Plumbing adventures and visit to NYC

In the last few weeks, we have become aware of failing piping between our Guest House kitchen and the outside catchment chamber. Some summary repairs would not have sufficed and about 10 yards of new piping had to be laid down. This required opening a trench across our back driveway for three days. We parked the monks' cars in the sacristy lot for the duration of the works. This is the sort of costly and unpredictable repairs that often need to happen on a 117-years old building. Luckily, we work with a good and highly responsive plumbing business that we have used for decades.

River and trenches. From top left, clockwise: barges pushed by tugboats cross each other on the Hudson; fallen leaves and skipping rock on  our "Pebble Beach"; a bulker tanker on its way to NYC and the Atlantic; Monks watching Milos Forman's adaptation of the "Hair" musical comedy on Sunday night; trenches along and across our back driveway.

I visited the General Theological Seminary, in the Chelsea neighborhood of NYC, to offer spiritual direction there for a couple of days. I had a couple of cancellations. For one of them, I invited my seminarian friend Fumiko Sakakibara to go for a walk with me on the High Line which passes behind the seminary.

Chelsea and West Park. From top left, clockwise: me and Fumiko on the High Line with the evolving Hudson Yards skyscape in the background; me and Fumiko with the High Line Hotel in the background (which used to be the westernmost part of the GTS quadrangle); the garden keeps giving; a flaming red tree near our parking lot.

I got home on Thursday evening to find several of our Associates enjoying their retreat. It is always good to catch up with them. I also found Sister Marie Benoit Dintimille from Sant Benet monastery in Montserrat, Spain, visiting for a few days. I met her in Montserrat this past June during the International Religious Conference. She had visited family in Martinique and New York City. She sat with us in the choir and enjoyed our hospitality (she should know, she is the Guest Mistress at Sant Benet).

When are you coming to enjoy our hospitality?