Such a good lesson, getting comfortable with inconvenience. Definitely going against the grain of our current culture in the US that is continually increasing comfort and the luring us with more and more convenience. Always at a cost ( and not just financial).
Hi Tina, good to hear from you! Thanks for reading and commenting. I hope you and your family are flourishing in good ole' Connecticut. I hope that our paths cross before we're too old.
Chop wood, carry water. I grew up with wood stoves and there is an art to their minding. You don’t allow it to burn it. Stoke it before you go to sleep, when you wake at 4:30, place a log and your kindling and poke the embers. You will be warm without the fuss while you are still half-asleep. Like everything, tending a fire requires awareness.
Hi Beth, thanks for the advice. There's certainly an art and science to the fire that I'm slowly learning to hone through trial and error. It's an arduous pleasure, if that makes sense. Bowing from the monastery, Rev. Shoren
Thank you. Um....cabins with a wood stove aren't normally referred to as unheated. I guess the trick would be to convince the stove it's a heated cabin. I hope I can joke about it a bit. Tassajara is almost mythical in my mind. I fell in love reading about it and Zen Center. It's amazing to read your account and feel some reality to that mythical place Suzuki Roshi moved stones so long ago. Thanks again
I see your point. Maybe I should've qualified "unheated" and said something like "manually heated." Jokes are always welcome! Thanks for reading and commenting. Bowing from Tassajara
Thanks for naming this object. I appreciate it. A “mangle” sounds kinda violent though, but whatever it takes to clean my dirty socks! Bowing from the monastery
Such a good lesson, getting comfortable with inconvenience. Definitely going against the grain of our current culture in the US that is continually increasing comfort and the luring us with more and more convenience. Always at a cost ( and not just financial).
Hi Tina, good to hear from you! Thanks for reading and commenting. I hope you and your family are flourishing in good ole' Connecticut. I hope that our paths cross before we're too old.
Chop wood, carry water. I grew up with wood stoves and there is an art to their minding. You don’t allow it to burn it. Stoke it before you go to sleep, when you wake at 4:30, place a log and your kindling and poke the embers. You will be warm without the fuss while you are still half-asleep. Like everything, tending a fire requires awareness.
Hi Beth, thanks for the advice. There's certainly an art and science to the fire that I'm slowly learning to hone through trial and error. It's an arduous pleasure, if that makes sense. Bowing from the monastery, Rev. Shoren
This is best conversation I have had in Substack. Bowing in return.
Thank you. Um....cabins with a wood stove aren't normally referred to as unheated. I guess the trick would be to convince the stove it's a heated cabin. I hope I can joke about it a bit. Tassajara is almost mythical in my mind. I fell in love reading about it and Zen Center. It's amazing to read your account and feel some reality to that mythical place Suzuki Roshi moved stones so long ago. Thanks again
I see your point. Maybe I should've qualified "unheated" and said something like "manually heated." Jokes are always welcome! Thanks for reading and commenting. Bowing from Tassajara
That is a mangle, and my grandparents had exactly that same tub washer!
Thanks for naming this object. I appreciate it. A “mangle” sounds kinda violent though, but whatever it takes to clean my dirty socks! Bowing from the monastery
Thanks Heather, this was just what I needed today. 🙏
Hi Garret, and reading your note is just what I needed today. Many bows from the mountain valley!