First Snow

We had our first real snow of the season at Ananda. While most of us in the city dread the cloudy skies, this one was a sight for sore eyes. Gleaming white, fluffy — it was the perfect snow. A group of us worked through the actual storm moving rocks and gravel to build the access road for the new cabins to be built. (Though there was joking about escaping from the gulag, I don’t know another bunch of folks that’s has had that much actually working in the snow).

We talked in the one cabin already there about future plans for the garden over hot cups of tea. Then down to the cafeteria for an amazing macrobiotic meal and to warmed up some more to tea and soup — getting us warm enough for a post-meal snow ball fight!

The snow lightened up for a beautifully bright evening of meditation (Joan, one of the oldest women at Ananda who helped start the ashram said it was the most beautiful she has ever seen the place).

After a bit of banjo playing and merry making with new and old friends over a roaring fire, the guys went out to clear the snow off the makeshift hoop houses we have up to protect the still baby veggies (Matt and Dave are going to Maine next weekend to learn a little more about winter gardening. Serendipitously, our friends Jose, Seth and Stephanie stayed with the expert on the stuff while they were up in Maine last year!)

In the morning, we woke up to the above scene. The kind of quiet where you can hear the snow fall and your foot steps crunch. The veggies looked a little cold this morning but the snow might actually help keep them warm and by 11 am the sun was going strong and melting much of the snow.

All in all, a pretty beautiful weekend.

Sell The Vatican, Feed The World