These informal reports, filed every couple weeks by Sensei (and e-mailed to interested members), are meant to provide snapshots of what's happening at Chapin Mill, plus the who, how, when, and where of it.

Those of you hoping to attend the first sesshin at Chapin Mill in July may now accept delivery of a consolation prize: a Special Teaching on dukkha, or dissatisfaction (in the face of another delay); kshanti, or forbearance (ditto); and even sunyata, or emptiness (of goals, attainments, whatever). That's right, Chapin Mill will not be ready for the July sesshin.

To get a certificate of occupancy, all of the safety devices required by local and state codes must be in place. During his last visit the Stafford building inspector revisited a number of issues that we thought had been resolved long ago, such as certain fire doors and stove fire extinguisher systems. Through our architect John Bero we are presently working to resolve these questions, but we also just learned that our building inspector will be out of town from June 23rd to July 8th, meaning we will not be able to get our occupancy permit in time for the July sesshin.

Though we recently set the July sesshin as a goal that would help us mobilize our efforts, many of us are now breathing a sigh of relief. It would have been a race to the wire to get the kitchen equipped, more rooms and bathrooms painted, plumbing fixtures installed, the zendo floor finished, and additional electrical work in the kitchen done. There was also the issue of code-mandated handrails on the front stairway and in other areas, the bluestone patio area in front of the main entrance front door that must be finished, etc., etc., etc.

But neither have we been twiddling our thumbs out there. (Their tips lightly touching for some hours each day, in the gorgeous temporary zendo, yes, but twiddling, no.)

The blue-gray slate in the foyer and main entranceway has been installed. The temporary zendo/exercise room is almost ready for painting, and floor finishing there will begin shortly. A lot more woodwork has been installed in the dormitory wing and elsewhere. The porch floor, which we had to stop working on when the cold blew in last fall, is now nearly finished. Still more drywall work, as well as mudding and painting, has been done. A great deal of the woodwork in the upstairs dormitory hall was finished recently.

All of the kitchen cabinets are installed, but we are waiting for the stainless-steel tops. A special layer of vapor-proof paint was added to the kitchen dishwashing area ceiling, in anticipation of the 180-degree steam that will billow from the dishwasher after each tray of dishes comes out. The cold room cooling unit has been installed.

Meanwhile, the most dramatic visual improvement is at hand: the painting of the stucco-coated lower half of the building. So far it has remained its original gray, and just begging for color. Help came from south of the border in the person of Gerardo Gally, Sensei, newly-authorized teacher and longtime leader of Casa Zen. Gerardo-sensei is not only an architect (and owner of a publishing company), but something of a color expert. He generously agreed to spend a few days at Chapin Mill recently to come up with a color scheme for the stucco. Some experimenting remains to be done on that, but of this much we are sure: a major color will be a dark, "Chinese" red. Stay tuned!

Thanks to Lou Kubicka for doing the heavy lifting on this report.