Phillipstown, New Brunswick
The rain was pounding on the
pavement of Hwy 112. It was filling the sky and it was cold rain. It was 4 AM
and Daruka with Nick and I as passengers were headed for the destination of my
starting point for the day. The mind went in somersaults. Do I walk now, get
drenched and become miserable? Do I or can I transcend the situation. At one
point I told Daruka that maybe we turn back and I walk for six hours in
Moncton's shopping mall or a large sports complex.
We finally arrived at my start point, which is the finish point of yesterday - a covered bridge, a common landmark in the province. I decided, "until the rain subsides I will pace under this shelter while chanting on my beads." The rain did indeed stop. Glory be! I took to the road again.
A local man pulled over, said
he read about the walk in the paper. He was talking about bumping into
interesting creatures. Last year he accidentally hit a 400 lb black bear with
his vehicle. Moose come by his yard all the time. He never met a monk though.
It was nice of him to stop and ask if everything is alright.
The feet kept prodding along
on this quiet road. After every 15 minutes an automobile would pass. The Canaan
River was next to me. Cracks are in the pavement as I make simple observations.
Tim Horton's coffee cups are still the #1 bit of trash tossed out motorists'
windows.
When 30 Km were reached
Daruka, Nick and I re-dried ourselves for a kirtan and dinner at Carole
Coleman's herb farm called Tansy Lane located in Albert Mines. It is remarkable
what this retired lady is doing. She has inspired young men from the local area
to come to her farm to build, to plant, prepare soil, to cook and then to eat
what is cooked. Carole, like a number of people in the area, value the
self-sustaining way of life and that's the direction in which she's going.
We preceded our meal with
kirtan in the company of the aforementioned folks and including the monks of
the Krishna House in Nova Scotia. This down-home event was just a beautiful
God-centered country-style get-together. Somehow I felt a strong presence of
our guru, Srila Prabhupada, in the room. This is the type of life-style he so
much endorsed.
30 Km
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