Dear Friends,
As spring approaches, our thoughts turn to the start of construction activities on Ishwar’s building project at the ISHA Meeting Hall in Wisconsin. In great part, the start date will be controlled by the weather and the moisture conditions of the soil. Once the snow melts, and the ground thaws and dries, we can safely move heavy equipment back onto the site.
The temperature forecast for the rest of March calls for highs in the mid-40s, and lows in the low 20s. March and April snowstorms of a few inches are not uncommon in Bruce, and such late-season storms could delay the start up. However, so far, the long-range forecast contains no such storms.
To check conditions at the Dome site, a pair of intrepid, local satsangis strapped on snow shoes and broke trail up to ISHA Hill! Here’s what they saw.
It was a glorious day, with the ISHA sign as a perfect color match to the brilliant, Byzantine blue of the Wisconsin sky.
With their snow shoes firmly fastened, they headed in through the front gate ….
…. and up the long driveway to the Hill.
Although they found the Dome basement hole partially filled in with snow, it was generally less than two feet deep. A variety of animal tracks crossed the property, but they were the first humans to have visited lately. Notice that the satsangi has drawn a huge heart at the center of the excavation!
Looking ahead, the month of April typically brings highs into the 50s and 60s, and by May temperatures creep up into the 70s. But there are no guarantees. This part of Wisconsin is known for weather extremes. For example, record temperatures for the month of May in Bruce are a high of 98 degrees (in 1959) and a low of 19 degrees (in 1978). All we know for sure is that the construction will restart exactly when it’s supposed to start … no sooner, and no later!
Over the next two months, as Wisconsin thaws, work will begin anew on the Meeting Hall dome. And how much can be accomplished this year – and when – will be based on the seva donations that arrive. To receive announcements of when Ishwar will need sevadars for his project, subscribe to the ISHA Construction Chronicles (https://ishanews.org/ishwarsprojects2/the-construction-chronicles/).
Plus, if you happen to be at the ISHA Bhandara event next week, you can hear the latest on Ishwar’s hallowed construction project during a presentation after lunch on Sunday. Hope to see you there.
With warmest regards,
Paul Bauer
Chair of ISHA Building & Fund-Raising Committee
Paul Bauer
Chair of ISHA Building & Fund-Raising Committee