Friday, 4 January 2019

Tuesday, December 25th, 2017

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Night Stepping

It was "Silent Night" all day.  It is the  quietest day of the whole year.  Shops are closed.  People are in their homes.  Traffic is limited to a short drive to see family or friends or both for the dinner of the year.  I was thinking we need more days like this.

As I was walking on Greenwood towards Dakota, I stayed on the actual street.  The sidewalk wasn't shovelled.  Then I took another look to notice some streets only have street—no sidewalk. Okay then!  In this twenty-below-celsius weather I took care to step on what was white, because black surfaces were ice-bound—slippery. Hard snow is safe.

It was night and I kept eyes to the ground.  I stopped to have a look at Visvambhara's home. Last summer the place caught on fire just the day after I left.  I hope no one thinks I'm jinxed.  Too bad, I thought, regarding what's left of the building.  The flames were devastating for Visvambhara and family.  An extreme inconvenience.  On top of that, insurance on the property became a complication.  Somehow he remains resilient.

That is the lesson I learn from being on the winter road—to try to overcome, mentally, the extremities of climate, by chanting with lips moving and chanting beads in my pocket as I finger them. Trying toward transcendence.

I was in the mood of reflection thinking of the gathering indoors earlier on, when Ariel played so sweetly the sarangiinstrument.  "It is so calming," I said.  https://www.instagram.com/p/Br2fp3XgOCl/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=8yd8z0wjtsci

And Daniel, who was absorbed, responded with a "Yes, it is!"

May the Source be with you!
3 km


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