I was really fortunate today. Lisa, whose daughter has been sick, was able to join me! It turns out I couldn't have done it without her. It was a much tougher job than I anticipated (a theme as you know). The technique seems simple enough on paper, but the sponge rollers require a really light touch. We found it looked better with a dry roller right behind the wet one, to better blend the colors. Thus it took two people to really do this well.

Here you can see what it looked like as we worked...

We found the trickiest part of this plan was the inside edges, where the sponge won't go. We found using a light brush worked well, but like so much of this process, was more time consuming than we expected... 

Beth came out today. She's new to this, but she did a great job! She worked with our fussy, runny gold paint from California (drives us all crazy) with patience and skill. She got the third coat of gold on Auspicious Manifold Doorways. We had hoped to re-work the repairs on that Stupa (we still might if weather improves), but decided it wouldn't hurt to get it painted in case we can't do it this season. Our goal was to make sure all the Stupas could face the winter freeze-thaw protected... 

Ashby re-primed our gau on the small Enlightenment Stupa so we could paint it gold again. The release agent seems to have been sufficiently removed, we'll see. We knew this was our day though!

So here you go! All the Stupas in the Stupa Park are now gold, and we completed our new look for the base of the Long Life Stupa!

We have the bronze reliefs for the small Stupas, but we're not sure we'll get them up this season, the weather might be too cold. We're getting our ducks in a row though, just in case there's another blip of good weather on the horizon!

Once we finished out at the Stupa Park we still had a little daylight left, so we headed right over to Migyur Dorje to finish painting the reliefs gold. Ashby doesn't care for heights, but he made sure we all stayed safe! 

Beth joined us out at Migyur Dorje as well, eagerly climbing a ladder to paint the terma... 

Once Beth got up to the termas, she had so see what it was like even higher. So she climbed up to the top of the bumpa. We warned her we don't go up the spire without harness and rope on though... 

In the end, we were able to get almost everything accomplished we had hoped for today. The termas now have 2 coats of gold, matching the rest of the Stupa. We finished the Long Life Stupa base, and got a few coats of gold on Auspicious Manifold Doorways and the small Enlightenment Stupa. We didn't get around to the burgundy highlights on Auspicious Manifold Doorways, but we're happy to have gotten as far as we did. Lisa dreamed of bears last night (yup, the furry kind), and my thinking is we're getting ready to put the Stupas to bed for the winter, making sure they're safe and secure. We've achieved that, and they look good too. Not that our job is done, but the temperature dependent task is now completed (we have a plan for the relief--a platform with tent and heater). Thus, the Stupas are finally presentable.

It is our sincere wish than anyone who sees this blog will take the time to come see the Stupas for themselves. They're located in Poolesville, Maryland, in a beautiful wooded setting, close to Washington D.C.. The Stupas offer blessings to all who encounter them, from insects to us humans, no one is left out. Even just seeing these photos bring blessings, so we'll keep them coming too!

November 12th...transformation...

James made it out today! He's been having car trouble, and has missed being out here. We're glad to have him back!

Today we launch our new approach to the Long Life Stupa base. It's been white since it was built, waiting for a final finish of granite or marble. As one could imagine, such finishes are extremely expensive. We decided to develop a plan B (you know we Stupa Dudes have the whole alphabet covered in contingency plans!). We can't afford the stone finish, but weren't happy with the huge white mass. We're going to take a shot at creating a finish that better blends with the environment, allowing more focus on the Stupa itself...wish us luck! 

One problem we put on our list for next spring is this. Around the base of the largest wall there are many areas like this. For some reason we haven't figured out yet, there is water leaking continually from these spots. It is orange in color, which makes me think of rust, but the real mystery is where is it coming from? We wiped it up yesterday twice, and it was back. Today, we cleaned it up again, and by the time we returned from the teaching for our afternoon painting session it was back again. We haven't had rain in a week, so we're wondering if it's coming up from the ground somehow...regardless, we can't fix it this time (too cold for repairs), but that just gives us time to develop a good solution... 

We worked as quickly as we could, knowing we had only a few hours. We stopped at this point to go back to the temple and listen to a Dharma Teaching by Venerable Gyaltrul Rinpoche broadcast via phone link to us from Sedona. Though this may be the last warm weekend we have, we knew we still had to put the teachings first... 

Once the teaching was completed, we changed back into our work cloths and headed back to see what we could accomplish with what sunlight was left. After finishing the slate coat, we made a pass around to see how it looked. We felt it an improvement over the white already, and hope that our faux experiment tomorrow will improve the look further...we'll see!

