Friday, July 3rd, 2015

Friday, July 3^rd, 2015
Kamloops, British Columbia

Back In B.C.

Sitting next to me on the flight from Vancouver to Kamloops was Shane from a northern city, Fort St. John. Shane, I learned, works in the oil fields.  I assume he was on a business trip. From thousands of feet up in the air we conversed while looking down out the window.  Basically we fell into a joyful speculation as to the names of the towns below us, “Was that the town, Hope?”  “Oh, could that be the Thompson River?” 

The vistas were stunning.  In elevation, we were above the bird’s eye view.  Even cranes and storks don’t fly this high.   

Then we got to talking about us, in other words, what is going on in each other’s life – beyond the oil fields, etc. We hit on the topic of walking.  Shane admitted to doing more walking lately.  Perhaps he felt he wasn’t doing enough before.  “It gives you time to think,” he said, “then you notice trees, the other creatures, nature, and you mix it all together.”  He was talking like a real advocate of pilgrimage now. 

Shane and I, along with the plane load of people, landed at quaint Kamloops Airport.  Shane and I parted and Harold picked me up and brought me to Saranagati Village where we took to trekking along a trail called the “Ratha Yatra Way”.   

On that trail, Saskatoon berries are abound – and mosquitoes in even greater numerical figures.  Our destination was a farm, owned and run by Bala Krishna, and a gathering of devotee villagers.  The meal that drew everyone was of local harvest and organic quality.  The kirtan that followed was home performed, but the sound, the mantra, originated from the spiritual world.   


May the Source be with you!

6 km