Vol. II, No. 2

At this very moment a team of sixteen men is swarming like ants behind the Retreat Center, in and out of the gargantuan pit that will become an extension of the existing basement. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, see the photos here.

Our Sixth Annual Ralph Chapin Memorial Work Retreat once again saw a great deal accomplished by the thirty-odd members who participated. Here are some of the highlights and photos :

• massive clean-out of brush and invasive species above the parking lot...revealing a wood split-rail fence.

• a makeover of the pond: removal of shore seaweed and scum

• new single-entry door installed in upper barn, so we don’t have to always slide the large barn door open and closed

• thorough cleaning of windows and screens in the retreat center

• edging, weeding, and mulching of all the perennial beds (average age of the work crew: 65!)

• massive grape vines, brambles, logs, and fence posts cleared from the orchard side of the stream and hauled away by our dandy new "Work Horse"

• large green-ash tree, long growing from a fallen position at the edge of the Mill House field, yields to chain saws, loppers, and a wood-splitting mall

• other: compost piles reorganized; good start on farmhouse stone walkway; weeding of path to Roshi Kapleau’s gravesite and of the Mill House patio; miscellaneous transplanting, tree removal and trimming; mailbox refurbished; stepping stones laid across stream; new irrigation pump installed for gardens

The three girls in the Coming of Age Program, Sadie Frank and twins Hannah and Molly Snell-Larch, nearing completion of their 2-year commitment, pitched in as well. They gathered forces in the orchard and picked buckets of cherries that were immediately rendered by Maria Elena’s kitchen crew into award-quality pies served at lunch. They toiled over the labyrinth in the Mill House field, setting those hundreds of bricks deeper into the turf so that mowing will no longer be a problem. And they found time for evening campfires and excursions into town for ice cream and miniature golf. Their most lasting memory, though, might turn out to be the flying squirrels that visited them in the Guest House and scratched at the screens each night. In no time Sadie, Hannah, and Molly became “The Flying Squirrels.”

Judging by enthusiastic comments spilling out in dokusan and during the final lunch, the work retreat left participants uplifted by days of shared effort in the simple tasks of zazen and work—with some relaxation and play thrown in—while surrounded by woods, meadows, and stream. Thank you, Ralph, and count on us to be back in force next year!