Today has been an extraordinarily quiet day, with almost no telephone calls, no emails, and no visitors. This is most unusual, but perhaps it can be seen as something useful, giving all of us here more peace and quiet. We are looking forward to some rain later this week, as the summer has been very dry. The water in front of the monastery has become murky, while the main stream at the top of the road has dwindled to a slight trickle. I noticed that the men have been cutting hay in the east field and also some digging but I did not have the energy to go out to see what they were doing.