Friday 4 June 2010

Monday, May 31st, 2010

The Goose Without the Foot.

Burnaby, British Columbia

I had heard about the salmon berry. They are tasty raspberry like edibles growing in parts of British Columbia's naturalness. I never tried them before until now. No one can say the monk is in maya (illusion) for munching on them along the trail. Hey, you have to look after yourself and take care so that the machinery (this body) can be productive in the service to the Divine.

My two walking companions were so mercifully picking what they could for me, having superior footwear to mine. The berry bushes were soaked in creek water. Well, a munch turned into addiction and I forced myself to cease indulging.

The salmon berries were an accident. There are more reasons to walk on this mix of wetland and tree-lined trail. We were here to learn something. One of my companions confessed to having an ugly year. He went through personal upheavals and expressed the wish "to quit". At the time of chatting, we came upon a goose snugly sitting on beach sand. I came close and saw the bird shaking. He then propped himself up and started walking towards water but with a limp. On closer inspection, we saw he was missing a foot. The left leg remained a stub. Somewhere he had been traumatized. He proceeded to walk, and then swim, trouper that he is.

What my troubled associate and I gleaned from this is that whatever is your turmoil, you just continue to move on with things. You hold your head high and carry on with responsibilities even if you have to limp.

Within moments, two men passed by on the trail. I greeted them with an, "How are you?"

One of the walkers replied, "It's all good...all good."

His remark we took as an affirmation.

10 KM

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