The Simple Life

Life at the temple is simple. It's not easy by any means, but it's definitely simple. I usually wake up between 6 and 7am and have 2-3 hours to do whatever I please. This past week I've been reading outside in the mornings; it's quite peaceful with the mountains all around you, a cool blowing breeze, and the peacocks and llamas wandering around existing in their own little world. However, this afternoon I found a gas station with decent coffee that's only an hour's round trip (walking) from the temple, so I may start taking a coffee walk in the mornings. We usually start working around 9am and finish around 1pm; work includes feeding the animals, picking produce (everything we eat is grown at the temple farms), helping cook in the kitchen, and various side projects. After work, we have the rest of the afternoon to do whatever we please. Before Marty and I had our accident, we would drive to a local reservoir for a dip in the cool waters.

Sebastian (one of the other people staying at the temple) taking a dip.

The beach at the reservoir.

The surrounding view from the reservoir (it's up on a mountain).

Now since Marty's temporarily wounded, we've been spending a lot of time reading, chatting, playing with the llamas, and just lounging around and relaxing. I got a little adventurous today and took a walk to a nearby city (this is where I found my coffee go-to spot), and I think tomorrow we're gonna try to walk in the opposite direction to downtown Spanish Fork. Yesterday we spoiled ourselves and went on a tubing adventure. The views were incredible going down the river, but there were quite a few rapids and the water was roughly 50 degrees. I'm pretty sure some of us got close to hypothermia levels, especially those that fell in the water (including myself).

All of us post-tubing.

I don't remember the name of these falls. But they were incredible.

So life on the farm is pretty simple. There are a lot of challenges and it's not easy by any means, but I have met some incredible people and learned so much about myself and the world. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. This week has been a little hectic because we're preparing for an Indian Festival this Saturday which is expected to bring in between 10,000 and 15,000 people creating lots of excitement around here.

As for Marty, I'm waiting to hear from the insurance company whether he'll get a facelift or whether he'll get buried and I'll get some cash to buy a new car. I'll keep you all updated :-) In the meantime, I'm beginning to plan my winter adventure. All ideas are welcome! Preferably somewhere warm with lots of outdoors activities!