The first visitors arrived before noon, our friends from Washington, whom we have not seen for many years. Such reunions are joyful as we can renew our relationship. They spent most of the time with Vladika Lazar, as I was engaged with other visitors. Davey brought along a tree cutter who had done work for us earlier in the year to look at possible trees that should be cut down. A couple of them look somewhat dangerous and could fall on our line in a bad storm. Our monastery road is full of potholes and little can be done about them, for if they are filled with gravel, it takes only a few days and some rain for them to reappear. Andy has gone over them with a makeshift grader and, no matter how good the road might look, it soon takes on its former appearance. People often ask if they can be of any assistance, but I fear that this task is beyond anyone’s ability.
