| OFFERING SERVICE DURING THE AUTUMN SPLENDOR AT THE ABBEY
As summer turns to fall, many folks direct their attention to school, the upcoming holidays and the approaching winter. For those hardy volunteers who offered service in October, they were treated to the brisk beauty of autumn in the mountains with warm sunny days that ended with breathtaking sunsets. The trees blazed with color this month giving our volunteers a wondrous display as they helped the Abbey prepare for the winter and the upcoming winter retreat.
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Yusuke helps reinforce the shelving in the barn which will hold much of the recycled wood from the gazebo.
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Claire gives the tender rhododendrons and roses their winter sleeping accommodations, as well as their protection from our deer friends who spend the winter in the Abbey garden and just love them!
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Denise from Oaxaca, Mexico came to visit for 2 weeks in October. She learned new skills like using a radial arm saw (a skill every woman should have!). Denise had a lot of joyous effort that was very inspiring!
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Denise enjoys a morning of studying the Dharma. This time gives Abbey residents and longer-staying guests the chance to think about the teachings in a deeper way.
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Bob, one of the Abbey’s local volunteers, was a huge help taking down some dead trees for firewood.
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Bob brought his heavy duty ATV with a winch on the front to bring the trees out of the forest down to be cut up and put in the truck. The Abbey will be warmer thanks to his efforts as well as many others.
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Mary, our computer expert sits in front of the Abbey’s computers that will be networked together to make data sharing and storage accessible and streamlined. Mary can you work on my mind after you’re done?
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The fall colors of this beautiful maple were stunning and lasted for weeks.
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The teaching on impermanence was apparent as we watched the oaks, maples and larches change ever so subtly each day.
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One of the Abbey’s majestic Douglas fir trees cast its shadow on the lower meadow late in the day.
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The old Ponderosa like a giant Bodhisattva stands against the evening sky.
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Manjushri pictured here showing his continual fascination with the turkeys.
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Now you can see why we cover our roses and rhodies! The young doe practically lives in the garden these days with her 2 young ones. They hardly look up as we walk by!
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One of the funniest sights so far this year was seeing the huge wild turkeys balancing precariously high up on tiny thin crabapple branches just to get the tiny, tiny berries. Does that sound familiar to anyone else living here in samsara like it does for us here at the Abbey?
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