Mike Swanson, our next door neighbor, trenched the electrical lines to the Temple. Dale did all the electrical work and Leela and Dale filled in the trench.
This photo is of the inside of the dome before we finished it. It had so much life to it. Because of lack of funds for metal brackets, small chunks of 1x4 were glued and screwed to the joints. Looking up from laying on the floor gave the illusion of the dome actually inverting as if it was coming down to meet us.
Somewhere in that time frame the slider windows got installed and the plywood back board for the sculpture wells were installed.
Each time we had a gathering, all the construction materials had to be moved aside.
The winter of 2000-2001 was mild with only a couple of larger snowstorms. Just like the postman, rain, sleet, wind, snow the work went on.
One day in 2000 an envelop arrived with a $20 bill from a friend saying she wanted to purchase s shingle. This brought a roaring laugh to Leela since we used the #2 grade shingles because they all needed to be cut anyway. Along with this came the idea of putting the names of everyone who had donated to the temple on the back of the shingles with a Sharpie marker. Then we put every saint we could think of, and every classical musician who we considered a master. In this manner the roof was infused with generosity and talent and grace.
Leela applied the decorative front shingles to boards leaving areas open for installation. Dale and Steve are installing them in this photo.
During this time period the Ganesh sculpture was installed in 3 sections.
Eddith Buis had painted some decoration around the door to temporarily dress the entry.