Tues. Jan. 15/08 - Miami Florida
Miami is definitely a favourable destination for those who wish to beat the winter cold. That’s what we found at South beach where tourists from all over the world throng.
Organizers of the Miami temple at my personal request arranged for four vehicle loads of Krishna men, women, and children to perform sankirtan, public chanting on a strip of cafes, bars and bistros. The homeless merrily joined our dance, while the home-owned looked on. Europeans stood neutral but were armed with cameras. Hispanics tended to shake their bodies to our beat. The area is posh but without prana, life air except for chanting. My measure of the place is completely bias.
In the afternoon our walk through Fairchild Botanical garden allowed me to expand my appreciation for nature’s gifts once more. There were chocolate trees and there were Vanilla trees. Traditions valued these commodities to the point where in the case of cocoa Central America used it as a currency at one time. The famous pop artist Roy Lichenstein had impressive sculptures set in green settings. Two of our boys, young and agile climbed coconut trees and helped themselves to and ourselves to sweet coconut water.
Another visit to Vizcaya Mansion, home of the late James Dearing, drew us to elaborate gardens as a way to inspire us in our own garden development around the temple.
The culmination of these walks led me to Coconut Grove for an evening winding-down. I met Robert Simpson, a homeless man of 65. He was actually well dressed, spoke well and was well-read. In India he would have fit in as some kind of Sadhu, a wandering mendicant. Robert did describe himself as transient. I walked him back to our temple On Virginia street and encouraged him to visit on Sunday.
7 kms.
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