I got an insomnia attack. I just couldn't sleep so I got up from bed. Yovany had cooked a particularly salty vegetable prep the night before so I got up to go outside to get some water.
"Would yah lahk uh bear?" Said the nearby fisherman in his Ohio accent. I thought he said bear. "No thanks," I said, imagining that he's got a bear skin for me. "I see bears everyday." "I mean a beer, the liquid one, not the furry one." He and his boys came up to the Canadian north to see if pickerel, pike or walleye would bite their bait this summer. This is fishing and hunting territory out here. They were just having a few beers and enjoying the cool evening breeze. "You have to pardon my ignorance sir, but I don't know too much about your tradition." I took this as a cue. "As a monk in the Hare Krishna tradition I don't drink. We don't even eat fish, we'd prefer that they stay in the lake. But to each his own..." I then touched on the concept of karma without getting personal. The guys responded well.
Since sleep was not occurring, I decided to pursue the road some more. It was dark at 12:30 AM. There had been cougar sightings in the area. Somehow I felt a kind of confidence and was reminded of the yogi who sat in meditation for so long that his hair, fingernails and toenails were overgrown. In the refered to illustration in the Bhagavad Gita, a wild tiger peers at the yogi from a distance with beedy eyes. The yogi remained aloof.
I came across the same construction crew that I saw the previous day. Each one I spoke to (which was a good two dozen or so) was most encouraging. Although they wore hardhats most of them carried the spirit of cheerleaders. One guy came with a camera and insisted on an autograph.
Our hosts at the campsite are Mike and Toni. Mike's mother and father started the camp in 1957. Mike is a moose hunter. he believes in a higher power. He had a bad experience with Krishna devotees at a Miami airport fifteen years ago. He thought that they were being too aggressive when they tried to distibute books to him. He had preconcieved notions about us, but after lots of dialogue with us, he had come around to enjoy the company of our Canwalk party including Billie the parrot. I think we made a good impression on Mike as he and a few of his friends at the camp had shaved their heads after meeting us. Mike also uttered the words Hare Krishna at least five times during a conversation between himself, Doug and Yovany as they negotiated a canoe rental. Doug and Yovany went for a canoe ride in Klotz Lake before we all enjoyed a nice meal.
40 kms
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