Monday 3 June 2019

Saturday, May 25th, 2019

Rochester, New York

We Love Rochester

I trekked a stretch on Lundy's Lane once again, the sight of combat from the War of 1812.  It is different now, being a strip of motels in Niagara. Back then, the place was more woodsy, with men in red coats, the Brits, and the Americans in blue, and with some backing by local indigenous warriors in more naturalist garb. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx4brH3g6By/?igshid=12q8pl9q7pyfz

Karuna and Connor picked me up for crossing the border at the Rainbow Bridge.  We were off to Rochester to meet some members of the Krishna community.  Quite spontaneously we decided to take a stroll along the Erie Coast before a more formal sangha,where we chanted, and reflected on a verse from Canto One of Chapter Two, "Divinity and Devotional Service."

To participate at this house program of Ravi and Priya was eighty-three-year-old, Hari, who worked on the ship, the Jaladuta, the same vessel and the same trip that our guru, Prabhupada, sailed on in September of '65 to make the historic journey to America.  To meet Hari was a peaking moment for the day.

Another surprise for our day was meeting Alicia in yet another park called Linear Park. She had tethered to herself on a leash, an interesting pet, a ring-tailed coati from South America.  He's a cute fellow with a tail resembling that of a raccoon, and a nose like a slender snout of a pig.  The guy was hungry foraging. "A tough pet." Alicia said of him.  https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx6-X4sAL8Y/?igshid=1vcaffygyegxy

A small group of us conducted a kirtan on the bridge overlooking High Falls. And the final event for the day was a sit-down at the prestigious RIT campus where I delivered a talk, "Tales from Trails."  A long day? Yes, I would say so.

May the Source be with you!
5 km



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