“I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree…”
Trees, trees, how they have grown and flourished this summer! As the years go on one good way to measure the passing of time is the growth of our trees around campus. Most of us can say I remember when that tree was just a sapling or recently planted and look at it now! The devastating ice storm of December, 2007 left us wondering if the trees could survive with so many broken branches, but nature surely heals itself if you give it the gift of time. The severely damaged trees have filled in the areas of the broken branches. The area to the west of the carpentry shop used to be our alfalfa field when I was farm manger but now it is truly a well managed mature forest and a challenge for the maintenance crew on lawn mowers. So many of those and other trees around the abbey were planted by Br. Damian, a fitting memorial to his hard work and love of the outdoors.
Eager help from the postulants:Keeping the lawns mowed has been a major challenge this summer. We are grateful for the extra hands provided by our four new postulants who have joined our community about a month ago.
When they are not working outdoors our postulants, Eric, Craig, Samuel, and John and Novice Adam are busy with inside jobs such as removing the ceiling and painting the student refectory. A major facelift will include new colors on the walls and a new dropped ceiling with new light fixtures.
Construction progress:Work continues on schedule with the renovation of the infirmary building. The plumbers are installing the various water and sewer lines, sometimes having to cut through the concrete floors to reroute the lines. The electricians are also busy with a whole new wiring pattern. We have hopes that our infirmary residents can move back to their brand new infirmary by Christmas. In the meantime they seem to be doing fine while living in temporary quarters in the southwest corner of the first floor of the monastery.
Other projects are poised to begin such as renovating our campus water supply system, and placing all our high voltage power lines underground. Returning seminarians will notice improvements in various places in St. Michael’s and St. Joseph hall.
The school year approaches:As the month of July marches to a close the coming of the new school year commands more and more attention. Fr. Samuel and Fr. Dan Merz both continue to predict that our enrollment will remain steady if not grow from last year. It’s a nice problem to have to deal with finding more space to accommodate more students. We can be grateful for each and every young man who is seriously discerning his vocation by coming to the seminary. It is our privilege to guide and encourage them to know God’s will and thus contribute to the future of the People of God.