Long time no blog...

Here it is, May 2nd, and I have been intending to add to this blog site since early Feb. It seems that I would only think to do it when I was no where near my computer. But, look! Here I am, finally, where the two have come together.

In January, I (Susan) had the good fortune to do a retreat in this retreat cabin. The weather cooperated in putting the cabin through it's paces. We had the usual chilly but sunny Arizona winter days, as well as 4 days of storm that brought 4" of snow, another storm that dropped 3" of rain and a few days of DM's characteristic blasting winds. The cabin shuttered, shook and groaned, just like my old body, but did not leak or break or suffer any kind of damage. I learned how to prepare meals in the solar oven, and what to do when the weather did not allow it. I learned that it just takes enough layers of clothes and blankets to be comfortable even when there is no solar gain for the passive solar heating of the gompa.

During my time in retreat, the DM Retreat Valley seemed to spring to life with other construction projects. It was wonderful to hear all the activity, and to see the results upon my exit...4 more cabins at various states of progress. Now there are even more.

The day after I came out of retreat, we started DM's Winter 2010 school term. As usual, it was an amazing time here. A week after it completed, David went into retreat in the cabin for 4 weeks. He, too, got to experience a wide range of weather conditions and learned the ritual of solar cooking, when to put the food out and when to bring it in, and how to keep it hot until he was ready to eat it. He kept careful records of all that he ate, both for costs and for nutritional evaluation. We have a student who is a dietician. She has suggested that we plan for 6-8 different meals that we will rotate through. This would provide variety but minimize the distraction of making choices and planning for supplies. She has made some suggestions for improving our diets in terms of protein and calorie intake.

Now that David is out of retreat, I have been back up to the cabin to put it's finishing touches on it. I have been painting window and door trims and finishing the floors.  Last will be the construction of a short pathway called a "Reflexology Path" from the door to the outside offerings altar. Walking along it in stocking feet will serve to give one's body a reflexology treatment. Does anyone know how to make one of these? We will be winging it, based upon one that I visited in Singapore last year.

Next will be furnishing the place. We are scavenging things, and we have 2 wonderful students from El Paso who are helping us. It will be simple and sparse.

Actually, the other task we have is to find new homes for most of our possessions, not an easy task given that we live here at DM, an hour's drive from just about anywhere. It's not like we can just have a big garage sale. But, we'll figure it out.

232 days until Retreat!