Thursday 31 July 2014

Sunday, July 27th, 2014


Edmonton, Alberta

I Overheard


I overheard the phone conversation.  No eaves dropping on my part.  The caller and the recipient were loud.  The recipient said, “You don’t quite get it, Swami doesn’t want a ride, you don’t have to come.  He wants to walk.  He’ll go down 34th and arrive there on time, don’t worry.”

“Okay,” said the caller, “I’ll see him when he gets there,” he said to my host, Yogendra. 

‘There’, referred to the Radha Madhava Cultural Centre where I would be conducting a class on Bhakti Yoga.  So I took to 34thAvenue and took advantage of the perfect day. 

The highlight of the day was a close contact with a coyote.  Lying in the grass at the edge of a woodsy area, was this real contented dog of the wilderness, his front lower legs stretched protruding forward, and ears perked up.  As I came closer, he naturally arose and then casually tucked himself under the shade of the trees.  Half shy, he poked out his nose and came out full bodied to bathe in the warmth of the sun.  He saw me move on, and thereby, he appeared to relax again, perhaps until the next apparent intruder would come – a walker, runner, or cyclist. 

Motorists were not his worry.  Those of us on foot were outnumbered by a thousand percent.  A motorist is too removed from nature.  He/she can’t be seen for the tinted glass, nor can be smelled beyond door tightness.  I stake my claim for being close to this beautiful creature, and I pity the distant motorist who only gets close before it’s too late. 

Death is often the fate of the animal who can’t understand the cold and callous road.  I’m happy to be a walker, walking defies human contraptions. 

May the Source be with you!

8 KM

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