trying hard to post more!

Wow, two posts in one week, I am on a roll! We are at the Kadampa Meditation Center in Glen Spey, NY, which, in case you were wondering, is in the middle of no where and very beautiful.

The last few days have been cloudy but warm and we have been doing outside work. There are several trails around the property and we have been working with another working visitor with landscaping experience, Chad, to clear all of the trails. Some of them are a bit hard to follow so David and I are thinking about blazing them as well. We were in the woods for pretty much all of the daylight yesterday and today and I have really been enjoying it. Every winter I decide that I like winter woods the best, I love being able to see the trees for so far and to see all of their branches.

We have dorm-style accommodations in what was a barn but has been redone. It is very clean and organized, which we like. We generally (as general as two days can be) get up at about 8, have breakfast in the barn, and start working at 9. Lunch is served at 1, we work for a couple more hours and then rest/shower/read etc until dinner at 6. The monks and nuns take turn cooking great vegetarian food. The first day we helped put away their monthly grocery delivery and it was exciting to see what they got - tempeh, lentils, tofu, oats, soymilk, all in bulk. At 7:30 each evening they have a prayer service or lesson in the temple that we are invited to. Last night was a special service they do twice a month, with tea and food offerings. Tonight is more of a lesson, something about non existence and all of that...

Everyone here is kind, gracious, and welcoming. We are both enjoying being in an environment that is focused on loving kindness and compassion towards fellow humans. It will serve as an interesting contrast to our life on the road following phish, I am sure (the serenity, not the kindness - I think phish phans are very kind).