Neuc, Sabbathday Shaker Village



8/26 - Our room at Neuc conf...what a mess!



We stayed one more night then we had planned at the conference (yeah!).  On our way home Saturday, we went to a portfolio review sesson (where I met some really nice families!) at Pinelands (which reminded me of Delicious Orchards in NJ a little bit) and then went to the Shaker Village that we had heard all about by listening to a cd.  The cd was called Like the Willow Tree: The Diary of Lydia Amelia Pierce, Portland, Maine, 1918 (Dear America Series) by Lois Lowry.  It was such a captivating cd that we loved to put it on the minute we got into the car and sometimes wished our car rides were longer just to hear more!  Here's a review of it online: http://www.kidsreads.com/reviews/9780545144698.asp 

We thought that we would take a tour of the Shaker Village, but when we found out that you could not leave the tour and that it is more of a serious, quiet tour mostly appropriate for those who can remain quiet and are older (like over 12 or something), we decided to take the self-guided tour instead.  I didn't get to read nearly as much as I had wished to because the kids needed us, especially Kanoa who was full of energy.  We did get some pics though.  Here they are.  And I do wish someday to return and take the tour - that is, if there are any Shaker's around then as there are only three left today and they all live in this village, "The Chosen Land."  Maybe some of the kids will be able to go on the tour at that later time too.  It would be so fun to share that experience with them.  Oh, I read part of a book called, "Chosen faith, Chosen Land : the untold story of America's 21st-century Shakers" by Jeannine Lauber.  It said in the book that the Ken Burns documentary had some errors in it including that the Shakers called God "Mother/Father God." The book said that they actually did just say God, not "Mother Father God" but that it is true that they did think of God as being both genders.

This photo reminds me of something Li said on 9/9/2011 and I am inserting it here.  As we were cooking in the kitchen, he said he likes to do many different things each day so he gets good at many things, like the Shakers did.  He said they were smart to do that and he wants to do that too.  He wondered if he would be good at whatever he does when he's older.  Then he said after some thought, "The Shakers are smart, but they don't rely on happiness. They need more happiness."