Thursday, June 14th, 2012

Poor Bodies of Water

Trois Rivieres, Quebec

La Fleuve Ste. Maurice converges with Fleuve St. Laurent at this place. Fleuve means river. So you have lots of water here flowing to your right or your left depending on where you are standing. I can't say that all the water I see is the most hygienic as I plod along. The St. Lawrence, I've been told, receives raw sewage from homes. What I see is streams of farm run-off trickling into this larger artery. When walking you can see these things close up.

How would you feel if you were a river and you were moving along your merry old way when all these creeks were spilling their excrement onto you? It becomes an endless flow of bad karma that you must absorb. Then you deliver it to the ocean and piggy-back onto the ocean. What if you were an ocean and you were expected to carry the weight if these fowl substances. This dynamic is not exclusive to this area. It is a global problem. When will we take the guilt? When will we analyse the sin and correct it? When will we say "no" to the oil spills occurring in our waterways. "Water," which is dear and precious to us all, is taking so much flack. With what's a small percentage of pristine water remaining, what do you suppose we will do with it?

In the Gita, Sri Krishna speaks of water as something tasty and satisfying to the quench. Will that message have no meaning in the future? I pity the condition of this essential element and feel guilty to not personally be doing enough to correct an obvious mistake. All I know is that in my own little way, if walking is making a statement towards "naturalness" and that some people have got some inspiration to make small changes towards a more pure existence, then I'm happy. The mission is having an effect.

It's interesting that as I'm making these points while taking a break in downtown I am watching a fellow, employed by the city, who's cleaning the streets. Meticulously he pucks up with broom and dustpan every particle possible, every cigarette butt and every small piece of disposed plastic. It gives some hope that we can "clean up our act" so to speak. Something practical is being done.

When I take the daily walks I am simultaneously chanting to go for a personal cleansing. This is, however, not enough- practical action must be pursued, by all of us, if we care. And we should care.

31 Km