While nighttime temperatures in the Chama Canyon can drop to freezing or lower during December and January, thankfully after sunrise they can rise to the mid or high 40s by noon. We are blessed with an abundance of sun throughout the year, and no less so in the winter months. Days are shorter than summer, of course, but we are still able to enjoy the solar gain for our electrical system which is completely off the grid.
Our church is heated by radiant heating, that is, hot water running through pipes under the floor. This is a method used by humans for millennia. Our system is more sophisticated than what you find on the hilltop ruins of Masada in the Holy Land, for example, but the principal is the same. In our case, the water is heated using solar panels and then mechanically pumped from the boiler room to the church, kitchen, refectory, reception lobby, laundry etc., at the Monastery.
Brothers are staying well, with no “common colds,” the flu or covid at present. For this we are grateful. Some brothers are visiting family at this time, something we have as a possibility every two years.
We are now preparing for the return of guests for private retreats in the month of February. May all who come here be received as Christ, as Saint Benedict reminds his monks.
Be assured of our daily prayers and we are grateful for yours.
Abbot Christian and the monks
