Sunday 24 July 2011

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

By the Fence

Alachua, Florida

This community is called, New Raman Reti, named after the sandy soils where Krishna and Balaram used to play in India. My japa walking trail is approximately a mile long, so I trek up and down this route avoiding pavement all together. This country rode is covered with a natural white sand that once reflected by the moon’s luminescence, allows you to see what might be slithering across it. You know where you’re stepping even in the dark. It’s a great trail, uneven in areas, allowing the soles to stretch and flex a bit. Along the trail, bulls and cows tend to line up at the edge of a fence where local devotees love to feed them. If that kind of generous offer doesn’t come, then grass is in abundance. Egrets, small heron like birds, stay near these bovine friends. When the animal starts to pull and tear at the grass, bugs leap out who catch the surprise of their life as they are gulped up by those birds.

My conjecture is that these bovine cows are in their retired mode of life. They are slow and easy going , and love their leisure time under the shade.

This is not where I spend my hours – by the fence along the trail. At the edge of the fence line I maximize my time at the local A/C’d chartered school’s cafeteria for practices on our devotional road show called “Bharata”. The challenge for Laghu Hari, Godruma Goura, and myself, is that the kids are inexperienced at drama, although they are eager to learn. It means we work hard, but it’s all devotional service to Krishna and that’s what makes it all enjoyable for body, mind and spirit.

8 KM

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