be part of the joy. It was one of the most powerful experiences I have had in recent years…. I can’t thank Richard enough. 

I took an endless supply of photos. But, once I sat down to write this, after having to get used to a new phone which made me nuts, and finally today happened… I realized two things. The first, I need to think myself somewhere beautiful, take myself away from the drudgery of the moment for a little while. The other thing…. If everyone can see the whole place on my blog no one will bother driving out to see it for themselves. Which would do it and those reading the blog such a massive disservice. Because while you can see the beauty, you can only feel the joy by walking through it. You can only experience the wonder by being present within it. So I selected only a couple of my photos to share.

It is the wrong season for beautiful gardens now…. But spring follows winter. I hope everyone will take the time to go and visit this special sanctuary and experience it. Because you truly miss out if you don’t. Today, I needed this place that I now stash away in my mind for times when it’s dark or I find myself over burdened. Even when I can’t physically go and walk through the gardens of joy, color, and sanctuary, I wrap my internal self in the memory as if it were a cozy blanket of sunshine, and I find a place of peace. 

There is nowhere quite like The Three Sisters Sanctuary, so full of hope and wonder.
It is a privilege to be able to return in my mind on days that are hard.
I am so very grateful to Richard, for building a space so absolutely magical.
I hope my readers will take the time to give this wonderful place a visit, because it is truly worth it.
Thank you for reading,
Amanda Of Wildflower Farm