After a quick pass around the eight small Stupas with some touch up of gold, we packed up and dedicated the merit of our activities to ending suffering for all beings. We made a quick run out to Migyur Dorje to show James the new gold, and to assess what we wanted on our short list for tomorrow. It may be the last day we have this season to paint! 

By the time we cleaned up it was dark. Here's a shot of the Enlightenment Stupa I took before I left, I couldn't resist the shot. As you can see, the Stupa is well lit. It is right next to the parking lot (I was positioned in the parking lot to take this picture), making it the one Stupa accessible 24 hours a day, every day. So whenever you wish to see one of the amazing structures, or bask in their benevolent blessings, Guru Rinpoche in this Enlightenment Stupa is ready and waiting for you. You don't have to be Buddhist, or even know what a Stupa is (much less who Guru Rinpoche is). They offer blessings without condition or judgment, to all who encounter them. All our efforts you see on these pages are devoted to keeping these precious forms in the world for the benefit of all beings, like you!

November 11th...Persevering...

Here's a shot of the Stupa Park this morning when we arrived. It's our first visit since we sprayed the gold on. We're here today to work on painting that base. As it is Veteran's Day, Lisa was off work. We were joined by Amber and Ashby, so we had quite a crew!

Sorry for the poor photo, but light was fading. You can see we completed the prime coat of the base today. What you can't see, is that we have the paint for the top coat on hand! We picked colors, and have some sponge rollers to try our hand at faux painting. Our goal is to create a more "earthy" look on the base than it's previous white industrial look. We're trying to shift focus up to the Stupa itself...we'll see soon if we can succeed! 

We ended the day with a run out to Migyur Dorje to look at the paint, trying to decide if we need a third coat of gold. The decision was unanimous, we do. However, we all agree it looks decent enough now to put the third coat on this winter. We're seeing that our struggle to apply paint in less than ideal conditions is causing some headaches. Tomorrow is up in the air, despite good weather, the prayer vigil is demanding my attention, and Lisa's daughter is sick, so she can't make it out. The obstacles continue, but so does our devotion to completing the project.

Once again, I'll end with the invitation. Please do come out and see these amazing structures for yourself! Their blessings are immeasurable, and freely available to all who encounter them.

November 9th...waiting for the next opportunity...

This photo is from a few weeks ago when we finally sprayed the Stupa Park gold! Now that Migyur Dorje has two coats of gold, and since the weather is still slated to be too cold for the gold paint on Friday (my next day off), we're planning to start wrapping up loose ends out at the Stupa Park. We'll take down the plexi from the Long Life Stupa, inspect the brocades in there (and work on replacing them if need be) and polish Amitayus. We'll also be picking colors for finishing the base. With luck, we'll also meet with David Parker who helped us build the platform out at the Enlightenment Stupa. He is currently working on building a Stupa in Frederick (not far from us!) but has agreed to try and spend some time helping us figure this out.

So we're moving towards the finish here, just need to keep the momentum going until we've gotten it all done for the season. We have already begun to formulate cold weather plans for more work, but the renovation needs to be done before weather prevents us from being able to use the materials. So there's a new Stupa going up in Frederick! Maybe David will have us visit his worksite!

November 8th...Getting Closer...

Well, this is Migyur Dorje at the start of the day today. One coat on everything, and two coats on upper areas. I was able to finish the second coat of gold today (yeah!) with the exeption of the termas (I worked alone, and couldn't manage moving the ladder by myself). Unfortunately, I was so focused on getting that coat on that I didn't pay attention to my camera much. I accidently nudged the dial somehow and the jogged it into "manual" exposure mode. Woops. Thus, the remaining photos from the day are blown out overexposed! Alas. So you'll have to wait to see what the Stupa looks like with TWO coats! : )

As fortune would have it, Ani Dawa (who was the one that got me hooked on Stupas in the first place!), sent me some photos today of their newly initiated Stupa Repair work out in Arizona! You can see here a familiar face....they brought Norbu up from Dakini Valley (where he's caring for the Katrina Dogs--remember, they still need care until they are either reunited with their owners or find foster homes!). They are using the same products we used to repair our Stupas out here, and since it's all new to them, they invited our guy to give them some pointers... 

Though he runs around our Stupas here in flip flops with no harness, they got him to tie in out there! 

Norbu did more than instruct, of course...