Wednesday, June 13th, 2012

The Name of This Town

Saint Anne-de-la-Perade, Quebec

The name of this town brings back sweet memories. In the fall of ’96 I was in this small place when I decided to do the daredevil task of walking 100 km in one day. I didn’t quite make it. I was just shy of 1 km, but it was done all the way from Saint Ann-del-la-Perade on Highway 138 to Highway 132 in Levis. I didn’t walk the following day, just took it easy. That figure certainly makes my endeavours these days look meager at 30 Km per day.

Daruka received a call from CBC FM radio during my morning jaunt. I had a feeling they might come through as in 2003. I was fortunate to have that respectable station follow the walking story from New Brunswick to Quebec City to Toronto and then Sudbury, covering the entire north of Ontario. That’s at least half of the country. Interview, Sunai (not sure of the spelling) from the CBC came out for questions. Just outside the Palais Montcalm in Quebec City. This guy had the most incredible warm smile which made me feel so relaxed. I think that that was a lesson reminded. As spiritual practitioners, people like myself should always feel obliged to express the kindness of a smile. I believe it’s the trait that saints abide by.

Philosophically we didn’t penetrate too deeply with the interview. The topic stayed completely human, which is for the public’s interest. It’s enough for them to hear that it’s a monk doing a marathon of sorts, promoting pilgrimage in a world that tends to sway too much towards self aggrandizement. Yes, we live in the world of having and wanting things and we forget that feet, legs, heart and soul are more important. “I’m out on the road to attempt to raise consciousness,” I explained to Sunai. He did ask me what I thought about Quebec. If one is referring to Quebec as in the city, then I find it absolutely pedestrian friendly with its quaint, curvy, vintage streets that you may end up descending or ascending because of some climb. For vehicles it’s a nightmare. The old city was designed for horse and buggy.

Hey, that’s not a bad idea. Scrap the cars and go back to sanity.

31 Km