Vol. II, No. 1

The presses are rolling again. The Chapin Mill Dispatch was launched when we broke ground in 1998 as a way of keeping the Sangha informed of developments in the project. Its publication was suspended in the fall of 2004 when we finally secured our Certificate of Occupancy and held the inaugural sesshin at the Chapin Mill Retreat Center. With The Zendo Project (Phase Two) now underway, it is time to get the news out again. As before, it will be sent out irregularly, and written by Roshi, with generous assistance from Lou Kubicka, Chapin Mill Caretaker and Foreman of construction.

Let The Zendo Project Begin!

On Monday of this week the resident staff at Chapin Mill wakened to the sound of chain saws. Joe Condidorio, our contractor for Phase One, was back! We had concurred with him that some of the trees on the steep hill overlooking the site of the new construction would pose a danger to the project as well as to his workers, and had to come down before excavation could begin. On full display now is the towering, three-trunked sycamore (a.k.a. “the three pillars”) that had been veiled by its immediate neighbors. (The other “three pillars” are the three cedar trees standing next to the bend in the road, down from the existing Retreat Center).

By yesterday a bulldozer (using laser technology) had already leveled the site. It pushed several hundred yards of fill toward the low area north of the Retreat Center, greatly extending the flat, grassy area where the new zendo will sit (and us in it). With that effort we were spared the task of carting away about 400 truckloads of clay and sand—at a cost of perhaps $50,000 or more. Such an effort would also have taken a serious toll on our road.

We will probably gently slope the land beyond the zendo northward, which will give us greatly improved access to the area of our land that abuts the swamps of Horseshoe Lake, as well as our own fields and woods back there. And with the zendo to be nearer our wetlands, the sounds of swamp birds and frogs will become part of the sesshin experience.

Air Conditioners Installed

Anyone remember the conditions in the 7-day sesshin last August? The heat and humidity in the zendo were not just stifling, but had the effect of rendering the sesshin limp. There were other ill effects as well: a mold and mildew “bloom” in the zendo and elsewhere in the basement that for the past two years required much work to overcome. With a rental group also reporting a disappointing experience because of the humidity, Roshi accepted the advice of the Chapin Mill Management Committee that it was time to activate the previously installed cooling units in that building.

So we now have air conditioning in the basement for the temporary zendo, and upstairs for the kitchen and chair zendo. When the zendo is vacant the air conditioning there will be used only enough to remove moisture from the air, lowering the temperature to just ½° below its natural state. With the zendo doors closed, this should keep the walls from sprouting mold, and by storing all our cushions and mats there, they too should be kept free of the problem.

When the summer heat climbs high, the kitchen and the chair sitting room will be air conditioned enough to bring down the temperature to about 78°.

Bridge Project

For years now, people at Chapin Mill who wanted to cross the stream en route to or from the main entrance to the Retreat Center have had to pick their way over two planks laid end-to-end. But thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, we will soon be installing a wooden footbridge, similar in design to the one in the famous Claude Monet painting. It is 20 feet long and 3 feet wide, with side railings. The bridge will rest on two small steel I-beam trestles anchored in concrete below the stream level. On each side of the stream there will also be a 10-foot wood walkway that will, in effect, be part of the bridge.

All of this is part of a comprehensive landscaping plan, designed by our landscape architect, Dudley Breed, in collaboration with the Garden and Grounds Committee, for the area in front of the main entrance to the Retreat Center, between the road and stream. The new design is expected to create a greater sense of intimacy with the natural stream bed, which until now has been somewhat hidden in high weeds and foliage. As part of this plan we will also level out the area somewhat and then maintain it as a meadow of short grass, where a picnic table or two could go. It could also be suitable for sitting, perhaps with the help of some low, individual zazen platforms.

The south side (the Farm House side) of the stream is also being enhanced, to make the stream more inviting. We cut some huge tangles of willows and scrub trees, bushes and weeds on that side of the stream to begin to open it up, but we haven’t yet begun to implement Dudley’s full plan there. A good project for the upcoming Ralph Chapin Memorial Work Retreat!

The Japanese Baths

Over the past couple months Helen Fuller has done yeoman's labor to help bring the baths at Chapin Mill to completion, squeezing precious time out of her householder’s schedule. Her tiling work, laid in the artful style of Mexico, has drawn nothing but praise, not least of all for the colors: cobalt blue together with terra cotta. She has also trained Chapin Mill resident Stevan Veljkovic to be able to carry on the tiling and grouting once she returns to New Zealand this summer.

The final hurdle to surmount in this project is with the mechanicals. The original plans for them were lost in a computer hard drive disaster, and it will probably take a swimming pool contractor to provide and install the mechanical components necessary to run the Japanese Bath in accordance with technical and health standards. So no one show up there with your towel yet . . . .

New Dining Room Tables

Those plastic tablecloths are gone, and with them the makeshift tables (doors, actually) they covered. Thanks to a special donation, in their place now stand gorgeous new cherry tables handcrafted by Tom Kowal. The room is now glowing!