A Typical Daily Schedule or Why I Don't Write

Up at 7am -- Art and I awake at the same time every day. We never over sleep winter or summer. We find this odd but this is where we begin our day. Holden is the only place I have lived where you can wake up, brush your teeth and be out the door within 5 minutes. No need to stoke the stove unless it is very cold out. No one is home in the morning.

8am Breakfast and Matins -- announcements begin, followed by Matins (brief morning worship). Art goes to his Ops meeting (Operations) and I go to work.

10:30 Coffee Break -- We all go back to the dining hall to grab a bite of delicious food. Often it is hot bread, brownies or bread pudding. Who can resist?

10:45 Bus Departure -- We all go out to say goodbye to those who are leaving us that day. During the winter this is the only bus but in the summer we do this twice a day.

Noon -- Lunch (no one starves at Holden) Lunch is usually hot soup, bread and salad.

12:45 The bus arrives with new guests -- Some of us go back to work after lunch while others hang out until the bus arrives. We all go out to greet the new guests and then unload the luggage and food from the bus. Holden depends upon the boat to bring up everything. All luggage and supplies are loaded onto the bus and once in the village, we make a human chain to unload it all. I have lifted more 50lb boxes here than ever care to again in my life.

1pm to 3pm Finish Work -- (Art works longer in the day because he gets 2 days off a week, while I only get one.

3pm - 5pm -- I get some quiet time to read emails, pay bills, do laundry and straighten up the house. Art often comes home for a brief nap. (We each have dish team once per week which means we report in at 4 and work till 6:30 or so.)

5pm Dinner -- More food. I have learned to like Kale

6pm to 7pm - Break before Vespers. In the winter I played cards with a group of young people but now that the road is clear and there is daylight, I have been taking walks.

7pm Vespers - A short worship service

In addition to this schedule we work in book discussions, sessions with speakers, gabo (a 2 hour garbage sorting), sacristan duty (setting up for worship), fire brigade and 1000 other things that come up. Next week I am leading discussion groups on the May Youth weekends.

Evenings -- Evenings vary with activities. We have movies, disscussion forums and twice weekly ice cream snack bar. Most evenings we take time to socialize with a few others. Our chalet has become a popular gathering place for people. We often have 15 - 20 people over for drinks, snacks and a ton of laughs. We are also trying to watch The West Wing on DVD, but we are only into season 3 now.

9pm - 10pm -- Bed time, reading and a good 8 to 9 hours of sleep. We work hard and play hard here. Sleep is rarely an issue.

Soon mother nature will keep us awake a bit more. The woodpeckers are beginning to wake us up a bit earlier than we wish. The bears tend to knock over things as they rummage through looking for food. The screech owl sometimes perches in the tree outside our chalet and the coyotes can really raise a ruckus in the dark. All of this is pure heaven to me. I love mountains and nature and the life that it brings. How will I ever go home?

Our personal letter writing time goes to my mother, Art's sisters and a few close friends. The blog is fun to do but also takes time and planning. I hope many of you understand when I can't write personal letters to keep you up todate. I have never been so busy in my life. God bless and thanks for your understanding.