Today I returned from a silent retreat in the Grampians. I…

Today I returned from a silent retreat in the Grampians.
It went something like this:
I was on the catering team of two, myself and Janet and we delivered 3 strictly vegetarian meals for 5 days. Me, a carnivore decided to do a water fast during that time because I didn't want to compromise my diet - I wasn't sure how it would affect my digestive system and I'm really not fond of vegetarian food.
Probably needless to say, it was a memorable experience.
We knew before we arrived that there wasn't a commercial kitchen, what we didn't know is that there were 3 standard fridges with tiny freezers, and the van we arrived in was PACKED to the roof with food, 90% of which had to be refrigerated.
Thank goodness Ricky and Janet made cakes beforehand, and had the first meal cooked so all we had to do was heat it up.
What I found amusing was our instructions from Ricky (the business owner) he'd told us we were there only to follow the menu's he'd listed for each day. "You won't be making any decisions"... except... that's all we did was make decisions... to work out which vegetables were going to go off fastest so we could concoct each meal using what we had to every day for lunch and dinner.
Continually shufflling refrigerated contents around meant more decisions... as we whispered to each other in the little kitchen "what do do with all this butter, can we freeze it??" "there's no room" "can we use these herbs for this dish?", looking at the box of broccoli swimming in what-was ice "what about creme of broccoli soup tonight?"
The bench space was used as a home for boxes of eggplant, capsicum, zucchini, watermelon, pumpkin... the floor space for potatoes, sweet potatoes, banana's, onions, carrots, and really big containers that didn't fit in the fridge until other contents were removed.
Breakfast was the same each day, must-be-stirred-for-15minutes porridge with stewed fruit, toasted muesli and toast with condiments. Because of the state of the mushrooms, they were served stir-fried one morning with an extra dish of pesto'd greens - much to the delight of the participants.
The compost bin filled quickly and they had only one. Somebody offered to take it home, so that was stacked in boxes outside.
On the third day because we were opening and closing the doors of the fridges so often, that particular electrical circuit switched off - and was repaired 24 hours later.
Somehow we managed to deliver delicious meals every day, with the help of volunteers from the retreat who had agreed to practice their meditation during day to day activities (Karate Kid style).
We whispered instructions for them to cut vegetables, wash dishes, organise the tables and assist us prepare for the next meal.
In the evenings both Janet and I sat in on the discourses where much of the discussion was about the challenges that difficult times presented to people who were practicing meditation... which is pretty much the state I get into when I'm fasting.
Usually I fast when I'm alone at home without distraction, then I can rest for 1-2 weeks (once I did it for 3 weeks). This was the first time I'd worked during a fast and it turned out to be the right choice. Rather than get involved in any drama that my thoughts were entertaining, I focussed instead on breathing and doing what was asked of me... dropping the frustration that kept niggling in the mind.
By day three I was feeling quite energised by the experience, days four and five proved equally as satisfying and we closed off with a huge round of applause and thanks from the participants. They knew some of the challenges we were facing and raved about the food.
Today I broke the fast with minced meat, then a seafood soup and mango and I'm feeling pretty awesome!!
I'll branch off this thread with photo's of the environment, the Grampians, a National Park 4 hours west of Melbourne, halfway to Adelaide.
Waking to cockatoo's screeching, magpies cooing, kookaburra's laughing and hearing kangaroo's bounce around pretty close to the 'glam' tent I was sleeping in was pretty special. Each night the sky was lit up with crystal clear bright stars, when I crawled out to pee they had me transfixed on their beauty.
A place which was very conducive to meditating... and fasting.