Thursday, June 27th, 2013

Bliss On The Trail

Melita, Manitoba

Daruka and I really relish tenting at camp-sites as a way to accommodate ourselves. We like the simple life and the slight roughing-it-up.

The daily showers and swim cleanses and provides water to the body, which it craves, being exposed to the open sun and wind. Furthermore, H2O soothes the stiff leg muscles which are engaged in repeated action.

The soles of the feet and around the ankles have become somewhat raspy due to dead skin forming. They are not exactly like sandpaper; maybe a little more like velcro and have a tendency to stick to the inner layer of my sleeping-bag, and, when changing into my dhoti (lower monk robe), the cloth tends to hug the feet. I applied pumice to the feet and that makes a difference; a vigorous rubbing.

Now for today's trek: I began at 4AM and practically shcoked the hell out of these guys working for the oil rigs. First of all, who walks in the remote prairie and at this hour? Secondly, the wind enhances a ghostly flow of the vestments.

But what a nice break it was walking a trail with no asphalt! Call it ecstasy where for a full 9 hours your soles get a free reflexology session, gently rolling over stones. And what a joy it was seeing and hearing these coots (mud-hens is the slang) for the first time in my life. And what humour and warmth it brought to my heart to view the puzzled look on an elderly prairie farmer's face in his pickup truck when he saw my alien-self.

Yes, it was the road less traveled (Road 12 North) but it was the short-cut and it saves me 20 kms had I follwed the silly highway.

By God (Krishna's) grace today I managed my old daily average of 40 kms. "Yahoo!" Better still, "Haribol!"

40 KM