Tuesday, October 13th, 2015
Woodward, Pennsylvania
Back Again
So many people have written upbeat songs about being on the road again. What comes to mind is my dear friend, cross-country walker Michael Oesch, who likes Willie Nelson’s rendition. Well here I am, once again, at one of the places I like to be - the road, the trail.
After being picked up at the Pittsburgh Airport, where they were playing classical music over the speaker, which I liked, Vivasvan and Tre’von came to drive us to College State where we slept for the night. We then drove to the spot where I left off from four days before at Buffalo Valley Trail, a parallel route to Highway 45.
The trek started with a drizzle, though rain never became a big issue. At one point the sun blazed through before overcast sky hit us again. Tre’von stayed loyal to my every step for 18 miles. Then, I finished solo with an extra four miles under the feet. It was at this point that a police officer came to see what was up. It was another one of those things where someone called in, being suspicious of a guy in orange, the colour that prisoner’s wear in jumpsuits. This simply became an opportunity for me to talk and make a friend with the officer. He resembled strongly the features of fellow monk, Sridhar Swami.
A real milestone for our team today was to hear Tre’von master his memory of mantras. I had been teaching him while trekking the two mantras in honour of guru. He took the bold step to ask to learn the mantra for Pancha Tattva. This he learned, with a breeze.
I observed that he likes to rap and at times breaks into a dance step while we travel along. Traffic is not anything that hinders his spontaneous mood and frankly, I don’t get embarrassed despite the conservative Amish countryside we find ourselves in. At one point, he played from his phone James Brown’s ‘I Feel Good’ which ended up being an ideal pacey piece of music for walking.
May the Source be with you!
22 miles / 35 km
Woodward, Pennsylvania
Back Again
So many people have written upbeat songs about being on the road again. What comes to mind is my dear friend, cross-country walker Michael Oesch, who likes Willie Nelson’s rendition. Well here I am, once again, at one of the places I like to be - the road, the trail.
After being picked up at the Pittsburgh Airport, where they were playing classical music over the speaker, which I liked, Vivasvan and Tre’von came to drive us to College State where we slept for the night. We then drove to the spot where I left off from four days before at Buffalo Valley Trail, a parallel route to Highway 45.
The trek started with a drizzle, though rain never became a big issue. At one point the sun blazed through before overcast sky hit us again. Tre’von stayed loyal to my every step for 18 miles. Then, I finished solo with an extra four miles under the feet. It was at this point that a police officer came to see what was up. It was another one of those things where someone called in, being suspicious of a guy in orange, the colour that prisoner’s wear in jumpsuits. This simply became an opportunity for me to talk and make a friend with the officer. He resembled strongly the features of fellow monk, Sridhar Swami.
A real milestone for our team today was to hear Tre’von master his memory of mantras. I had been teaching him while trekking the two mantras in honour of guru. He took the bold step to ask to learn the mantra for Pancha Tattva. This he learned, with a breeze.
I observed that he likes to rap and at times breaks into a dance step while we travel along. Traffic is not anything that hinders his spontaneous mood and frankly, I don’t get embarrassed despite the conservative Amish countryside we find ourselves in. At one point, he played from his phone James Brown’s ‘I Feel Good’ which ended up being an ideal pacey piece of music for walking.
May the Source be with you!
22 miles / 35 km
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