Deer Park Monastery, Escondido, CA
The monks are still hashing out a new daily/weekly schedule, so things haven’t quite gotten back to normal yet. Morning sitting, meals, and work teams have been established, but that’s all. The monks are also in the midst of room changing which they do every six months or so, so that might be slowing things down. I think it’s a practice in impermanence that requires them to regularly change rooms and roommates. I don’t think that would be a problem for me if I became a monk, but the way I am now, I’m not even liking sharing my guestroom with long term guests. A revolving door of short term guests is fine, though. I’m not sure what the difference would be, but I think if I became a monk, I would just accept it. I don’t think any transformation is necessary on this matter.

It’s been really cold here. You’d think we were in San Francisco. Ah, the irony is just killing me. And it rained all morning. In April. It's not supposed to rain in San Diego in April! There was so much rain this Winter that all the paths in the mountains around the monastery are overgrown with plant life. I went for a jog wearing shorts, and I came back with my legs stinging from all the brush I waded through. Not to mention the anxiety of possibly stepping on a rattlesnake. One close encounter was enough for me, and I had two already. The longer the rains last, the more growth there will be. The more growth there will be means a lot more dying when it gets hot, and it will get hot. The more dying plant life there is, the greater fire danger there will be. Something definitely to be mindful of.