Day Off
Oh, I've had such a nice day off. My friend Kevin is staying with us for a few days, at a room in the Sangha House. His partner is off on a business trip in Las Vegas, and so we get Kevin. Aside from being a fun person to be with, Kevin also spent several hours this afternoon on temple laundry (which I've been primarily responsible for, and it's a big relief to have someone else beginning to take it over), and he took me and another friend (the other person who lives at the Sangha House) out to dinner. We had Italian food -- pasta -- and this incredible chocolate cake dessert, split three ways, which was just about right. I mean, I could have eaten the whole thing myself, but I'm not sure that would have been a good idea.
So at this moment, my tummy feels very good. I'm working on my own laundry, which always feels good as well. And I took a nap this afternoon while Kevin was ironing away. I just crashed after brunch somehow, and sacked out on the couch in the sitting room. I guess I was pretty tired. I think I will still sleep well tonight, even with the nap, but that should take me into tomorrow in good shape with good energy.
This morning I drove Kevin out to Fabric Depot, one of my favorite places to spend some time. I helped him pick out fabric, and managed to get out of there spending less than $10 on two little pieces of fabric to make more bags with (which I haven't been doing, but I just couldn't resist these pieces). I have a large box full of fabric with several projects in mind, and have been spending very little time on them.
After brunch, I went to the airport to pick up the Domyo, the other monk, who was coming back from presenting a workshop at a conference in Chicago. She was supposed to come back yesterday, but her flight was cancelled because of that big storm in the midwest. But today she came back with no problems.
This weekend has seen a lot of comings and goings to/from the airport. Domyo left on Friday morning to go to Chicago (I drove her out there). Gyokuko came back from Nebraska on Friday evening. She had been there for a week to support the abbot who was very sick. She got to spend time with that small center and help the people there through this difficult time. She reported that the abbot was doing well -- she could see a lot of improvement in the week she was there.
Kyogen left early Sunday morning to go to California for an abbot installation and a Soto Zen Buddhist Association board meeting. He's due back tomorrow, I think.
Me, I've been staying here. I feel like I'm settling in to being an ordained monk, and things seem a little more sane again. I'm beginining to catch up with some things I've gotten behind on. Of course, we're now gearing up for Jukai sesshin, a silent retreat that will be held her in town March 12-18. I'm in charge of registrations again, and also need to make sure we have chant leading covered. Not sure what else they will put me in charge of for that. I've done the flyers for it, and put registration forms up on to our website, so it's not like I've not done anything at all so far.
There's always plenty of work to do here. I'm finding that I'm savoring my days off, especially the mornings spent at the Sangha House, often by myself. Tomorrow morning I won't be alone, because Kevin will be there. He's promised to cook pancakes for us for breakfast. Some time after that I will take a nice long soaking bath (we have a lovely clawfooted tub there) and shave my head. I do that twice a week now, and it seems to be working out okay.
So my laundry should be ready for the next step, which involves putting one more load into the dryer, and after that I think I will take myself off to bed.
So at this moment, my tummy feels very good. I'm working on my own laundry, which always feels good as well. And I took a nap this afternoon while Kevin was ironing away. I just crashed after brunch somehow, and sacked out on the couch in the sitting room. I guess I was pretty tired. I think I will still sleep well tonight, even with the nap, but that should take me into tomorrow in good shape with good energy.
This morning I drove Kevin out to Fabric Depot, one of my favorite places to spend some time. I helped him pick out fabric, and managed to get out of there spending less than $10 on two little pieces of fabric to make more bags with (which I haven't been doing, but I just couldn't resist these pieces). I have a large box full of fabric with several projects in mind, and have been spending very little time on them.
After brunch, I went to the airport to pick up the Domyo, the other monk, who was coming back from presenting a workshop at a conference in Chicago. She was supposed to come back yesterday, but her flight was cancelled because of that big storm in the midwest. But today she came back with no problems.
This weekend has seen a lot of comings and goings to/from the airport. Domyo left on Friday morning to go to Chicago (I drove her out there). Gyokuko came back from Nebraska on Friday evening. She had been there for a week to support the abbot who was very sick. She got to spend time with that small center and help the people there through this difficult time. She reported that the abbot was doing well -- she could see a lot of improvement in the week she was there.
Kyogen left early Sunday morning to go to California for an abbot installation and a Soto Zen Buddhist Association board meeting. He's due back tomorrow, I think.
Me, I've been staying here. I feel like I'm settling in to being an ordained monk, and things seem a little more sane again. I'm beginining to catch up with some things I've gotten behind on. Of course, we're now gearing up for Jukai sesshin, a silent retreat that will be held her in town March 12-18. I'm in charge of registrations again, and also need to make sure we have chant leading covered. Not sure what else they will put me in charge of for that. I've done the flyers for it, and put registration forms up on to our website, so it's not like I've not done anything at all so far.
There's always plenty of work to do here. I'm finding that I'm savoring my days off, especially the mornings spent at the Sangha House, often by myself. Tomorrow morning I won't be alone, because Kevin will be there. He's promised to cook pancakes for us for breakfast. Some time after that I will take a nice long soaking bath (we have a lovely clawfooted tub there) and shave my head. I do that twice a week now, and it seems to be working out okay.
So my laundry should be ready for the next step, which involves putting one more load into the dryer, and after that I think I will take myself off to bed.
posted by Genko at 9:15 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home