Sunday, November 1st, 2015
Alinda, Pennsylvania
Pain and Pleasure
Our
walking party of three did more like sneaking along the highway. It
wasn’t exactly like riding on the back of the celestial serpent Vasuki.
Rather, it was quite an endeavour going through the mountainous area. I
would give credit to the engineers and construction crew who laid the
asphalt that was good and recent. Was there a shoulder to the road?
Hardly! After an hour of puffing and panting, the road finally leveled
off. The traffic picked up eventually after the long Sunday morning slumber that followed Halloween adventures from the night before.
Each
and everyone of us, the walkers, is encountering some pain. Tre’von
has an issue with his back and his right knee, Mandala has a muscle
spasm in his right ankle, and Vivasvan, although not walking too much
being our support driver, talks about an aggravating tick that he has
burrowed into his thigh. As for myself, well, I’m breaking in a new
pair of shoes and there are some issues with my hamstring. The shoes
are good but it takes some time to adjust to them. This evening a
doctor and congregant from our community in Harrisburg will be
diagnosing us and offering recommendations.
At
one point in the walk, I grew fatigued and decided to go for a nap by
the side of the road. Tre’von was with me and was watching over me.
Sure enough, a concerned motorist pulled over.
“What’s going on?”
We
must admit, we looked a little bit odd on the Pennsylvania landscape.
Here you have this dude with dreads, Tre’von, and myself in complete
orange in a horizontal position. Anyway, the motorist went away
somewhat satisfied by Trevon’s brief explanation.
By 2:30 pm, we
left from Sherman Creek, the location for our final steps of the day.
Vivasvan picked us up and drove us to Harrisburg where the local
Vaishnava community has recently acquired a church. I spoke on verses
51-53 from chapter 18 of the Bhagavad Gita regarding the ways to seek
self-realization. No doubt, the ego is the major obstacle and that we
addressed.
I was really impressed by the enthusiastic dancing one man performed during the kirtan. Overall, I perceived a happy bunch here.
May the Source be with you!
20 miles/ 32 km
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