Everything here is good...
Beautiful forest, babbling creek, clean air, quiet, quiet, quiet.
Blogging from Aranya Bodhi's "internet cafe" (that's a joke), I'm sitting outside the "sangha trailer" which functions as the library, shrine in cold weather and office where the satellite router is.
Blogging from Aranya Bodhi's "internet cafe" (that's a joke), I'm sitting outside the "sangha trailer" which functions as the library, shrine in cold weather and office where the satellite router is.
I'm
adjusting to this new way of living. And it is a new way of living; not
the same as living in the city. It all takes a lot more time and
energy...
To get from my kuti to the central
area where the kitchen trailer and yurt (round canvas structure which
functions as the shrine room) is a 20 minute walk. 75% uphill on the way
to the kuti.
Simply washing up and brushing
teeth requires water, which must have been carried in to the kuti in
advance, and sometimes heating.
Laundry (did my first batch today) is a sink, some soap and your hands. More useful experience from my time in Thailand ;)
Cleaning up after the mid-day meal
(the only full meal of the day) takes awhile; lots of dishes and a
small sink to wash them in, plus the extra step of a bleach rinse after the regular wash and rinse. Then compost needs to be carried to the compost pile; about 50 yards away from the kitchen trailer, again a portion of which is uphill.
The kuti is dry and cozy, although
pretty cool because it's in the woods. No sunlight hits the kuti
directly so it's often a little warmer on the porch then inside.
Everyday I've learned something new (some thingS, plural actually); day
before yesterday's accomplishment was making a fire in the little stove
in the kuti where mice live in the chimney when there's no fire burning.
It was pretty cool and having the
ability to make the kuti warm; which was relatively simple, was quite
reassuring. I cut some wood yesterday so I have a 2 fire stockpile on
the porch ready to go when I need it. Yesterday was warmer so didn't
need a fire.
The temperature is incredibly
variable here. When you're in a sunny spot it is HOT but walk, literally
a few yards into the trees, and I need a few layers and a hat. There's a
thermometer by the kitchen trailer, I think it was 40 degrees when I
looked at it about 6:30 yesterday morning.
My tool shed construction project
is going well; it's really enjoyable and satisfying. Yesterday and today
we completed the installation of the floor; which entailed cutting some
4x8 wood panels, gluing them to the platform (until we ran out of glue)
and then using a drill to screw the boards into the platform. Yesterday's
something learned in the construction department was how to "snap a
line". And my drill skills are progressing nicely...
Tomorrow we're going to install a
wall. But as things go here, nothing is quite so simple. First I'll have
to get up on a ladder and saw off some tree branches that are in the
way of the walls-to-be. So perhaps tomorrow will just be preparing to
build a wall. Ayya S. is inside the sangha trailer watching a video on
youtube to learn how to build the wall. This life is the definition of a "D.I.Y." existence.
One of the things that arose in
mind when I knew that I needed to go on this journey was that I wanted
to challenge myself; wanted to test my limits and see where they were.
Being here is another way that is occurring. In just under a week I see
that I CAN do this for 2 months; WANT to do this for 2 months; will feel
an incredible sense of accomplishment after 2 months.
I cracked myself up this morning (as I do at least once a day)...
I offered some coffee from the Castro Coffee Company to the sangha when I arrived. The woman who makes the morning meal (oatmeal, nuts, a little fruit) has been making coffee but trying to make it last so was cutting the coffee with Folgers. This morning she said "the coffee is 100% Castro". My reply...
I offered some coffee from the Castro Coffee Company to the sangha when I arrived. The woman who makes the morning meal (oatmeal, nuts, a little fruit) has been making coffee but trying to make it last so was cutting the coffee with Folgers. This morning she said "the coffee is 100% Castro". My reply...
"If the coffee was 100% Castro it would be served
to me by a man in ass-less chaps!"
Mary, we are not in SF anymore :)
Mary, we are not in SF anymore :)
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