The Earth Sanctuary is a pretty special place on Whidbey Island. It is a place of refuge, protection and for us humans a place to wander and be in the arms of Nature. This week I spoke with Chuck Pettis the founder and owner of Earth Sanctuary. The Earth Sanctuary is a 72-acre nature reserve and meditation parkland here on Whidbey Island. I wanted to post some photos and talk about the sanctuary and Chuck thought the idea was a good one!
This month and next would be a great time to have a “Good Cheer Visit” to the sanctuary. Chuck will contribute 50% of the fees collected at the Earth Sanctuary in February and March if you simple write “Good Cheer” on the registration form.
You can reclaim your spirit in its beautiful forests looking out at its many reflective ponds. The reserve has a number of paths and there always seems to be something to catch your attention.
The Earth Sanctuary is open to visitors every day of the year during daylight hours. There is a fee of $7 per person to visit Earth Sanctuary. You’ll find a registration box on the bulletin board by the parking area with registration envelopes. REMEMBER to write “Good Cheer”on the registration form or envelope to benefit the food bank.
The Earth Sanctuary is a great place to give renewed birth to your soul and truly spend time with nature and the Universe. The forest is a living soul and the ponds and wetlands provide a wonderful backdrop for reflecting on life.
Only love is real and you can experience that feeling anytime and any day you choose.
Chuck Pettis is a dedicated practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism and recently I read from a book named “Peace in Every Step” by Thich Nhat Hanh. Here is an excerpt “From time to time, when we see something beautiful, we may want to stop and look at it…a tree, a flower, some children playing. As we look, we continue to follow our breathing, lest we lose the beautiful flower and get caught up in our thoughts. When we want to resume walking, we just start again. Each step we take will create a cool breeze, refreshing our body and mind. Every step makes a flower bloom under our feet. We can do it only if we do not think of the future or the past, if we know that life can only be found in the present moment.”
Kind of a nice pleasant way to think of mindfulness and being in touch with nature.
Earth Sanctuary has installed two Tibetan prayer wheels that each contain 1.3 trillion prayers, more prayers than any other prayer wheel ever created. The prayer wheels are located near the Dolmen and the Cottonwood Stone Circle.
There is a lot going on in the reserve. Craig & Joy Johnson monitored a Rufous Hummingbird nest at Earth Sanctuary for 34 days and created a slide show entitled Hummingbird Birth-to-Flight. Click on the two eggs above and you can watch the transformation.
Chuck Pettis is the founder and owner of Earth Sanctuary and he deeply believes in the value of meditation. He says “I don’t know anyone who meditates or prays too much. With Earth Sanctuary I’ve tried to create an environment that motivates and facilitates spiritual practice.”
You can visit the Earth Sanctuary website by clicking here.
Good Cheer!
[...] The Good Cheer Food Bank helped almost one out of every three residents on South Whidbey Island last year. If you visit Earth Santuary in February and March and write “Good Cheer” on your registration envelope, we will donate half the proceeds to Good Cheer Food Bank. Check out the great photos in the Good Cheer blog. [...]
What a wonderful offer thank you so much ~ Kathy