My Week & a bit at Olcott...

As I said before, I'm staying at the Theosophical Society's ( http://www.theosophical.org/ ) HQ in America (I'm a member of the Society in Auckland). The campus at Wheaton is set on 42 beautifully wooded (is there such a word?) acres and the HQ building itself is the perfect compliment to the grounds, reminding me of an English Stately manor. As well as the many staff members who live here, I have come across numerous other residents: squirrels; groundhogs; woodchucks; canadian geese; rabbits; and skunks - only I have smelled these at night, I haven't actually seen one yet.

I've been working half-days with the maintenance department (Mark & John - an army of 2) for my lodging & have therefore had ample opportunity to explore a large extent of the campus. Apart from the grounds & building itself, interesting feature include the labyrinth, the unique & atmospheric Olcott Memorial Library and the Quest bookshop - the main vendor of metaphysical & spiritual books for the Chicago area. Altogether, Olcott (the campus is named after the American co-founder of the Society Col Henry Steel Olcott) has been a welcoming, intriguing & very comfortable place to stay! A big thank you to all the staff here for making me feel so welcome & a part of the place. I hope to see some of you in NZ!