[This was an email put on the Pacific Zen Institutes group list that I put here to let you at cukedotcomville know what we were up to here one day.]

Belatedly I would like to thank the noble ones who came to the work/practice day here at Tarrantland a few Saturdays ago. I enjoyed the zazen, kinhin, work, lunch, and hanging out talking with everyone. It was just the right mix, not too much or too little of anything. So much got done, more than I had anticipated and of a nature I had not thought of. By that I mean we did the inner work rather than the gross outer work. I had been pushing for such a day with James and John so that I could get a group to fill the several hundred feet of ditches that pipe and conduit had been laid in for the new water storage tank. It was raining though and so we worked indoors. James and Ken organized and cleaned the shed in the driveway which has garden tools mainly. Now we can walk in there without being attacked by debris and disorder. David Weinstein, the practice leader of the day, and Bridget Sumser organized stuff in the garage and installed insulation. Dennis Samson (an old Suzuki and Kwong student who helps out a lot around here) and Norm Howard cleaned and organized the two downstairs barn rooms with tools and supplies and moved a heap of lumber and plywood out of the second room to the carport. John Sumser and I cleaned and organized the main downstairs room in the barn and got a start on the pile of junk in the second room (thus making a big mess in the entryway that had just been tidied up). The heavy potting wheel was moved from the garage to the back of the barn. And all the trash and recycling that we generated has by now been disposed of in the regular weekly pickups with a little bit of help from utilizing unused space in neighbors' receptacles. Turns out that this was all much more helpful than doing the ditches. It was all stuff that gave me a headache to think about and that I'd put off. The ditches are now almost completely filled in and it's fun and easy and fairly thought-free doing that bit by bit between helpful rainfalls.

Lost item notification: someone left a really nice high quality full size grey and black I think Gortex umbrella that says "Walking" on it I think. It's in the garage now.

I look forward to future work\practice days or whatever they're being called. There will always be plenty to do. I think this message is long enough so I won't say what that is. Also, don't want to spoil the surprise.

Thanks to all and see you later.

David in the Barn